While complaints about cycling infrastructure, whether it be from outspoken residents or opposition politicians, is nothing new; Gloucestershire County Council has been hit with one of the more unique and novel reasons for bike lane dissent we’ve heard in recent times.
The local authority has attracted the ire of city councillors in Gloucester, one representative, Rebecca Trimnell, even from the same party that runs Gloucestershire County Council — the Liberal Democrats.
Despite this, Cllr Trimnell has taken to the local press, telling Gloucestershire Live that she believes local politicians should have been consulted more closely before the works began and that the new cycle lane’s tarmac paving is a “disgrace” that has replaced “historic” paving stones and made a “total utter mess”.
“So far I am actually very disappointed with the work that is being undertaken in creating a cycleway up through the city centre,” she said of the work being done to build a cycle route on Northgate Street, part of a 26-mile-long, county-wide cycle ‘spine’ project that the council hopes will boost active travel across the region, from Bishop’s Cleeve to Stroud via Cheltenham and Gloucester.
“I cannot see it is in keeping with the historic nature of the centre. I have had many people tell me they liked sitting on the benches outside St John’s Church on Northgate Street, but now they’ve been taken out and the railings too.
“Across from the church on the corner of St Aldate Street the old paving stones have been removed and it is now just tarmac. At present it is a disgrace and quite frankly a total utter mess and is simply not good enough.
“I hope it’ll look better on completion, but so far I am not convinced. They should have been left well alone and it’s a shame local representatives such as myself didn’t have more say in the project at the beginning.”
The county council’s highways chief, fellow Lib Dem councillor Joe Harris, said the benches’ removal was only temporary and would be sorted once construction is finished.
“We understand that Gloucester has a unique history, and we’re sorry to hear that some people in the community are unhappy about the construction,” he said. “We really value what the community and local groups think. That’s why we held a public consultation and spoke directly with key people like the city council before starting the work.
“We listened to the feedback and made changes where we could. We’d be happy to meet with Councillor Trimnell, show her around the site, explain how we’re respecting Gloucester’s heritage, and talk about how walking and cycling improvements can benefit the city.”
The Northgate Street stretch is just a tiny part of the county council’s “ambitious cycle spine” which, once complete, will extend across the county from Bishop’s Cleeve in the north to Stroud in the south, linking Gloucester and Cheltenham.
The local authority stated: “It will greatly improve walking and cycling options to homes, employment, education and transport hubs, while supporting the county council’s aims of becoming carbon net zero by 2045 and creating a greener Gloucestershire.
“The Gloucester City Centre cycle spine will deliver the infrastructure required to provide a new and improved walking and cycling facilities through the city centre, connecting to the wider Gloucestershire Cycle Spine.”
Work began in March and is expected to be completed by late autumn 2025.
“This section through Gloucester City Centre is an essential part of the 26-mile cycle spine we’re building across the county,” Cllr David Gray, cabinet member for environment, economy and planning, added. “It will significantly improve walking and cycling options for people, which will help to reduce carbon emissions and encourage active travel.”
Needless to say, this isn’t the first time the ‘Gloucestershire Cycle Spine’ has made headlines for NIMBY opposition or complaints over its installation.
Last year, the council rubbished “completely untrue” claims that the B4063 stretch was too wide.
Likewise, a stretch in Cheltenham attracted attention after disgruntled residents claimed the new cycle lane blocks driveways and the kerbs are “too high”. However, the council said there is “ample visibility” and told drivers “to be suitably careful of all road users when accessing their property”.
18 thoughts on “Politician furious at “disgraceful” cycle lane replacing “historic” paving stones with tarmac “mess””
Ahh yes.
Ahh yes.
The street that we can’t put a cycle lane through because it will destroy its ‘historic nature’, despite the tarmac main carriageway and modern parked cars that make up almost the entire area of said street (having destroyed said ‘historic nature’ decades ago…)
Yup. Ugly buildings from the
Yup. Ugly buildings from the past few decades, striking modern art-ifact, most of the space given over to motor traffic – but the latter is invisible, it’s the horrible cycle track which really offends the eye.
Or perhaps it’s the thought of the deafening roar of all those bikes passing, or the tintinnabulation of the bells?
