A Labour MP has warned that cycling and walking should not be “treated as an afterthought” in the same week a local active travel hub, as well as indoor bike parking facilities, are set to shut permanently.
Cycling and walking hubs across Tees Valley, ran in conjunction with the Walk Wheel Cycle Trust (formerly Sustrans) will close this week, creating what the combined authority describes as a “short period of disruption” as it moves to a new outreach services provider.
The hubs, based in Middlesbrough, Stockton, and Hartlepool, aim to encourage more people to travel actively and provide services including cycle parking, free bike checks by mechanics, guided walks and rides, cycle maintenance courses, and personalised travel plans.
The Hartlepool and Stockton hubs will close temporarily, Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) says, before reopening in late August as operational bases for an incoming provider to deliver new outreach services across the region. Active travel services at all hubs will be paused from Thursday 30 July.
However, the Middlesbrough Walking and Cycling Hub, based in Cleveland Shopping Centre, will be shut permanently, as will the bike parking facilities at the Stockton hub, a move described by Stockton North MP Chris McDonald branded the “wrong decision for Teesside”.
Pointing out that the Stockton hub had built a “loyal community”, the Labour politician told TeessideLive: “Cycling and walking deserve to be at the heart of our transport strategy, not treated as an afterthought.”
According to the combined authority, a new operator has been selected, subject to final approval, and will be place by the end of next month, offering new outreach-based active travel services in each of the region’s five local authorities.
The Middlesbrough cycle hub was originally due to be closed earlier this year, before it and the other hubs, including two more in Redcar and Darlington, were given a stay of execution until the end of July.
A TVCA spokesperson admitted that the changes will be “disappointing for some residents and partners”, but insisted that this “fresh model will allow us to make the best use of the funding available and expand support across all five of our boroughs”.
They said: “Active travel remains key for the combined authority – there will be new secure 24/7 cycle parking facilities across all five of our boroughs by the end of this year. We’re confident this new approach will deliver greater long-term benefits across our region.”
Of course, this isn’t the first time the combined authority’s commitment to active travel has been called into question in Teesside.
In May, a Middlesbrough cycle lane at the centre of a long-running saga was finally ripped out, the four years since it was installed marked by a fierce local backlash, a string of pedestrian and cyclist injuries, and political acrimony.
The protected bike lane on Linthorpe Road, which critics dubbed Britain’s ‘most-hated’ piece of cycling infrastructure, was fully removed and the affected sections of road resurfaced, with parking spaces reinstated.
It was originally completed in September 2022 after Middlesbrough Council secured £1.7 million in government funding to promote active travel and create a “quick and safe” route into the town centre.
However, backlash followed almost immediately, with business owners complaining that the redesign reduced parking and drop-off access, with some claiming it hurt footfall.
One trader branded the route “an absolute disaster”, while others raised concerns that it had the potential to become a “clear getaway” route for shoplifters and drug dealers because of the dividers separating the lane from the road.
Safety concerns also emerged after several injuries, sustained by pedestrians and cyclists, were attributed to the route’s ‘orca’ lane dividers.
However, in response to the FOI request, Middlesbrough Council also revealed that a smaller proportion of injuries on Linthorpe Road had involved cyclists after the bike lane was installed compared to previous years.
The council said that between 2015 and 2021 there were 57 injuries on the road, of which 23 per cent (14) involved cyclists. But between 2022 and 2024, after the cycle lane was added, just 12 per cent (three) of the 26 injuries recorded were people on bikes.
Meanwhile, data published by the council in 2024 showed that the protected cycle lane contributed to the number of cyclists using the road increasing by 70 per cent, at the same time injuries were falling.
Nevertheless, a public consultation in 2024 reportedly found strong support for scrapping the lane, although the removal itself became mired in political disagreement between Ben Houchen and Chris Cooke, the mayors of Tees Valley and Middlesbrough respectively, over who would fund the works.
“The Linthorpe cycle lane was a disaster, causing congestion, hammering local businesses and making life harder for the people who actually use the town centre every day,” Houchen said in May following the lane’s removal.
“Cycle lanes have to work in the real world, and this scheme has caused nothing but problems since day one. We’ve listened to residents and local firms to finally put this right.”
3 thoughts on “Cycling should not be “treated as an afterthought,” MP warns after bike hubs shut for good by combined authority which fought to rip out controversial cycle lane”
I live and cycle to work in this area and the Linthorpe cycle lane was quite an unfolding saga. Ben Houchen first campaigned for it, then realised people blame cyclists for everything they don’t like, so he jumped firmly onto that bandwagon. The main talking points were complete nonsense of course, with the usual ’causes congestion’, ‘helps criminal activity’, ‘harms businesses’ getting an airing, without any evidence. The plus side will be the now booming businesses and no congestion along Linthorpe Road this year 😂
Aren’t there some local businessmen that for example a local mayor could bring in to
buy the rights to the former cycle lane for a penny and cash in once it’s been redeveloped at the public expenseer… obviously nobody would do that, I meant “help out with improving the area”?When certain businessess were part of a campaign that were against improving public transport routes, I blacklisted them. One of them was a local bicycle shop. When politicians and councillors did the same, they were taken off the list. Send a strong message to these people