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Author Topic: Greater Manchester Cycling and Walking Strategy.  (Read 1942 times)

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andy+kirsty

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Re: Greater Manchester Cycling and Walking Strategy.
« Reply #10 on: October 01, 2019, 03:51:32 PM »
Thanks for reporting back - I had intended on going but is was stuck in traffic!!


CTCREP

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Re: Greater Manchester Cycling and Walking Strategy.
« Reply #9 on: October 01, 2019, 12:33:11 PM »
I attended the Council’s Cycling and Walking Forum, and having tried to improve cycling conditions in the Borough for at least twenty years, very little has changed.  As Andy has said “what we do need is a significant conversation locally about the district centre, routes to and from schools, transport interchanges, and the transformation of Marple by creating a 'filtered neighbourhood' or 'mini holland' from the Rec down to the Texaco”.  Unfortunately there are no proposals like this in the Plans we saw a week or two back, and they weren’t discussed at the meeting. However there may be a glimmer of hope as Transport for Greater Manchester is asking for suitable projects which I trust the local Walking and Cycling Group will pursue.

I should really wait for the minutes of the meeting to come out, but it was said the route from Otterspool Bridge into Stockport, which should have been completed about 10 years ago, and should have been part of the recent Cycling and Walking Plans, is now going ahead and will be surfaced with the same material as has been used in the Mellor Strines area.  Requests for the surfacing to be continued onto the Middlewood Way, at least as far as the awaited High Lane link to the A6MARR didn’t get a really positive response, but should be one of the Council’s future projects. Don’t hold you breath.

CTCREP

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Re: Greater Manchester Cycling and Walking Strategy.
« Reply #8 on: September 20, 2019, 04:41:58 PM »
For those interested, there is to be a meeting in Fred Perry House, next to the Town Hall, starting at 6pm on Monday 30th of September. There is to be a presentation from Transport for Greater Manchester.  In the past these meetings were open to anyone with an interest in cycling, but just to be sure you may wish to contact Stockport's Cycling Officer   don.naylor@stockport.gov.uk

I would hope that those who live in the Marple area would question why Marple appears to have been left out of the proposals, particularly when National Cycle Network Route 55 - the Middlewood Way into Stockport has been waiting for over ten years to be completed.  Contrary to our understand, from when this was first proposed, the Council now claims this is an aspirational route requiring an additional bridge over the River Goyt. This may or may not be the case, but the cost of changing the road layout on Millgate, to provide an unwanted shared footpath and cycleway, would probably have more than covered the cost of the possibly unnecessary  bridge.

andy+kirsty

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Re: Greater Manchester Cycling and Walking Strategy.
« Reply #7 on: September 19, 2019, 10:01:59 AM »
I agree, we can't look at any single mode of transport in isolation; and that includes cars! They are currently and must continue to be a necessary form of transport. Until truly viable alternatives come into play, the motorist cannot be penalised or pilloried as seems currently to be the case.

I agree, although there is no sense in putting ourselves into boxes. Yesterday I was a motorist, today I'm a cyclist and train user. Tomorrow we have been told we can work from home as a gesture to the climate strikes which will happen.

 Motorists will benefit from reduced car use from those who can cycle, cyclists will benefit from better infrastructure and courteous driving.

A

jimblob

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Re: Greater Manchester Cycling and Walking Strategy.
« Reply #6 on: September 18, 2019, 01:19:08 PM »
I think though that we can't view cycling in isolation - what we do need is a significant conversation locally about the district centre, routes to and from schools, transport interchanges, and the transformation of Marple by creating a 'filtered neighbourhood' or 'mini holland' from the Rec down to the Texaco. Pedestrian priority zebra crossings between all schools with segregated cycle lanes. There are some visualisations here - https://tfgm.com/made-to-move/visualise-the-future

If there were some safe routes to local schools, from where people live to local rail stations and a segregated route to Stockport centre, then I think many of traffic issues we face during the great escape each morning would be alleviated.
I agree, we can't look at any single mode of transport in isolation; and that includes cars! They are currently and must continue to be a necessary form of transport. Until truly viable alternatives come into play, the motorist cannot be penalised or pilloried as seems currently to be the case.

andy+kirsty

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Re: Greater Manchester Cycling and Walking Strategy.
« Reply #5 on: September 18, 2019, 09:26:10 AM »
I think people will know I'm an advocate for Cycling - regularly cycle to Stockport, Manchester and once a week go full MAMIL to my office in Horwich.

There is a disconnect between the aspirations of the City Mayor, the the really exciting BeeLines plans, and the implementation at a Local Authority level, I think because planners are not used to prioritising pedestrians and cyclists. This will gradually change, once the infrastructure is in place there will be a greater chance of changing our culture. 30+ years ago Amsterdam had terrible traffic congestion. It took a generation to change that but it has been done, they are now proposing to ban all petrol and diesel vehicles from the centre.

