Manchester City Council has reminded motorists and coach drivers attending Manchester City football matches that illegal parking “is not acceptable in any set of circumstances”, after a local cyclist shared videos and images of vehicles “constantly blocking” a protected cycle lane outside the Treble winners’ Etihad Stadium on matchdays.
The local authority pointed out that a wealth of transport options now exists for football fans travelling to the old City of Manchester Stadium, built for the 2002 Commonwealth Games and situated next to the National Cycling Centre and Manchester Velodrome, the home of British Cycling.
The council also told road.cc that it “shares the frustration of cyclists” who have their route blocked by inconsiderate parking, which one cyclist claimed was putting lives in danger during City home matches.
According to Manchester-based cyclist Martin, who also commutes in the area by van, on matchdays the cycle lane on Alan Turing Way – the A6010 main road that cuts through the area’s Sportcity facilities – is “constantly blocked by minibuses and coaches” used by travelling supporters.
“They actually straddle the bike/car divide, and this then makes the cycle lane impossible to use and forces cyclists into the duel carriageway – right into the door zone of the waiting vehicles,” Martin tells road.cc.
“This whole stretch is blocked by at least 20 commercial vehicles at a time. I’ve told Manchester City Council about this multiple times, but they have taken no action.”
During City’s rather lacklustre 0-0 draw with fellow league title challengers Arsenal on Sunday, Martin also claimed that “plenty of police cars, horses, and bikes were just ignoring” the bike lane-blocking buses along the road.
While Martin notes that the situation is currently at its worst when City, the dominant Premier League team of the past decade (ongoing Financial Fair Play investigation notwithstanding), are playing at home, he believes that the completion of Co-op Live, which is set to be the UK’s largest indoor area when it opens its doors in the Etihad Campus this month, could make things even more dangerous for local cyclists.
“It needs addressing before Co-op Live is open and hopefully before someone is hurt,” he says. “I find it shocking that on a route some of the Team GB riders use to ride home, they can put lives in danger like this.
“I don’t actually cycle commute through here, I’m in a large transit van. But even in my cage there have been moments where I thought I was in danger – I can only imagine how any cyclist must feel along this route.
“You’d think they would get it better near a couple of national cycling venues.”
Responding to Martin’s concerns, a spokesperson for Manchester City Council told road.cc: “Illegal parking is not acceptable in any set of circumstances and the Council shares the frustration of cyclists who are trying to travel, only to have their route blocked through inconsiderate parking.
“Officers work daily – not just on matchdays – to enforce against illegal parking, and the council would remind people that there is now a wealth of public transport options open to people travelling to and from the area, meaning there is no excuse to park illegally.”
> Spurs and Chelsea fans urged to cycle to ‘world’s first net zero carbon football match’
According to Manchester City’s website, there are no clear instructions for parking on matchdays, though the club do note that the stadium – which is “within easy walking distance” from the city centre – is “extremely accessible from all major highways”.
When it comes to cycling provision, City say there are “over 500” cycle parking spaces at the Etihad Campus, and that a Bee Network bike hire station is located outside the ground.
> Footballers who cycle XI — the Premier League stars who love life on two wheels
Perhaps the reigning English and European champions could ask former manager Roberto Mancini, famous for riding his road bike to training and for counting Marco Pantani among his sporting heroes, for advice on how to make the road outside their ground more accommodating for cyclists?
54 thoughts on “Manchester City fans slammed for “constantly blocking” cycle lane outside Etihad Stadium, as council says it “shares cyclists’ frustration” with illegal parking”
If you can convince people
If you can convince people hungry to smell gasoline, to ditch their car for their bike, anything is possible. https://dutchcycling.nl/knowledge/cycling-news/car-free-grand-prix-how-the-dutch-bike-to-track/
But you must of course really want it.
It’s not so much convincing
It’s not so much convincing them as just telling them cars are banned on the local roads, either you use public transport, cycle, walk or you just don’t go to the race.
Try the same thing at Silverstone I don’t think you’d get very far.
