These controversial cycle lanes caused uproar — but what actually happened once infrastructure was installed?

If you've read a story on road.cc about a new cycling infrastructure project somewhere in the UK, you probably already know how these things tend to go.

It usually starts with a council winning funding, or using investment that otherwise wouldn't have gone into the local community, to announce plans for the building of cycle lanes, active travel routes and infrastructure improvements, such as crossing and pavement upgrades.

Despite the commitment such projects will make the area a nicer, healthier and safer place to live — soon after, certain sections of the community outline their opposition to the scheme on social media pages or in clicky local paper stories, of course accompanied with complaints about roadworks, congestion, claimed detrimental impacts on businesses, wasted money, loss of car parking spaces, roads being too narrow, potholes, and the more general anti-cycling bingo comments.

Once projects are completed the complaints in the local press and Facebook comments sections usually continue for a while but, in our experience of reporting on hundreds of these schemes across the United Kingdom, the noise often quietens.

A report published by the Economic and Social Research Institute in Ireland earlier in 2024 found that public acceptance of cycle lanes and other active travel infrastructure tends to grow once they're installed. However, government officials and policymakers were also warned that informing the public and anti-active travel opponents that they will grow to like cycling and walking schemes runs the risk of them sounding "paternalistic" or even "deluded", potentially heightening opposition.

The research and reports will continue as more projects are devised, installed and completed, but for now we can also look at how things have gone so far, the road.cc archives documenting plenty of real-world examples that have played out over the last few years. Let's take a look at what happened to some of the UK's most controversial cycle lanes once they were actually completed.

Head Street, Colchester: Cycling levels up and "positive" feedback

 Back in the summer, Essex County Council was happy to report a new cycle lane was receiving "positive feedback from the public" and cycling levels were up, just one month on from criticism from locals claiming the new cycling infrastructure would "cause carnage on the roads" and put pedestrians in danger.

An FOI request also showed that the average number of cyclists using the route was up more than 300 per cent on 2019 levels, although admittedly that's not a perfect comparison, the 2019 figure of an average of 136 cyclists per day using Head Street coming in the month of October as opposed to the 430-cyclist average of April 2024.

There has still been criticism that the 212-metre-long route had been completed nine-and-a-half weeks late and £142,978 over budget, but the council says overall the reaction has been "positive", the local authority also pointing out that as the £878,912 cost was from funding from central government it "does not detract from highway maintenance and the funding could not have been used for fixing potholes".

In fact, as part of the project, wider resurfacing works and improvements to bus stops and junctions were also undertaken on Head Street, the money not just going towards the installation of a cycle lane.

Clevedon seafront: A "Mickey Mouse" design, independent review and layout changes

North Somerset Council's changes to Clevedon seafront caused uproar from some sections of the town, campaigners holding multiple headline-grabbing protests over the new road layout, which they said made the seaside town like "Balamory from hell". In January 2023, the 'Save Our Seafront' campaign organised a conga line protest demanding action, while in April a "flash mob" to block the bike lane with cars followed.

The scheme's eye-catching design caused national media coverage, with the RAC describing it as one of the "most bizarre new road schemes", and to a backdrop of complaints about the "crazy" design, wavy lines, two-way cycle lane, and loss of parking, the council agreed to an independent review.

Changes were made in recent months, the council reportedly spending £425,000 to restore car parking bays to their original location and removing the wiggly lines. The review said the one-way system should remain but the cycle lane be downsized. More works are due to begin in February 2025 and should be completed by next summer. The council says the case is a "key priority" and evidence that it has "listened to the community".

Mayals Road, Swansea: "Misinformation" proved wrong and a new "safer environment" for all road users

One notable success story is Mayals Road in Swansea, a route where a one-mile stretch of cycling infrastructure was installed in 2020-21.

In a victory for one council's persistence to complete an active travel project, the number of collisions and incidents on the Swansea road where the cycle lane was built have been significantly reduced, Swansea Council having persevered with the bike lane despite "irresponsible" spread of "misinformation" during its construction.

There have been no "serious" incidents in the three years since the cycle lane was built and "slight" incidents have reduced too, the council praised for persevering despite "irresponsible" misinformation claiming the project would increase collisions.

Castleton, Manchester: "A bike lane doesn't close a village"

Familiar complaints have been heard about this Greater Manchester active travel project too, traders claiming the scheme has hit business and left "nowhere to park", even though the project saw 80 new off-road spaces created.

