The planned second phase of a protected cycle route in Middlesbrough is set to be scrapped due to safety concerns following several incidents in which pedestrians have been injured after tripping on the Orcas that, together with wands, nark out the lane.
Andy Preston, elected as the borough’s mayor in 2019 after standing as an independent, has said it is “very unlikely” that the extension to the cycle route on Linthorpe Road will now be built.
Gazette Live reports that there have been several accidents on the section already built between Borough Road in the centre of Middlesbrough and Ayresome Street, and that proposals to extend the protected route to Linthorpe Village now look likely to be shelved.
Pedestrians who have sustained injuries after tripping on the dividers as they attempted to across the road include a 78-year-old woman who broke her wrist and was left with two black eyes after a fall last September, and Samantha Skene, aged 27, who fractured her elbow on a night out despite being, as she put it, “the most sober of the group.”
> Pensioner left with broken wrist and black eye after tripping over cycle lane separator
Besides pedestrians, a cyclist also sustained injuries when he was thrown over the handlebars of his bike after he clipped a divider.
The rider, Paul Harris, needed stitches above an eyebrow and sustained grazes and a bruised collarbone after his crash, the website says.
In response to safety concerns, the council, which insists the cycle lane was built in accordance with national guidelines, has begun replacing Orcas with wands to minimise the chances of people tripping over as they cross the road.
But the mayor – who is yet to confirm whether he will stand for re-election in May, when the issue of cycling infrastructure is likely to be a cause for heated debate – now appears to have withdrawn his support for the planned extension of the cycleway, which he voted for in April last year.
“I halted plans for a further extension of the cycle lane,” he said. “It’s officially been paused but there is no timescale to reintroduce it.
“Personally, and I think most people would agree, I’m struggling to see why we would extend it further – so it’s very unlikely to happen in the foreseeable future.”
The cycleway is one of several planned by the Tees Valley Combined Authority, whose Conservative mayor, Ben Houchen, said: “This was a Middlesbrough Council-led project which was championed by a former councillor who stepped down last year.
“I fully support Andy’s decision, as leader of the council, to take the right decisions as he sees fit for both local businesses and the people of Middlesbrough.”
The part of the cycleway already built has, however, encouraged more people to get riding, with Craig Cowley, transport and infrastructure manager at Middlesbrough Council, having said: “Overall, it has been a positive thing. We have had upwards of 70% more cyclists since the scheme opened.”
As with dedicated cycling infrastructure elsewhere, the protected cycleway in Middlesbrough has attracted vocal opposition from some locals – with claims last year from local business owners that the extension towards Linthorpe village would encourage drug-dealing and other anti-social behaviour.
> Cycle lane will be “clear getaway” for shoplifters and drug dealers, business owners claim
30 thoughts on “Extension to Middlesbrough protected cycle lane set to be scrapped due to safety concerns”
OK, so let’s apply the
OK, so let’s apply the counterfactual – what would have been the injury rate if the lane hadn’t been built? whilst individually a bad outcome, these are relatively minor and seemingly quite rare incidents, which presumably will be even rarer if there are adjustments to the scheme. To use this to justify scrapping further infrastructure is poor, in the extreme.
But we live in a motocentric
But we live in a motocentric world where someone tripping over is more reported than someone being hit by a car
They could have avoided these
They could have avoided these injuries happening by putting in a raised curb instead of the orcas/wands. It’d cost more initially, but the maintenance costs would surely be lower and they wouldn’t be at risk of having to pay out for injury claims.
They could of avoided these
They could of avoided these injuries if motor vehicle operators behaved properly and all this segregated infrastructure simply wasn’t required in the first place.
Or if we could all simply fly
Or if we could all simply fly by sheer strength of will..
…or if they’d simply opened
…or if they’d simply opened up their web browser and googled “dutch cycle infra” and done likewise. Sadly that would be so far beyond the “paint and planters” budget levels (and literally beyond belief for many in the UK – though we can watch videos of this in action) they’d give up.
Like “appropriate technology” for a “developing nation” the UK is only ready to cope with something more basic currently. But it must still be adequate. So something on the Copenhagen level?
“…..together with wands,
“…..together with wands, nark out the lane.”
But was it an oojum?
Likely, since it’s likely
Probably, since it’s likely the lane will softly and suddenly vanish away, and never be met with again…
Is it me, but I’m not sure
Is it me, but I’m not sure that “I was the most sober of the group” is the brilliant defence that she thinks it is…
She was the least drunk, the
She was the least drunk, the rest couldn’t make out where they had picked up the cuts and bruises when they woke up the following day ??
