“It’s a bad example still lingering around”: Plans to scrap “unpopular” cycle lane unanimously approved by council, as mayor aims to bring “credibility” to active travel initiatives

A cycle lane in Middlesbrough which has had a truly torrid time during its two years of existence, resulting in strange shoplifting and drug-dealing complaints, cyclist and pedestrian injuries, vitriol from local business owners, and even public political spats between two rival mayors, is conclusively in its last days of life after the council unanimously approved plans for its removal — but in typical fashion, the removal is also set to face delays, and won’t go ahead until next year.

While a lot of cycle lanes in the country have served as battlegrounds for political and cultural ideologies, Linthorpe Road has perhaps been the exemplar for shedloads of opposing views coming to a head. Not just local traders and anti-cycling campaigners, the protected bike lane has also been lambasted by cyclists, with several riders as well as pedestrians suffering injuries due to its poor design.

The cycle lane has been teed up for being jettisoned since May last year, with Middlesbrough Council’s Labour mayor Chris Cooke’s successful election campaign heavily featuring binning the £1.7 million scheme that was approved by his predecessor and independent mayor Andy Preston and delivered by Ben Houchen, the Conservative mayor leading Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA).

Since then, the issue turned into a political playground between the two rival mayors, both indulging in a war of words with each other. Cooke was accused of “abysmal failure” for failing to rip out “disastrous” cycle lane, who in turn wrote an open letter this February taking shots at his TVCA counterpart Houchen.

Three weeks ago, it finally appeared that the conflict may be coming to a conclusion as Cooke called on the council to vote to scrap the “hated” cycle lane and end the “ridiculous saga once and for all” — the whole kerfuffle expected to cost the local authority around £3 million.

> Is this the end for Britain’s most controversial bike lane? Mayor calls on council to scrap “hated” cycle lane and end “ridiculous saga once and for all” – costing local authority £3 million

Now, Middlesbrough Council’s Labour Executive have finally approved the TVCA designs to remove the Linthorpe Road cycle lane, with TVCA also funding the removal, The Northern Echo reports.

At the meeting, on Wednesday, December 4, executive member for environment and sustainability Councillor Peter Gavigan said: “Approving this report would allow TVCA to undertake a business case for the removal of the cycle lane”.

He added: “This report deals only with the design of the replacement of the Linthorpe Road cycle lane, consideration around the funding and the wider implications around its removal will be brought to a subsequent Executive in the new year, when the final proposals are received from TVCA.”

> Cycle lane will be "clear getaway" for shoplifters and drug dealers, business owners claim

However, despite Houchen’s calls to have “spades in the ground” before Christmas, it looks unlikely to happen, with the most probable next step in the process being further proposals put forward to Middlesbrough Council’s Executive in January.

At the Executive meeting, Mayor Cooke said: “It’s incredibly important that we respect communities and areas and this feels like we did something to a community, by the previous administration and TVCA. This is us starting to undo that.” He added that future cycle schemes “need to have credibility”. 

Conservative Councillor David Coupe asked: “Can we have an assurance that [for] any future cycle lanes, there will be proper consultation in the area?” He clarified that he had nothing against cycle lanes or pedestrianisation, in principle, but that more consultation was needed.

Cooke replied: “Absolutely,” adding there is no point consulting if one does not then listen. He explained that he wanted green initiatives to gain credibility and that they would likely struggle in Middlesbrough as long as there is a “bad example still lingering around”, basically meaning that the removal of the Linthorpe Road cycle lane would wipe the slate clean.

Linthorpe Road cycle lane (Middlesbrough Council)

Back in 2022, before the project – approved by the North Yorkshire town’s former independent mayor Andy Preston – was even completed, traders on the street somewhat bizarrely raised concerns that the scheme would provide a “clear getaway” for drug dealers and shoplifters.

And despite the infrastructure increasing the number of cyclists using the road by 70 per cent, the low Orca dividers initially introduced to separate the bike lane from traffic through ‘light’ segregation were almost immediately condemned for creating a safety hazard for cyclists and pedestrians, while also failing to deter motorists from illegally driving or parking in the cycle lane.

> Political spat between Conservative and Labour mayors finally comes to an end as both reach agreement to remove "unpopular" cycle lane that "simply hasn't worked"

In October 2022, cyclist Paul Harris – who was hospitalised after hitting one of the Orca separators – claimed that the layout forced people on bikes to “constantly” dodge parked cars, buses, and pedestrians, and that a comprehensive overhaul of the lane was required “before someone gets killed”.

The 50-year-old’s nasty spill came less than two months after a 78-year-old woman was left with a broken wrist, a black eye, and concussion after tripping over one of the bike lane markers on the same road, while a 27-year-old fractured her elbow on a night out while crossing the lane.

This recent vote of approval to scrap the much-maligned cycle lane marks another chapter in what we can only assume would be the dawdling final act of the saga of the most controversial cycle lane in Britain. Is the epilogue going to be one of resolution and new beginnings, or will it tepidly set things back to (moto-)normality? Only time will tell…