Controversial cycle lane “will close a whole load of businesses and cost jobs” claims mayor, as rival mayors clash over delays to infrastructure’s removal

The long, drawn-out, and complicated saga surrounding Middlesbrough’s controversial Linthorpe Road cycle lane – encompassing everything from frequent pedestrian and cyclist injuries to opposition from disgruntled business owners and public political spats – has taken another twist this week, after two rival mayors who promised to rip out the infrastructure engaged in yet another war of words over ongoing delays to its removal.

Middlesbrough’s Labour mayor Chris Cooke has this week accused his Conservative Tees Valley counterpart Ben Houchen of “shifting the blame” for the failure to begin work on removing the protected cycle lane, after Houchen claimed that Middlesbrough Council has “ignored local people” by recommending that the infrastructure should, in fact, remain in place.

However, despite the recommendation from council officers that plans to remove the cycle lane should be scrapped, Cooke said “it has always been my intention to overrule any such recommendations”, which he says contradict the wishes of locals, and that Houchen is “evading his responsibilities” to fund the lane’s removal.

> New mayor defends “necessary” decision to scrap controversial cycle lane – just eight months after it was installed

During a four-week consultation period in August, a majority of residents – 75 per cent, according to Houchen – supported plans to reinstate the previous layout on the B1272 Linthorpe Road, a key route into Middlesbrough, which would see the removal of the £1.7 million cycle installed in 2022.

The project, approved by the North Yorkshire town’s former independent mayor Andy Preston, was originally designed to provide cyclists with a “quick and safe” route into the town centre while also creating a more pedestrian-friendly environment with improved road crossings.

However, before the lane was even installed, 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.

> Cyclist says motorists should be prevented from parking in bike lane “before someone gets killed”

In October 2022, cyclist Paul Harris – who was hospitalised after being 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.

Despite the council addressing these safety concerns by replacing the Orcas with wands, and then-mayor Preston scrapping plans for the cycle lane’s extension, the infrastructure has since proved a tense, and often messy, political battleground.

Labour’s Cooke, who replaced Preston as Middlesbrough’s mayor in 2023, made the cycle lane’s removal a key part of his election campaign, claiming it had “caused nothing but injury and mayhem”.

However, he quickly came under pressure from residents and political opponents for his “abysmal failure” to immediately rip out the lane, with Cooke claiming that the works would go ahead once the necessary funds were available.

> 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"

Tees Valley mayor Houchen also then publicly criticised Cooke’s apparent dithering, claiming that “others have promised and failed” to remove the bike lane. But, earlier this year, in an abrupt about-turn, the two feuding mayors united after reaching an agreement to rip out the “unpopular” infrastructure.

But this week, in yet another twist, that brief anti-cycle lane détente was shattered after Houchen claimed that – despite Tees Valley Combined Authority being ready “to put spades in the ground” after agreeing to fund the project – the ongoing delays to the works were a result of Middlesbrough Council recommending that the cycle lane be kept.

“You couldn’t make it up,” Houchen said in a statement this week. “In May, I promised that if I was re-elected I would remove the Linthrope Road cycle lane. Since then, I’ve signed off the money, we’ve gone through consultations, which show three in four local people want it removed and we’re now ready to get on starting the work to remove the cycle lane before Christmas.

“However… after an election, consultation, and sign-off of the money, I’ve received an email from Middlesbrough Council saying they don’t think that it should be taken out and that their recommendation is for it to stay!

“This is completely against what people voted for. and it seems as though Labour-run Middlesbrough Council are doing yet another U-turn by recommending for it to stay.”

> “You need a degree to work out the system”: Local business owners welcome decision to rip out “absolute disaster” cycle lane which led to “lots of customers” getting parking tickets

In a video posted on social media, Houchen claimed that the works were “ready to go” pending the implementation of a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) for the lane’s removal, which it is claimed will cost “several” million pounds.

“The works are ready, the money’s all there, it’s good to go – but the council have to sign off a TRO. They’re recommending that they’re not going to approve that TRO. Without the TRO we can’t do the works, which means Middlesbrough Council are saying they want the cycle lane to remain,” he said.

“It’s highly frustrating, but I’m not going to let Middlesbrough Council let down the town. It’s going to stop businesses from growing on Linthorpe Road, it’s going to close a while load of businesses on Linthorpe Road. I’ve spoken to businesses and they say if the cycle lane isn’t removed, they will close.

“It will cost jobs, and it will also affect the redevelopment of the whole town – the plans for progression, the hotels, the apartments, the housing, the student accommodation, the stuff we want to do in the town centre with House of Fraser. And the Linthorpe Road cycle lane needs to go as a result.

“All the money is signed off to do the works, and it will cost the council nothing, but Middlesbrough Council seem hell bent on ignoring local people again by saying it should remain and they’re refusing to sign off the paperwork that allows the works to start before Christmas. Without it, which only the council can agree, the works cannot start.”

> "Others have promised and failed": Controversial cycle lane becomes battleground for rival mayors

Houchen’s statement, however, has been vociferously denied by Cooke, who argued that any recommendations from council officers to keep the cycle lane will be overturned.

“Yet again, our Tees Valley Mayor has evaded his responsibilities, in order to delay our progress on the cycle lane removal, and has been for months,” the Labour mayor said in a statement, in which he promised to “consign the cycle lane to the history books” and said the local authority was simply waiting for assurances from TVCA that the works would be funded in full.

“Ever since I was elected as your Mayor, I have been fully committed to removing the cycle lane, as per my manifesto promise. What has been the biggest barrier to our progress? Mayor Ben Houchen, and the Tees Valley Combined Authority. For weeks we have been awaiting the sign off of the funding agreement, fulfilling Houchen’s promise to fund the removal of the Linthorpe cycle lane.

“Who funded and backed the cycle lane’s installation? Mayor Ben Houchen, and the Tees Valley Combined Authority.

“While officers may give their recommendations that we maintain this cycle scheme, it has always been my intention to overrule any such recommendations, as the people have spoken very clearly, and I’ve listened to countless businesses and residents alike who want this scheme gone.

“Ben, let's stop this. Provide the funding agreement. Provide the plans we need. Provide the assurances, and let’s get on with it.”