The crocodile tears of the
The crocodile tears of the City Council are not surprising- if they really meant it, they would actually take enforcement action!
bureaucrats ‘sharing their
bureaucrats ‘sharing their frustrations’ is like politicians ‘sending thoughts and prayers’. I.e. hand wringing, but no action.
Anything to do with ‘115
Anything to do with ‘115 charges’ is untouchable……..Nothing will happen.
The bike “lane” in the
The bike “lane” in the photographs is a joke anyway. We’ve got one like that near us. I tend to ride to the right of it, as it is effectively a glorified gutter, being invariably full of potholes and/or rubbish. The one advantage of the one in the pic is that it appears to made of a slightly less coarse aggregate than the world-beating stuff used for the rest of the road.
If it’s full of potholes that
If it’s full of potholes that can only be because of the intense use by tens of thousands of cyclists per day, all carrying their family and a week’s shopping on a 25 kilo Omafiets, am I right?
Looks slightly above average
Looks slightly above average for the UK: separated from cars, behind a vertical kerb on the carriageway side, passable width, clearly demarcated from the additional separate footway, plus there are even markings (no parking) for otherwise perfect drivers who haven’t been near a Highway Code (or TV or radio) for a couple of years or more.
Con: UK standard at junctions e.g. it disappears, UK standard driver behaviour (completely ignoring it except as a place to park), UK standard enforcement (none), separation is a little narrow from the
narrow streetMASSIVE dual carriageway next to it, not sure what thought has been given to drainage (see NL for “regular drains, often in-kerb”), the kerbs need to be “forgiving” e.g. 45 degree slope or maybe less, the entire think should be given a continous coat of hard-wearing coloured asphalt to scream “cycle path here” (colour should be standard: I’m all for rainbows but we need to pick one colour across the UK so everyone understands the infra. Well, OK, perhaps each home nation wants to pick its own?)Manchester City Council have
Manchester City Council have spent stack loads of money building the B Line cycle path network. It’s actually not bad but could have been great if cyclists had been involved in the planning and building contol.
However in certain areas it’s just used as a car park. I see cars, van, lorries parked in it every single day. I take a photo of each vehicle just for the record.
Does anyone know how to report parking in the cycle lanes to MCC? I can’t find anything on the website specifically for cars parked in cycle lanes and no facility to upload a picture. I’ve asked the council, but obviously no reply.
no facility to upload a
no facility to upload a picture
That mean they really don’t want to know, and really couldn’t care less. Just like Lancashire Constabulary and DVLA. DVLA make sure that you can’t send in photos of cars on the road without VED, because there are so many of them and they can’t be bothered doing anything about any they’re told about. Same with the idlest police force in the world- this vehicle VX70 GXV, never MOTd and SORN-ed, was reported to LC on 2.10.23
Oh hey, round my end, yeah
Oh hey, round my end, yeah round here on matchday is a nightmare, all it takes is a few traffic wardens to do the rounds every match day and people will soon take the hint, its not like we dont have carparks, they just refuse to pay for them
Who You gonna call?
Who You gonna call?
The Tyre Extinguishers of course.
The annoyance and delay, in refilling all 4 tyres, to all the passengers will hopefully make them and the drivers think twice next time.
It would certainly hurt more than a miniscule fine.
There’s no excuse for messing
There’s no excuse for messing around with people’s cars. It’s cowardly and irresponsible.
Its taking responsibility for
Its taking responsibility for safety in an area where the authorities are letting us down and its brave to stand up to bullies who think just because they are protected by a metal box they can make things dangerous for others. I would say its the opposite of cowardly and irresponsible.
What is cowardly and irresponsible is putting other’s lives at risk by leaving your car somewhere dangerous because you are too afraid to pay for parking like a responsible person.
How is deflating some
How is deflating some stranger’s tyres taking responsibility for safety? If anything it’s the opposite. A car isn’t a toy. Tyes are a safety-critical component. Messing about with them isn’t clever at all.
