The vicar of a church in Greater Manchester has claimed a cycle lane is causing his congregation numbers to plummet because worshippers “have been getting lost” due to the cycling infrastructure.

Reverend David Murray made an appearance on road.cc last January when the vicar of St Margaret’s Church in Altrincham said the 170-year-old institution was “under threat” from a cycle lane and that its “bells have been ringing out since the mid-1800s… [but] now we face extinction simply because of a crazy traffic system”.

Well, one year on and the sermon has not changed, the “awkward” cycleway on Gorsey Lane being blamed by the vicar for leaving the church “completely isolated” and worshippers “lost”.

The installation of the cycle lane in 2023 saw Gorsey Lane made into a one-way street and it prevents drivers accessing the church’s car park from the A56. It all means, the BBC reports, churchgoers must drive an extra half mile to access the car park, a half-mile journey that is a pilgrimage too far according to Murray.

“People have been getting lost and they’ve said it’s too awkward,” he said. “Added to that, the roads around the church are covered with double yellow lines. We feel we are being completely isolated.”

Congregation numbers are apparently down from 100 to around 60, while Sunday School numbers and nursery session attendance has also been hit, according to the vicar.

St Margaret's Church, Altrincham
St Margaret's Church, Altrincham (Image Credit: Google Maps)

Jackie Campbell, a team leader for pastoral care on the St Margaret’s parochial church council, said the congregation is largely elderly people who “need to get up to the front door by car”.

“It’s great to be on a bike, and they wish they could, be on a bike or take public transport, but they can’t,” she said.

A local councillor, Phil Eckersley, has backed the church and said the cycle lane has “significantly affected access”. He has asked the council to “re-evaluate whether the scheme’s benefits truly outweigh the disruption it has caused to long-standing community institutions and residents’ daily lives”.

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However, the council has stressed the road changes are intended to “make journeys on foot or by bike much easier and more attractive, to help create a more connected and accessible region”.

Last January, Vicar Reverend David Murray began the church’s campaign against the cycle lane, saying “many of his congregation had already been put off attending services since the cycle lane was installed and he now fears his historic church could close unless the local council reconsiders the plans”.

“The church is under threat for a 20m stretch of cycle lane,” he said. “We had a carol concert last week and were down by about half the usual numbers. Our bells have been ringing out since the mid-1800s and we’ve served this community through two world wars. Now we face extinction simply because of a crazy traffic system that closes access from the A56.

He added: “This plan pushes church traffic to a dangerous turn on a bend further up the A56 one way or indeed past a school the other way – that area is already very busy at school drop off and pick up times. It’s madness. All for the sake of a 20m cycle lane that goes nowhere and actually takes cyclists straight into the headlights of oncoming traffic.”