Whilst I fully support making cycle paths and greenways as accessible/inclusive as possible, one consideration of “removing barriers from walking and cycle paths that stop non-standard cycles” will be the proliferation of motorised dirt-bikes in some areas.
Living near the eastern part of the Fallowfield Loop and “Yellow Brick Road” (footpath from Debdale Park to Ashton Canal), I regularly use them as a means of traversing the southern parts of the city by foot or bike. However, it is not uncommon to experience antisocial use of quad-bikes and motorcycles along the stretches where such barriers are absent, including along the canal towpaths. I appreciate that this will not be typical of all areas, but if the intention is to assist those with mobility issues to be able to use these spaces with greater ease and to encourage safe active travel from a wider demographic, then I hope MCC has anticipated this as a probable consequence, and will put some other counter-measures in place.
I have also seen this along the Roe Green Loopline, especially during the summer months. I'm not sure what the answer is, but anything that excludes bikes for the disabled would be in breach of the Equality Act.
The battle for Active Travel provision is hopefully well on the way to being won in the City Centre, despite some of the recent fifth columnist behaviour from within the council itself. The cycle hire scheme, despite plenty of teething problems has been a game changer in terms of getting across town quickly without the faff of storing a bike in a flat, waiting for an Uber, etc. Ideally the scooter hire scheme would be expanded across the river as well.
However it's the rest of the borough (and indeed Greater Manchester) I have reservations over. From a planning perspective, the conurbation has been primarily ordered around motorised mobility for getting on for a century. You cannot easily retrofit a lot of what is already there to be attractive for walking/cycling. The local mess over the implementation of LTN's, very much considered an "easy win" in active travel circles hardly fills me with much confidence either.
Unfortunately the council seem to be fairly insular in letting people actually see the final plans before construction, they're still doing damage limitation in the NQ from the Great Ancoats Street farce.
The interventions they've put in place for pedestrians across the city have so far been unsatisfactory, we haven't seen any progress on pavement parking, crossing facilities or side road treatment. Even this weekend just gone I saw that they've put in tactile paving at the junction of Edge St/Oak St - why not construct a continuous crossing or even reduce the turning radius?
Trafford is currently consulting on this and says it will listen to users of the area and residents. There is no mention of other road users such as horse riders of which Trafford has many. Also, I think sometimes these changes are not considering the impact on access disabled/very old people. I have heard some cities allow no vehicles, not even taxis for disabled people which is a worry.
Public transport in central Manchester is very good but what about further out? A few years ago in Aspull (on the outskirts of Bolton/Wigan) a bus was removed, that my elderly Dad (who is not eligible to drive) used to get to work. He is too unsteady to ride a bike on the roads as he has a brain injury. It was too far to walk.
I also think charging a levy would disproportionately affect poorer people effectively making driving only for the richer in society. Obviously this is not good.
Also, what's wrong with using cars for convenience? Cars made it possible for me and my husband to bring up our children whilst working full-time and contributing to the economy. Just sort out the technology to reduce emissions.
In addition, I have used the cycle path from Manchester, Oxford Rd to Chorlton and it is much better for cycling than it was previously.
It's not just what comes out of the exhaust that is the issue with mass urban car use. Severance, noise, inefficient land use, tyre dust (generates more particulates than exhaust emissions on modern cars), negative impacts on reliability and safety of other modes, not to mention the 75 people each day in the UK who are killed or seriously injured on the roads, mostly due to interactions or usage of private cars.
Yes the article is right there are some great cycle lanes in city centre Manchester but their is very little in Oldham to get me to these cycle lanes I’ve been knocked of twice in the last six months both bye Taxis and I’m still nursing my wounds as the last one was only two weeks ago but I won’t give up and I will try and keep going but some driver and vans and lorries give you loads of room but some don’t care and don’t even notice. I have a really bright flashing light on the front, a bright yellow or orange jacket you can’t miss but some do and still pull out and don’t realise that cycles go faster then 5 mph and don’t think that they done anything wrong or just say sorry and drive off but if they hit me they don’t get hurt just a scratched car I get hurt bad or killed and that’s when they realise they have cocked up but I won’t give up and hopefully we will get some proper cycle lanes in Oldham and other Greater Manchester towns maybe one would be a good start from every town to Manchester
Whilst I fully support making cycle paths and greenways as accessible/inclusive as possible, one consideration of “removing barriers from walking and cycle paths that stop non-standard cycles” will be the proliferation of motorised dirt-bikes in some areas.
