Birmingham fit for cycling?

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Permalink Reply by John KIRK on February 4, 2012 at 14:43

well it's not 2% which would be just over £4 Million per year. My guess would be about £400,000 per year. I will be meeting the BCC Cycling Officer soon so I will ask him. I am just starting a cmapaign for a protected cycle lane down the A435 from Sutton Coldfield centre to Perry Barr - which will then link to the bus lane on the A34 right into Birmingham centre. Even done in stages over,say, 5 years it would be worthwhile.

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Permalink Reply by Toby on February 4, 2012 at 16:46

Forgive me for repeating my post from the other strand;

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/cyclesafety/article3307439.ece

Liverpool, Birmingham, Leicester, Bristol, Newcastle, Manchester, Glasgow, Leeds, Sheffield and Belfast city councils all threw their weight behind calls to reform urban areas.

We should ask the council how they intend to support this, when we can expect a public announcement of this support, other than the snippet I found in the article above. They should also be challenged about the correlation between Birmingham's brain drain, the ABC1 demographic and cycling that Zeth has identified, above.

There are three universities here and yet it seems that there are limited opportunities for graduates to stay in Birmingham. We often read about Birmingham;s lofty ambitions as a city on the world stage and they should be ugred to back this ambition by investing in the kind of infrastructure which will engender an enlightened, cycle friendly city for the 21st Century.

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Permalink Reply by doug salmon on February 5, 2012 at 10:39

Surfacing the canal towpaths, so as not be unusable whenever the rain falls in Brum, would be very helpful and simple to do.

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Permalink Reply by Kim on February 5, 2012 at 15:28

Absolutely.  Many of the canals make excellent (and flat) cycling routes, but are basically unusable for utility cycling if it's been wet recently because even with an appropriate bike you'll get covered in mud.

The canal route out to Wolverhampton, for example, would be an excellent resource akin to the Bristol-Bath railway path if the surface were good enough to cycle at a reasonable pace on.  As it is, it's slow going even for a reasonably competent cyclist like myself.  Which is a shame, as there's a distinct lack of an on-road alternative that's both pleasant to ride and reasonably flat.

doug salmon said:

Surfacing the canal towpaths, so as not be unusable whenever the rain falls in Brum, would be very helpful and simple to do.

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Permalink Reply by Robert on February 5, 2012 at 17:15

On another thread I tried to drum up support for creating a network of cycle routes in Brum using existing infrastructure and requiring nothing but signage, the occasional dropped curb, and the rights to cycle on short sections of footpath.   IMHO it could be done relatively cheaply, would announce (through the existence of signed routes) that one can cycle large parts of Birmingham safely, and would act as a precursor to Dutch-style traffic priority changes.   It got almost no support.   This is as far as I've got so far using almost entirely my own efforts.   Imagine what we could do if we worked together to design a network and and then stuck up a few home-made laminated signs.   That's what the Dutch did forty years ago.   Alternatively we can wait for BCC.   From what I've seen so far that will be a very long wait and the results are likely to be partly uncyclable.

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Permalink Reply by Ian-C on February 5, 2012 at 17:45

why is it that out side the woodlands hospital in Northfield its OK to cycle on the foot path  as its a marked cycle path and its not ok to cycle on the same footpath same width and even less pedestrians further back down by Bournville. Another idea why not use the old tram route from Birmingham to Rednal and Rubery IE the central reservation of the Bristol road and stick in a purpose built cycle road

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Permalink Reply by Toby on February 5, 2012 at 18:44

Don't be disheartened Robert. This site has seen your initiative, the innertube map and my listing of routes to avoid. I am sure there've been loads others on Birmingham Cyclist. Sometimes the forum format does not lend itself well to more long term projects as they get lost among more recent posts from other contributors or the good intentions get lost in debate. We should all keep plugging away and use the extra momentum if The Times' campaign.
We are collaborating, sharing ideas and know how and proving Jon Snow wrong when he describes the lack of camaraderie between cyclists.

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Permalink Reply by Rich22222 on February 5, 2012 at 19:25

I'm well behind the idea of creating decent cycle routes on the canals, I love canal cycling in the summer and literally follow the canal from Edgbaston to Great Bridge and back every day, but on the road. Would be so much more enjoyable if I could use the canals all year round.