The fact that you think the driver has done something wrong isn’t justification for your doing something equally wrong.
Indeed.
Indeed.
However these considerations always seems to be invoked in one direction. Sometimes blocking the pavement / cycle path isn’t “nothing” or “just walk round it”. It might even be a serious hazard or completely stop someone getting about. That access can be required by those with disabilities, discourage children from going into the road, could even enable emergency vehicles to get through a traffic blockage.
Active travel infra is not “optional”*, nor “just for kids / recreation”, any more than the roads are in practice “for” serious and consequential stuff (“essential travel” – carrying lifesaving equipment, fetching life-sustaining provisions, making a living, serving livelihood-supporting businesses, enabling young lives to blossom or maintaining a social life).
At the very least – how will people safely reach their cars without?
* Where it’s not just “but you’ve got the park” or “you can walk on the verge” or “I can get my bike down that alley”.
john_smith wrote:
FTFY
No one here is recommending
No one here is recommending you park in a cycle lane.
But you don’t seem to be
But you don’t seem to be critical of them judging by your posts.
That’s a bit like saying
That’s a bit like saying objecting to people chucking soup at old masters implies you’re not critical of climate change.
Currently at six posts on
Currently at six posts on this thread in the last four hours and still not typed a word against the illegal parking, are you afraid of wearing out your keyboard?
Gone on then. What would you
Gone on then. What would you like me to type about illegal parking?
Perhaps you could type that
Perhaps you could type that you don’t approve of it, but only if you really don’t approve of it, I wouldn’t want you to lie.
I could type it, but why
I could type it, but why should I? I fact, I am going to type that I wholeheartedly approve of it, especially when it particularly inconveniences peds and cyclists.
I’ll leave it to you to decide whether I am telling the truth or not. Happy now?
john_smith wrote:
I’m always happy, I knew from the first post that you lived under a bridge but if you’re busy responding to me you’re not annoying someone else 😉
john_smith wrote:
There’s no excuse for parking in bike lanes or on pavements. It’s cowardly and irresponsible.
As I wrote above, no one here
As I wrote above, no one here is recommending you park in cycle lanes. The same goes for pavements. What is your point?
“Officers work daily – not
“Officers work daily – not just on matchdays – to enforce against illegal parking”
Seems to be a typo:
“Officers work daily – just not on matchdays – to enforce against illegal parking”
“Manchester City fans slammed
“Manchester City fans slammed”
People will do whatever they can get away with. It would be better if the Manchester City Council is slammed for lack of enforcement.
In their defence most other local authorities aren’t going win any prizes for enforcement of motorists parking in cycle lanes. But it isn’t much of a defence.
I know around other football
I know around other football stadiums in lower leagues, local councils are always very strong issuing parking tickets for fans dumping their cars where they aren’t supposed to.
I don’t understand why Manchester City Council arent ?
Matchday tickets with prawn
Matchday tickets with prawn sandwiches and Prosecco don’t grow on trees, you know…
And at the end of my road:
And at the end of my road:
The lazy drivers making a mockery of south Manchester’s controversial ‘green’ cycle route
Well. That was a suprise. Segregated bike lane turns into car park 30 seconds after completion. I am shocked. And yesterday.
Locals in despair as ‘two HUGE holes’ appear in controversial new cycle lane
I am moved to the words of Mary Hinge’s iconic and pivotal musical masterpiece, “Enter me Lord, and show me thy mercy”. Except in more succinct and Mancunian terms.
And that’s why I try to avoid bike infrastructure in Manchester. MCC tick a bunch of boxes with building it, but then refuse to do any enforcement, and it ends up being worse and more dangerous than it was before. But perhaps it’s not surprising when our mayor, Andy ”Speedy” Burnham parrots talking points from the Daily Mail. Man’s all shorts and no pad.