Manchester as a city is pretty flat, once you reach Heaton Mersey you're fine. It can also be a question of route planning - Brabyns brow is a struggle, using the path up through the park to the canal is much nicer and adds about 2 minutes onto the journey. Experience and education will solve this - programmes like 'Bikeability' should be extended to all.

I think though that we can't view cycling in isolation - what we do need is a significant conversation locally about the district centre, routes to and from schools, transport interchanges, and the transformation of Marple by creating a 'filtered neighbourhood' or 'mini holland' from the Rec down to the Texaco. Pedestrian priority zebra crossings between all schools with segregated cycle lanes. There are some visualisations here - https://tfgm.com/made-to-move/visualise-the-future

If there were some safe routes to local schools, from where people live to local rail stations and a segregated route to Stockport centre, then I think many of traffic issues we face during the great escape each morning would be alleviated.

andrewbowden

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Re: Greater Manchester Cycling and Walking Strategy.
« Reply #4 on: September 17, 2019, 07:14:41 PM »
Having worked in the Netherlands from time to time, and comparing this with our current mature (post industrial revolution) developed urban and suburban landscapes and the fact that Stockport is on elevated ground at the confluence of the rivers Goyt and Tame, creating the River Mersey, we'd need, not only to bring back dinosaurs to flatten the earth but also have to suffer some form of apocalyptic happening to mean we could start again. Thinking we can target and "convert" 40% of car journey's to cycling is, in my opinion, delusional. I don't deny there's a valid and worthwhile cause here and a place for the humble bicycle, but we have to be realistic and practical for fear of being ridiculed.

You don't need to convert all of them to cycling.  You probably won't.  But you could convert many of them to cycling.  Many to waking. 

There's lots of journeys that can be done without hills round here. 

jimblob

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Re: Greater Manchester Cycling and Walking Strategy.
« Reply #3 on: September 17, 2019, 06:00:34 PM »
Having worked in the Netherlands from time to time, and comparing this with our current mature (post industrial revolution) developed urban and suburban landscapes and the fact that Stockport is on elevated ground at the confluence of the rivers Goyt and Tame, creating the River Mersey, we'd need, not only to bring back dinosaurs to flatten the earth but also have to suffer some form of apocalyptic happening to mean we could start again. Thinking we can target and "convert" 40% of car journey's to cycling is, in my opinion, delusional. I don't deny there's a valid and worthwhile cause here and a place for the humble bicycle, but we have to be realistic and practical for fear of being ridiculed.

andrewbowden

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Re: Greater Manchester Cycling and Walking Strategy.
« Reply #2 on: September 17, 2019, 04:07:19 PM »
Short journeys - there's that well known statistic where around 40% of car journeys under 2 miles long.  Easily done on a bike.  And they're probably right to focus on that. 

Why?  Because it's an easy sell.  Two miles?  Nothing on your bike.  You persuade people to do 2 miles.  Then they think maybe I could do three.  Four.  Five.  And so on.  It's a far easier sell to get people not cycling much to do two miles than it is to get them to do 5 or 10.  Persuading someone to cycle Marple to Stockport is going to be harder than persuading them to cycle to Romiley.  But once they're cycling to Romiley, maybe cycling to Stockport isn't so bad.

Focus on short journeys.  That's a strategy that stands a greater chance of success.  It's a quicker, easier sell.  And with 40% of car journeys up for grabs, the impact could be absolutely massive.

I totally get where they're coming from.  Because I don't see much point in preaching to the converted on this one. 

CTCREP

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Greater Manchester Cycling and Walking Strategy.
« Reply #1 on: September 17, 2019, 02:29:32 PM »
The Greater Manchester Cycling and Walking Challenge Fund  https://secretmanchester.com/bee-network/ is aimed at encouraging more people to cycle or walk.

There are 3 reasons for encouraging Cycling - to reduce Congestion and Pollution, and for Health Benefits, and these objectives will only be achieved if cycling is made safer and more convenient, particularly for longer local journeys that are often undertaken by car.

Unfortunately they keep using the term "short journey", but I suspect they meant more than just catering for the school run.

 I attended a recent Cycling and Walking Workshop in Stockport, and from the little I saw practically none of those objectives will be achieved by Stockport’s plans. They appear to have been reached without consulting regular cyclists.  I have been told they recently combined their Cycle User Group with a Walking Group but failed to provide a room in which to hold meetings.

None of the proposed “improvements” are in the Marple Area, and apart from one suggestion that has been on the books for about 10 years, the rest are minor changes that should have been dealt with by the Council under general improvements, such as a dropped curb in one case.  This money should be used for major improvements and the two obvious improvements in our area are the proper surfacing of the MIddlewood Way, at least as far as High Lane and its connection to the A6MARR, and the Connect2 project - the route from Rosehill into Stockport via Chadkirk that is awaiting completion and is considered an Aspirational Route by Stockport Council but doesn’t appear in the proposals although this too has been on the books for about 10 years.

If there is anyone out there who can stop Stockport Council wasting money on minor changes that will only affect a few people instead of completing major projects, and to bring this Council into the 20th Century, let alone the 21st, then please take up this issue.