Back in March, we reported that traders had claimed sales are down 50 per cent and the area had been "killed" by the cycle lane. More recently, a Radio Manchester caller told Mayor Andy Burnham the project has caused "chaos" during its construction and now it is completed, "I've seen two people on that bike lane since it's been there and you were one of them".

Greater Manchester's Active Travel Commissioner Dame Sarah Storey addressed the comments, stating "a bike lane doesn't close a village" and pointing to other economic factors that have hit people across the country in recent times.

"It's a coincidence, not an unexpected consequence," she said. "The timing in Castleton was really challenging, with the cost of living crisis and coming out of the pandemic. When you've two things like that colliding, they've had to take it to experts to discuss how they can sort the economic side out.

"A bike lane doesn't close a village. It opens it up and enables more people to choose to move. Not everybody can drive, not everybody owns a car and they're now connected to a train station and soon to the town centre through the extension."

Linthorpe Road, Middlesbrough: Britain's most controversial cycle lane?

Few cycling infrastructure projects have faced as much opposition as this one in Middlesbrough. The story around Linthorpe Road's bike lane has included it becoming a battleground for competing politicians, vitriol from local businesses and even injuries to cyclists and pedestrians in crash and trip incidents involving the 'orca' separators.

Two years ago a cyclist criticised the layout of the cycle lane, which he suggested forces people on bikes to "constantly" dodge parked cars, buses and pedestrians.

In the two years since, local politicians have made the removal of the infrastructure a top priority and a key campaign promise. The council has now unanimously approved plans to scrap the project and it is expected to be ripped out in early 2025. 

Keynsham high street: Optical illusion and improvement works

Not every cycle lane is going to be perfect, it's not the point of this list to claim they are, rather just simply to look at how some high-profile schemes have gone once all the initial noise and complaints have passed. In the case of Keynsham in Somerset the answer was: not very well.

The design, namely the differing heights of road and kerb, as well as different colours used, have created an "optical illusion" that has seen more than 100 trip incidents, some causing serious injuries. Former Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg branded the lane a "failed experiment" and the council has taken some steps to reduce the number of trip injuries. 

Bath and North East Somerset Council has now said it is satisfied with the route's safety and no further changes are planned. Time will tell if things improve.

Haringey: A low-traffic neighbourhood success story

It's not just cycle lanes, LTNs (low-traffic neighbourhoods) have also had plenty of attention. These projects often involve road closures for motor traffic in certain residential areas, making routes dead ends for those not walking, wheeling or cycling, reducing rat-running and leaving the area safer and more accessible for active travel journeys.

Three #Haringey LTNs set to continue after major fall in traffic 🚲🚶‍♀️ 🛴 ✅ Traffic cut by 50% ✅ 80k fewer vehicles counted per day ✅ Road collisions fall on average 34% Cabinet will consider the reports on 10 December. Find out more: new.haringey.gov.uk/news/2024120...

[image or embed]

— Mike Hakata (@mikehakata.bsky.social) 4 December 2024 at 08:13

Like cycle lanes, many have faced vocal, and at times violent, opposition from some. While the outspoken criticism, protestations and vandalism often garner headlines, the success stories should also be noted. In Haringey in London, for example, the council has recently revealed three LTNs are set to continue after monitoring data revealed motor traffic had fallen by more than 50 per cent, as well as collisions dropping by 34 per cent.

"When we create shared spaces that prioritise people, communities thrive. This is our opportunity to demonstrate that Haringey is committed to creating a borough that works for everyone – not just for the next few years, but for generations to come. The decisions we make today shape the borough our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren will inherit," Cllr Mike Hakata said.

How to address criticism, so that schemes can get to the stage above where benefits are seen, is a subject Active Travel Commissioner Chris Boardman addressed at the recent COP summit.

Boardman told COP29 he had been "involved in the emotional side of this at a local level" and experienced the vocal opposition to active travel schemes that is often seen from some local communities.

"We've been doing a lot of focus group work on what plays with people and we've spoken to them about it," he explained. "[Telling people] it's worth £53 billion to the economy. Don't care, I'm trying to pay my mortgage. But, when we talked about kids having transport independence and the ability to stay at after school clubs, suddenly they were leaning in and were really interested.

"We were talking about the same thing but we were talking to the outcomes that they could connect to. When you're going to change the streetscape locally, don't give it an acronym that people can disassociate from emotionally and learn to hate. Call it a child safe zone. Then if you want to campaign against it, fine, but you're campaigning against a child safe zone.

"It just changed the whole framing and people understand and realise why this difficult thing is happening."