And nobody has ever tripped
And nobody has ever tripped over a kerb?
belugabob wrote:
Not in Middlesbrough apparently.
It’s so depressing. Deal with
It’s so depressing. Deal with the issues and make the scheme better, then extend it. It’s doing what it’s supposed to do – increasing cycling rates.
Sounds like the usual cycle.
Sounds like the usual cycle. After much effort a scheme is planned. Further consultations then as a “trial” an isolated section is built. Turns out this was not good design / just not good *enough* (given humans will use it). Council gets defensive (“insists the cycle lane was built in accordance with national guidelines” here). Council possibly – as here – spends more effort / money attempting to patch things. The rest of the project is dropped. Finally the “trial” part is pulled out because “no-one uses it”. (Not surprising, it not having been connected up.)
It’s very familiar and depressing. It’s the opposite of how most other infra projects are run eg. motor infra. (Cycling infra as we have it *is* motor infra, unnecessary if there were no cars).
Less “predict and provide”, more procrastinate, paint, placate protestors, park project and pull out.
How does a cycle lane cause
How does a cycle lane cause drug dealing ?
HLaB wrote:
All cyclists use drugs, so if you increase the number of cyclists there will be more drug taking.
Or all drugs are delivered by children on bicycles, therefore it will make distribution easier.
Or something like that.
There is a certain class of
There is a certain class of individuals who just associate white lines with recreational pharmaceutical use. Probably something they learn at boarding school.
Mungecrundle wrote:
Ticket to ride, white line highway
Tell all your friends, they can go my way
Pay your toll, sell your soul
Pound-for-pound costs more than gold
The longer you stay, the more you pay
My white lines, go a long way
Either up your nose or through your vein
With nothing to gain except killing your brain
hawkinspeter wrote:
Ticket to ride, white line highway
Tell all your friends, they can go my way
Pay your toll, sell your soul
Pound-for-pound costs more than gold
The longer you stay, the more you pay
My white lines, go a long way
Either up your nose or through your vein
With nothing to gain except killing your brain— Mungecrundle
“I wanna run out in the street and stop traffic, and point out the white lines you can’t touch a classic”
Braintax – Biro funk
This isn’t the first time
This isn’t the first time that I’ve read about fear of crime and fear of drug dealing in particular being used as an argument against a cycle path or cycle lane…
brooksby wrote:
Weren’t the anti-cycle hangar residents of Brighton trying to claim recently that bike hangars provided a “focal point” for drug dealers? Because you can just imagine them turning up to sell some gear on a Friday night and then saying oh hang on lads, there’s no cycle lane or cycle parking around here, we haven’t got a focal point, better turn it in.
So I’m assuming that they are
So I’m assuming that they are going to stop building new roads being as there are plenty of accidents on the existing ones then!
Why are people getting so
Why are people getting so obsessed over bike lanes? Just cycle in the road
ChuckSneed wrote:
Why are you repeating this question?
Cycle lanes are to encourage people who would otherwise be too afraid of road traffic to cycle. Ideally, the lanes should also be a faster route to use when not too busy, but we seem unable to grasp the basics of designing for cycle traffic in this country and instead prioritise motor traffic at all side roads etc.
I didn’t think I was getting
I didn’t think I was getting obsessed. Thanks for the advice though, very useful.
Cyclists! Don’t waste time
Cyclists! Don’t waste time and alienate others by obsessing over “cycling infra”. Simply ignore all the motor vehicles around you, the angry shouts, the holes in the road and ride on! Or stay at home on the turbo then travel by car like any normal person, you weirdo.
Have you got your free pizza
Have you got your free pizza yet from Pure Pizza ?
I was torn by this – it’s a
I was torn by this – it’s a nice gesture, I’d like to support them and not cost them extra and there are lots who could use a pizza more than me. On the other hand it’s free pizza.
As happens the dilemma has been removed as I’ve had to be away from Edinburgh temporarily. Had some other (non free) pizza the other night though and thought of them.
chrisonatrike wrote:
Sums up the majority opinion nicely.
NOtotheEU wrote:
Sums up the majority opinion nicely.— chrisonatrike
Had almost exactly that conversion with a relative a few days back. Kindly concern that I should grow up (in my middle years) and just get a car like other normal adults.