City council accused of ‘endangering lives’ by not providing pop-up cycle lanes alongside neighbouring boroughs

Manchester council has been accused of ‘endangering lives’ by not working alongside neighbouring boroughs to install pop-up cycling lanes into the city centre.

A 116-km radial cycle route has been touted by Greater Manchester authorities to encourage commuters to avoid public transport while adhering to social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic.

A route along the A62 from Oldham was being considered by our local authority.

But after images emerged of Trafford’s temporary route stopping short of the boundary with Manchester, the city council confirmed it would not be taking part in the popular scheme.

Bosses believe there is not enough demand for the temporary lanes, and say they would rather focus on providing permanent infrastructure instead.

The town hall’s stance came to light on Friday, June 5 – the deadline for councils to apply to a £225 million government fund for emergency walking and cycling measures.

When asked for an update on the regional pop-up network on Twitter, the council said: “Temporary pop-up cycling infrastructure may seem like a good short-term solution. 

“However, we believe long-term, sustainable modal shift to bikes is best supported through investment in creating safe, durable cycling infrastructure.”

The response has provoked widespread criticism from the cycling community, campaign groups and politicians from outlying boroughs.

An ‘angry’ Andrew Gwynne, MP for Denton and Reddish, tweeted: “From the west you can almost reach ‘town’; from Stockport and Tameside there’s a 5-mile gap.

“This is endangering lives and potentially increasing air pollution. Please think again!”

Stockport council had planned to have one long pop-up route that would take cyclists from the borough and into the heart of Manchester.

But their proposals ‘were just met with resistance’ when they tried to reach out to their counterparts, according to Coun David Meller.

The cabinet member on Stockport council said Manchester had ‘stymied’ the ambitions of the other councils within the Greater Manchester combined authority.

“Stockport and Tameside are effectively being penalised because of geography,” he tweeted.

“I know each local authority has highways powers – and they should never be delegated elsewhere – but there’s nothing particularly ‘combined authority’ about this.

“Government, for once, listen and put money on the table. Yet it’s now effectively been poo-pooed and pushed away.

“It sends a dreadful message.”

The Labour-run Manchester council has also encountered resistance from within its own group, with several councillors voicing their concerns on Twitter.

But Coun Angeliki Stogia, executive member for environment, planning and transport, insists that the council remains ‘committed to improving cycling infrastructure in the city’ so long as it is ‘well designed, fully funded and permanent’.

In a series of tweets Coun Stogia shared statistics suggesting that despite public transport use falling during the pandemic, walking is still five times more popular than cycling.

“While cycling is an alternative for someone, evidence indicates clearly it’s not going to meet the demand for travel to work that exists,” she wrote.

“Efforts must focus in getting people (safely) back to public transport, a lot of effort is going into this.

“The evidence points to the need for neighbourhood improvements, rather than pop up temporary cones for commuter cyclists down major routes which take capacity from public transport and don’t form part of an integrated transport network.”

Coun Stogia also said that councils had to follow strict criteria when applying for the government funding, adding: “There are no easy answers, or enough resources to apply for everything that needs doing across the city.”

The negative response to both the council’s and Coun Stogia’s tweets prompted Chris Boardman, Greater Manchester’s walking and cycling commissioner, to give an insight into the difficulties of creating a network spanning multiple local authority areas.

He said: “It is not my job to dictate what happens, I don’t have control of the roads, and nor should I, that burden rests with the people you have elected to make those decisions.

“Whether you agree with those decisions or not, you should keep in mind these actions have consequences that those responsible are accountable for and it’s a tough job.

“So whilst I might not agree with all of the decisions being made around me, I do appreciate those that have had the courage to stand up and be accountable.

“I hope you will too.”

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