CAZ ‘the biggest thing for safety’
BRISTOL’S new Clean Air Zone and planned underground metro will make cycling safer, according to council chiefs.
Responding to thousands calling for more bike lanes and safer cycling infrastructure, they said a light rail network and less pollution would improve safety.
At a full council meeting on Tuesday, cyclists urged Bristol City Council to install safe bike lanes after thousands signed a petition forcing a debate. Opposition councillors backed calls for more bike lanes and criticised the administration’s record.
A cycling strategy for Bristol was promised by the council three years ago but has not yet been published. Many bike lanes in the city are disjointed and unconnected, or are shared space with pedestrians, causing conflict. Bicycle theft is also rampant, with few safe parking spots.
Cecilia Farren, a cyclist, said: “I love the freedom and exercise that cycling gives me, but most people think I’m crazy to be cycling at the age of 73 – and it shouldn’t be like this. There’s a lack of protected cycle lanes, no enforcement of 20mph zones and illegal parking everywhere.
“Cyclists deserve respect and equality and not be made to feel like second class road users.
“What plans do you have for making cycling safer for everyone, including grannies like me? I’m the only granny I know who rides a bike around Bristol. I want it to be safer for children and old people.”
Earlier this year, the council removed a bike lane on Cheltenham Road, a main route into the city centre. This reportedly led to an increase in the number of drivers parking on double yellow lines and the pavement, with little to no enforcement. A second bike lane was also proposed to be removed, on Whiteladies Road by the BBC building, but this plan was dropped after a public outcry.
The controversy on Cheltenham Road and Whiteladies Road prompted about 2,000 people to take part in a demonstration, cycling around the city centre and calling for safer cycling infrastructure and more bike lanes. The petition was then started and quickly gathered more than 3,500 signatures.
Ian Pond, chair of Bristol Cycling, said: “Through the tough times of the Covid lockdowns more Bristolians did choose to cycle, taking advantage of the quieter roads. However, as the traffic volumes increased again and the emergency bike lanes were removed, this has slipped away.
“Cycling is widely accessible, even to some of those with mobility impairment. It has a low entry cost and very low running costs, but it is not adopted by many primarily because of safety concerns. We and our supporters are petitioning you to make it safer and easier.”
As well as a comprehensive citywide network of bike lanes, campaigners are calling for a proper bike share scheme, on-street cycle hangars, free training, more school streets, wayfinding signposts and secure cycle parking at transport hubs and destinations.
According to Cllr Don Alexander, cabinet member for transport, the “biggest thing we could ever do” to improve safety for cyclists is to bring in the new Clean Air Zone and reduce air pollution levels.
But he added: “My experience over the last 18 months of being in this role is that it’s very difficult to get anything done quickly in highways. The Local Walking and Cycling Infrastructure Plan is our guiding strategy and a West of England document. We’re handing over most of our strategy work to the region. It’s been effective, bringing in money for Princess Victoria Street, Cotham Hill, Park Row and a Liveable Neighbourhood in east Bristol.
“I want to slightly push back on the suggestion that we haven’t got that much done, I spend a disproportionate amount of my time on cycling. If we’re talking about safety for cycling, probably the biggest thing we could ever do is provide people with clean air to breathe when they’re exercising and going across the city. Leading up to the end of 2023, we’ll no longer have illegal levels of pollution anywhere in the city.”
Elsewhere, the council is planning to build a £14m cycling centre in Lawrence Weston. This would help people safely learn how to ride a bicycle and would have a closedcircuit racing track. It would replace the Bristol Family Cycling Centre in Hengrove Park, and that site could then be used for building homes.
Recently the council claimed there were 75 miles of segregated cycling lanes across the city, a claim contested by Green councillor David Wilcox, shadow cabinet member for transport. He added that other newly planned schemes had yet to see any construction work begin.
Cllr Wilcox said: “The current administration promised a cycling strategy in 2019 and somehow it was forgotten from the 2021 mayoral manifesto. The administration proudly state that they have delivered 75 miles of segregated cycleways, but I could find only a maximum of 12 miles of cycleway dedicated to cycling. The rest has conflict designed in from the start as it is shared with pedestrians. Maybe they meant segregated from reality.
“Other Labour-led councils like Birmingham, Manchester and Cardiff are streets ahead of us in delivering infrastructure for cyclists. These cities have shown strong, bold leadership and are prepared to make difficult decisions when needed. We believe Bristol deserves this, too.
“This city has a problem delivering even the schemes it has budgeted for. The Active Travel Tranche 3 schemes for Upper Maudlin Street, Old Market and Cotham Hill were approved by the cabinet in September last year.
“Yet only Cotham Hill has been partially completed; the others have yet to break ground. This council needs to start taking the opportunity to work with Active Travel England seriously or face a needless loss of funding.”
Paris has more than 100 miles of new bike lanes planned. Asked why Bristol could not act with similar ambition, deputy mayor Craig Cheney said the city needed an underground metro.
“To be able to do something similar to Paris, and many other modern cities, we need an equivalent public transport network – which is why we have the ambition for a mass transit system.”
Last month Bristol mayor Marvin Rees pledged to spend a further £15m on plans for such a system, which would include an underground railway network. He declined to answer questions about how exactly that money would be spent. Construction was initially due to start this year.
But amid long delays and doubts about whether it would ever actually be built, Cllr Mark Weston, leader of the Conservative group, suggested that money could be better spent on improving walking and cycling infrastructure in Bristol, or even “digging a hole and throwing the money in”.
He said: “What would make [safer cycling] more deliverable is if the council stops squandering money on transport schemes that are never going to happen.”
Cyclists deserve respect and equality and not be made to feel like second class road users
Cecilia Farren