Having said that many UK LAs can point proudly to cycle “facilities” which are both extra-ugly as well as being no use to cyclists…
Given that it’s a free-for-all when people invent cycle infra in the UK * they could even have made the track a more subtle colour – although presumably that would conflict with the other idea that we have to warn pedestrians of the threat to life and limb from cyclists (or , less snarkily, do all we can to shout at drivers “cyclists may be here”!)?
* Fairly recently I discovered that cycle infra colour and other design details are nowhere prescribed in NL – it’s just that there are strong guidelines and well- established conventions and authorities can be held to account if there are crashes on the infra they build. I’ve heard of examples where short sections were changed because residents felt another colour was more in-keeping.
Not to mention the modern
Not to mention the modern buildings lining it. But crack on idiot councillor.
That junction has been a mess
That junction has been a mess for years since the LA removed conventional lines etc. Near misses left right and centre. I do agree that modern infrastructure should not remove history though .
mattsccm wrote:
What people seem to fail to appreciate is that history (bulldozed for the motor infra) can actually be restored. If only after the idea of “better streets, nicer places is more important than maximum motor vehicle capacity” has taken hold. Example:
https://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/2020/09/16/utrecht-corrects-a-historic-urban-design-mistake/
(A cycle trip round this here)
The street is at least 50%
The street is at least 50% tarmac already for the road, then there’s modern sandstone paving slabs and modern cobble stones. Not sure what exactly she’s so keen to preserve. Might also be worth waiting until they’ve actually finished the job before moaning about the mess!
Dicklexic wrote:
— DicklexicHer seat.
I think hes trying to
I think hes trying to preserve the lack of cyclists.
You can always trust a
You can always trust a politician to take a cheap shot and make a comment that a majority of the ill-informed and “me first” electorate will pile onto. Such politicians tend to be mostly Conservative or Reform. Surprised she’s a Lib-Dem.
Not really surprising after
Not really surprising after the Con Dem Coalition of 2010!
From whay I’ve seen of
From whay I’ve seen of Gloucester this would be the least of their problems. It’s a dump! What’s more it’s the kind of old town that would benefit from less traffic as it’s not capable of handling the current levels.
Wait till she hears about the
Wait till she hears about the carnage caused by roadbuilding and HS2, and they make life worse, cost billions and fail to achieve their aims.
The Gloucestershire Cycle
The Gloucestershire Cycle Spine sounds like a great project.
Luckily, as the Cllr is only now voicing her objections when construction work has already started, it is too late.
There will always be a reason to object for those looking for one, whether it’s ‘save the paving’ or ‘save the grass verge’. These objectors seem to put zero value on what is being built because they think ‘there’s nothing in it for me’.
Quote:
“Across from the church on the corner of St Aldate Street the old paving stones have been removed and it is now just tarmac. At present it is a disgrace and quite frankly a total utter mess and is simply not good enough.
In the screen grab from November last year St John’s Church is the one behind the railings on the far right. Aldgate St is on the left.
Here is the view from Aldgate
Here is the view from Aldgate St in June with the tarmac in place on the left.
That horrific tarmac would
That horrific tarmac would totally detract from the lovely historic views of the worn road surfaces, boarded up shops, “for sale” signs and the bookies…
Going retro is always an
Going retro is always an option.
Photo should show one of the Historic cycle routes in Norwich, 20 mph speed limit, shared with all vehicles.
A 9 inch wide strip of paving slab that cars and vans often stop you using otherwise its Paris Roubaix style pave.
If Gloucester wants the twee look , then I recommend that thier councilors visit Norwich.
As for Cycling around Norwich, don’t use your new super lightweight rims and apply loctite stud-lock to all nuts and bolts.
CML wrote:
Don’t give them ideas. Edinburgh New town features plenty of stone-sett streets (here’s an example). Lots are not on the level so going downhill they’re great places to check your fillings and whether your retinas are well-attached, never mind any parts of your bike. Many have bonus subsidence, or places where defects were remedied by slapping on tarmac patches, which are themselves now giving way. Just to show they understand that all cyclists are fans of pave on the new “main cycle route” into town (CCWEL) they added a bit of cycle infra at the junction, carefully took up all the setts, then lovingly re-laid them all and redirected the cyclists onto them again (Randolph Place).