Having lived a stone’s throw
Having lived a stone’s throw from there I can confirm the state of parking/travel in general on match/event days I agree the addition of the coop arena will compound these issues further. In short the what the council say and do are completely separate they say they “share” the frustration caused probably only when they’re leaving the match themselves ?. As for traffic officers I’ve never seen one the nearest residential is private a large park with cemetery takes up a large swath of Alan turning way on the opposite side of the stadium followed by a McDonald’s and asda (and they both hire they’re own fun sponge enforcement).
“Illegal parking is not
“Illegal parking is not acceptable in any set of circumstances…….”
But it clearly is, and the council is training drivers to park in the cycle lanes by not prosecuting them. If they cared so much, or at all, they’d do something: they don’t do something, ergo, they don’t care.
It’s just stereotypical behaviour of drivers, with their utter contempt for the safety of anyone else, especially cyclists. They literally don’t care if you get killed because they’ve parked in your dedicated space.
That’s a pretty impressive
That’s a pretty impressive leap of logic in your last sentence.
john_smith wrote:
Glad you think so.
eburtthebike wrote:
I don’t think there’s any leap of logic there, that is simply the reality with many drivers. I’ve honestly lost count of the number of times I have said to people parking on zigzags, in cycle lanes, on double yellow lines on blind corners et cetera that their behaviour could be responsible for somebody being killed and received either a weary shrug, a verbal response along the lines of either how is it your business or, particularly if it is cyclists’ lives that are being endangered, why should I give a fuck, or on occasion threats of physical violence. Burt is right, they genuinely couldn’t care less about danger to others when it is a question of their own convenience.
That assumes they believe
That assumes they believe they are creating a real danger to others. They might be stupid, unthinking or selfish, but that’s not the same as not caring if someone gets killed.
What difference does it make
What difference does it make fundamentally that these drivers base their attitude on a whole system that doesn’t care about thousands of killed and tens of thousands of maimed and injured?
They’re still very much part of the problem and they’re still very much personally responsible if someone gets killed or injured on that stretch of road.
I didn’t say it made a
I didn’t say it made a difference. I simply do not accept that all motorists who park in the manner in question are psychopaths who would not care if someone got killed. That is all.
What I’m trying to tell you
What I’m trying to tell you is that you don’t need to be a psychopath, and that this fact actually makes it worse.
I don’t know why you feel the
I don’t know why you feel the need to tell me that. My comment above related merely to the claim “They literally don’t care if you get killed”.
john_smith wrote:
It doesn’t really matter whether they care or not after someone gets killed, they won’t be any less dead. What matters is that they don’t care if their selfishness puts people at a higher risk of being killed, and this is demonstrably the case. See also speeding: 99.99% of drivers would be distraught if they killed someone by speeding in a 20 zone, but 85% speed in 20 zones.
Yep. There’s also “it won’t
Yep. There’s also “it won’t happen” > “it won’t happen to *me*” > “it might happen to me but it would be their fault (I can’t feel bad about it)” > “it happened and the police aren’t reassuring me ‘it was an accident’ and there’s a serious chance I’ll be in court”.
You can simply observe that regret is absent for the early ones and becomes much more general for the last.
Intent is often central to the legal system, but behaviours and consequences more pertinent to eg. road safety. #sustainablesafety
There’s always “deep regret”
There’s always “deep regret” after…
“Deep regret” is up there
“Deep regret” is up there alongside “thoughts and prayers” as regards expressing fake sympathy, I think.
The regret is all the deeper
The regret is all the deeper when you’ve paid expensive counsel to compose and read it for you…
Their current manager is also
Their current manager is also a cyclist.
Did he gob on the floor
Did he gob on the floor immediately before or immediately after this photo?
Unfair to tarnish all the
Unfair to tarnish all the piss poor parkers as City fans, surely all the City fans could fit in the Beemer!
Another good example of where
Another good example of where direct action via a just a minute type protest would be justified.
Might be worth pointing out
Might be worth pointing out that Manchester is European capital of cycling
Yeah, but wasn’t Hull the
Yeah, but wasn’t Hull the European capital of culture at one point?
Exactly, the award is a sham
Exactly, the award is a sham, it appears they can’t even keep a cycle lane free from traffic