Living near the eastern part of the Fallowfield Loop and “Yellow Brick Road” (footpath from Debdale Park to Ashton Canal), I regularly use them as a means of traversing the southern parts of the city by foot or bike. However, it is not uncommon to experience antisocial use of quad-bikes and motorcycles along the stretches where such barriers are absent, including along the canal towpaths. I appreciate that this will not be typical of all areas, but if the intention is to assist those with mobility issues to be able to use these spaces with greater ease and to encourage safe active travel from a wider demographic, then I hope MCC has anticipated this as a probable consequence, and will put some other counter-measures in place.
I have also seen this along the Roe Green Loopline, especially during the summer months. I'm not sure what the answer is, but anything that excludes bikes for the disabled would be in breach of the Equality Act.
The battle for Active Travel provision is hopefully well on the way to being won in the City Centre, despite some of the recent fifth columnist behaviour from within the council itself. The cycle hire scheme, despite plenty of teething problems has been a game changer in terms of getting across town quickly without the faff of storing a bike in a flat, waiting for an Uber, etc. Ideally the scooter hire scheme would be expanded across the river as well.
However it's the rest of the borough (and indeed Greater Manchester) I have reservations over. From a planning perspective, the conurbation has been primarily ordered around motorised mobility for getting on for a century. You cannot easily retrofit a lot of what is already there to be attractive for walking/cycling. The local mess over the implementation of LTN's, very much considered an "easy win" in active travel circles hardly fills me with much confidence either.
Unfortunately the council seem to be fairly insular in letting people actually see the final plans before construction, they're still doing damage limitation in the NQ from the Great Ancoats Street farce.
The interventions they've put in place for pedestrians across the city have so far been unsatisfactory, we haven't seen any progress on pavement parking, crossing facilities or side road treatment. Even this weekend just gone I saw that they've put in tactile paving at the junction of Edge St/Oak St - why not construct a continuous crossing or even reduce the turning radius?
Trafford is currently consulting on this and says it will listen to users of the area and residents. There is no mention of other road users such as horse riders of which Trafford has many. Also, I think sometimes these changes are not considering the impact on access disabled/very old people. I have heard some cities allow no vehicles, not even taxis for disabled people which is a worry.
Public transport in central Manchester is very good but what about further out? A few years ago in Aspull (on the outskirts of Bolton/Wigan) a bus was removed, that my elderly Dad (who is not eligible to drive) used to get to work. He is too unsteady to ride a bike on the roads as he has a brain injury. It was too far to walk.
I also think charging a levy would disproportionately affect poorer people effectively making driving only for the richer in society. Obviously this is not good.
Also, what's wrong with using cars for convenience? Cars made it possible for me and my husband to bring up our children whilst working full-time and contributing to the economy. Just sort out the technology to reduce emissions.
In addition, I have used the cycle path from Manchester, Oxford Rd to Chorlton and it is much better for cycling than it was previously.
It's not just what comes out of the exhaust that is the issue with mass urban car use. Severance, noise, inefficient land use, tyre dust (generates more particulates than exhaust emissions on modern cars), negative impacts on reliability and safety of other modes, not to mention the 75 people each day in the UK who are killed or seriously injured on the roads, mostly due to interactions or usage of private cars.
Yes the article is right there are some great cycle lanes in city centre Manchester but their is very little in Oldham to get me to these cycle lanes I’ve been knocked of twice in the last six months both bye Taxis and I’m still nursing my wounds as the last one was only two weeks ago but I won’t give up and I will try and keep going but some driver and vans and lorries give you loads of room but some don’t care and don’t even notice. I have a really bright flashing light on the front, a bright yellow or orange jacket you can’t miss but some do and still pull out and don’t realise that cycles go faster then 5 mph and don’t think that they done anything wrong or just say sorry and drive off but if they hit me they don’t get hurt just a scratched car I get hurt bad or killed and that’s when they realise they have cocked up but I won’t give up and hopefully we will get some proper cycle lanes in Oldham and other Greater Manchester towns maybe one would be a good start from every town to Manchester