Mixed reactions to new Lancaster 'pop up' cycle lanes on busy city centre road

Lancashire County Council has been constructing pop-up cycle lanes to encourage people to walk and cycle for regular journeys as lockdown restrictions begin to lift.

Green Party councillors on Lancaster City Council have welcomed the new lanes from the Pointer Roundabout to Penny Street Bridge, but are calling for more to be done to increase safety and encourage more cycling, including a city wide 20mph speed limit for vehicles.Concerns have also been raised about a reduction in parking spaces for properties in South Road and a lack of consultation with residents.

Emma Hunter, who has lived in South Road for 17 years, said: "The highways have put up a makeshift cycle track with posts in front of my house, these are screwed into the floor, but many have been knocked over.

"We and none of our neighbours were made aware of this happening .

"It is clearly a bad idea after less than 24 hours, cars are having to stop in the road as the posts are causing obstructions after being knocked over.

"My other concern is for us as residents - where are we suppose to park when unloading shopping?

"I have young children and this is not practical at all. We also have a skip on our drive which is being blocked in and the skip hire company is suppose to be coming to collect it.

"We have lived in the house for 17 years and always parked on our drive but now?

"When I first moved into this property we were allowed to park at all times outside then that privilege got removed.. now this!"

Green Party Coun Paul Stubbins said: "We're delighted that these cones have been added on South Road, but we must make cycling safer and easier across the district, or people just won't want to give it a try.

"Cycling is a great way to get around, but it can be difficult to cycle around Lancaster and Morecambe safely.

"The A6 through Lancaster in particular is constantly near the top of the table nationally for serious cycle accidents.

"Now that the government has committed funding to increase walking and cycling, we call on the County Council to ensure that some of that money is spent in Lancaster to enable residents to cycle more easily around the district."

According to the National Travel Survey, in 2017-18 over 40 per cent of urban journeys were under 2 miles - which Green councillors say is perfectly suited to walking and cycling if facilitated properly by local authorities.

The new lanes in Lancaster and Preston city centres aim to make it easier for people to cycle in these busy areas, and avoid using public transport if they can to help prevent the spread of coronavirus.

The council is also asking people to highlight public places where social distancing may currently be difficult and road space could temporarily be reallocated to give people more room.

A simple e-form is available on the council's website to make it easy to raise any issues.

Councils can now access funding for short-term measures to encourage walking and cycling to help deal with the pandemic with the support of a new active travel fund announced by the Department for Transport.

Pop up cycleways are temporary cycling routes on existing roads, created by adding bollards, cones, or water barriers to separate cyclists from other traffic.

County Coun Keith Iddon, cabinet member for highways and transport, said: "We're always looking for opportunities to make it easier for people to travel more sustainably, however current advice is to avoid using public transport unless your journey is really necessary, so instead we're asking people to walk and cycle if they can.

"With this in mind we're taking advantage of funding available to quickly introduce temporary measures to make it easier for people to cycle in these busy areas as they start to get back to work, and shops and businesses begin to reopen."

Lancaster cycle campaign group Dynamo received several responses on its website.

Paul Tynan said: "Good that council are thinking about cyclists ( although several months in!) I can imagine south road residents being annoyed ( has their parking only been restricted at night?).

"Would love to know who they consult with to put these things in the best places.

"As an experienced cyclist I may not be the best person to know ( eg I feel confident at the pointer roundabout but would have thought a cyclist feed in lane from Greaves Road would be a good area) .

"Otherwise the lanes look slightly too narrow to overtake and there are no break out holes so I suspect I will not use them and thus I will be exposed to a narrower lane that I share with cars ( who may be aggrieved that I am using their perceived space).

"Good idea for less confident cyclist so in general good start but needs development."

TC said: "That stretch of road is simply too narrow for dropping off, cycling and traffic going faster than 20mph.

"No consultation with residents, or even with anyone is a very bad idea. Anything that starts like this is bound to run into problems.

"On the other hand, maybe remove three bollards, then a bit further on, remove three more and so forth.

"So residents can drop off kids and shopping. Involves a bit of driving on the walking area.

"And lastly, we should learn something from this. When making changes local government should consult the main people affected, starting with residents and with cyclists.

"Otherwise more mistakes will be made. Even in Dynamo there are differences. I should think that is one of the most visible and difficult places to make changes."

Coun Iddon added: "We know that cycling is not an option for everyone, however there has been a notable increase in people walking and cycling for exercise during the lockdown.

"There is a danger that restrictions on public transport could lead to an increase in people driving and cause more congestion on the roads. If these measures make some people feel more able to cycle instead of driving or using public transport for regular journeys, they will have been worthwhile.

"These cycle lanes will mean the loss of some parking, however they are a temporary measure as part of our response to the coronavirus crisis, and we will keep them under review.

"We're also asking people to suggest further locations where road space could be temporarily reallocated to help everyone adhere to social distancing guidelines when walking and cycling.

"We're working to identify places with high footfall and high levels of cycle activity, such as in local centres or along routes to school so we can look at measures to improve the situation, especially as these routes are likely to get even busier as people return to work and school.

"I'd be grateful if people can help us by highlighting anywhere they're aware of where social distancing could be a problem using the form on the active travel page of our website."

The county council is also working with Lancashire's district and borough councils as part of the emergency response to the coronavirus to develop further measures to encourage social distancing in public areas as high streets begin to reopen.

To report a location where road space could be temporarily reallocated to help people walk and cycle, and for more information on walking and cycling in Lancashire visit www.lancashire.gov.uk/roads-parking-and-travel/active-travel.