Enforcement needed to keep cycle routes clear

WE really need a ban on footpath and cycle lane parking.

Cyclists, walkers and wheelers across the city are sick to the back teeth of inconsiderate motorists, lorry and van drivers mounting pavements and blocking their path.

And I really can’t blame them.

But it’s not just motorists that are to blame.

A few weeks ago I found my cycle path on the Sydenham bypass blocked by a range of Department for Infrastructure road signs and cones, leaving me with no option but to merge into traffic that can reach up to 60mph.

Needless to say I didn’t feel very safe. But that’s the reality for people keen to improve their health and the environment by choosing bikes over cars in Belfast.

If we are to truly to deliver for people, foster an active travel first city and encourage more people to ditch their motors – a cultural shift in the halls of power is essential.

Where I live, people park all over the footpaths and there’s no way in heaven a parent with a pram or a wheelchair user could pass on the pavement – so they’re forced out into the middle of the road.

I am well aware the houses in many terraced streets were built long before everyone had a car.

But there has to be a solution that will make urban areas more pleasant places to live than the car-littered streets we now have.

A good place to start would be residents-only parking schemes.

I have been asking for progress updates on a decade-old proposal for one in my area for over a year.

All you get back is ‘we’re waiting to see how the Belfast pilot goes’.

How long does it bloody take? Ignoring this city-wide issue really

isn’t going to cut it anymore lads. I’ve done stories about the woes of Belfast folks living near RVH where hospital staff pack into surrounding streets.

And Belfast Live recently covered the continuing pavement blocking in city centre streets.

Belfast man Dominic Bryan says he’s sick to the back teeth of lorries, vans and cars blocking cycle lanes.

The long-time cyclist highlights what he comes up against on an almost daily basis on Twitter.

He said: “It really is a reflection of my ongoing resentment.

“There’s a number of things. The slowness of setting up a decent network in Belfast, number one.

“Secondly, the nature of what is set up. Often the ones they highlight as cycle routes have parking so you can park on them.

“Up the Shankill people park on the cycle route all the time so it might as well not be there.

“Thirdly, when they do put in quite a nice cycle route that goes all along the Lagan you come across continual parking.

“On top of all of that in North Belfast they are supposedly putting a cycle route in there which they started and have since stopped.

“People are very frustrated. It’s all because the power of the car is huge.”

Dominic wants to see better enforcement and improved cycle infrastructure.

He explained: “Proper infrastructure where cycling is safe and part of every day life in Belfast. In the Netherlands, where they are great cyclists, it wasn’t until they put in the infrastructure in the 1970s that they were.

“They were not just born cyclists, they laid policy and infrastructure to allow that to happen.

“If you look at some of the surveys done, for post primary schools, the amount of children that cycle to school is below 1%.

“There are secondary schools that don’t even have cycle racks.”

We learned this week that Belfast still has just two paltry miles of segregated cycle lanes.

The Sustrans report highlighted just how far behind we are in delivering and planning for a healthier and happier future with active travel at its heart.

Our streets should be places were parents are happy to let their kids play, walk and cycle.

People are very frustrated. It is all because the power of the car is huge

RISKY RIDE A cyclist battles with traffic