If Birmingham and the West Mids have anything going for them it is surely the existing canal network!

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Permalink Reply by LS on February 5, 2012 at 22:36

I don't think we will be seeing any new schemes built outside of North Birmingham in the near future. Cycling as transport appears to be totally off the radar of the current establishment in Birmingham. The car is still King.  The Big City Plan mentions cycling and walking a lot but doesn't seem to be backed up with any action as far as cycling is concerned. Developments in the city centre appear to expect cyclists to share the pavements with pedestrians which makes cycling across the city centre not much quicker than walking.

I had a quick glance at the Birmingham Post in Sainsburys earlier, both articles I scanned appear to backup my fears. Icknield Port Loop Regeneration is claimed will be a "sustainable urban neighbourhood" but no mention of cycling despite being 1 mile from the city centre.

Mission to make Millenium Point a major attraction The new director (a cyclist) wants people to "park up at 6pm and stay for 4 or 5 hours". He lists some of the new developments in Eastside including "a fabulous multi-story(sic) car park", who has ever heard a multi-storey car park described as fabulous before?

I expect that future residents of the "sustainable urban neighbourhood" will mostly be driving the 1.5 miles across the city to park in the fabulous car park for a good night out. I won't be.

Things might be different if the council changes hands in May and/or Birmingham gets a Mayor. The problem is it could get worse.

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Permalink Reply by Rich22222 on February 5, 2012 at 22:59

It would be interesting to know if any of the possible future mayoral candidates have signed upto the times cycling manifesto. It would at least be some evidence of their commitment to cycling as opposed to having to trust their words.

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Permalink Reply by James Lee on February 6, 2012 at 7:12

What a lot of people forget is that the fourteen or so feet of tarmac between the curb and the broken white marker lines down the centre of the road is a CYCLE LANE.

Oh yes it is!

 

Cyclists can use it without being impeded by any traffic. Motor vehicles in side roads must Give way to them. Following vehicles must not overtake if it is dangerous to do so. ( that means if the cyclist occupys the tarmac for THEIR safety, the motorcar must wait ).

 

Cyclists are NOT 2nd class citizens. Cyclists have an EQUAL right of thoroughfare along a roadway.

 

All roads in Brum ( except the A38(M) :-) ) are safe if the cyclist knows what he or she is doing, and rides in an assertive and dominant style.

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Permalink Reply by Robert on February 6, 2012 at 9:11

Yesterday I was cycling on Oak Tree Lane in primary position trying to turn right into Sellywood Road.   I had already looked over my shoulder twice and my right arm was sticking out parallel to the ground, which the Highway Code will tell you are both indications that a cyclist is turning right.   Despite this and the presence of a school and two road junctions an incompetent driver in a Mercedes swung on to the opposite side of the carriageway and floored the accelerator to overtake me so he could save a few seconds.   His incompetence put me and others in a dangerous situation.   I don't care if he wrecks his Mercedes; indeed, one day I hope he does.   I do care if his inability to drive safely causes death, injury, and misery to others.   As a cyclist I don't have the benefit of 1500kg of Mercedes around me to protect me from idiots.   Now read this quote from a fellow member of this forum:

I am new to cycling and to be honest can't imagine cycling on a busy main road with trucks buses and cars trying to drive you in to the nearest curb side pothole.

Your argument, James, is literally fatally flawed, and does nothing to help novice cyclists; the status quo is not acceptable.   Please keep your argument for the status quo on the rant thread that was created for you and let the rest of us discuss how we can make cycling around Brum safer and more pleasant both on and off road.

James Lee said:

Following vehicles must not overtake if it is dangerous to do so. ( that means if the cyclist occupys the tarmac for THEIR safety, the motorcar must wait ).

 

Cyclists are NOT 2nd class citizens. Cyclists have an EQUAL right of thoroughfare along a roadway.

 

All roads in Brum ( except the A38(M) :-) ) are safe if the cyclist knows what he or she is doing, and rides in an assertive and dominant style.

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