Nearly There - Good news on Knaresborough Rd we think

The magnificent Gia Margolis met with The Woman From The Council (WFTC) yesterday. It appears the meeting went well. Gia put our proposal forward and the Council have agreed to it in principle. There is some detail design to do and quickly, but looks like some cycle lanes will be coming to a Knaresborough Road near us in August.

I will believe it when I see it and it is too early to consider this a win but things look pretty good at the moment. Thanks for all the support on the petition, Twitter and Facebook it helps give cycling in Harrogate a voice.

Update 3/7/2012

Just had a email from the WFTC conforming what Gia had fedback after the meeting. They will be doing detail designs over the next few days. On a less positive note they are not able to remove or modify the pedestrian refuges currently, something we had asked for.

However NYCC has recently won some funding for sustainable transport and we intend to lobby for some of this to be used to build cycle bypasses around the pedestrian refuges. Something the Cycle Infrastructure Design guide suggests as a a solution to this problem

Image Seanbjack

Harrogate school discourages cycling on grounds of risk

Cycle Harrogate is about promoting cycling as part of a healthy lifestyle. We wrote to a local school recently explaining what we were about and offering to run basic cycle maintenance classes for the pupils. These to run along side the Bike Ability scheme that the school had been running with  pupils, as yet we have had no response. Now the head at the School Mrs Carolyn Sandford has decided that rather than encouraging pupils to ride their bikes to school, she will make it more difficult. In a letter sent to parents she says the following.

...Unfortunately the school does not have a designated place where they (bikes and scooters) can be stored safely. At present the pupils have been accessing the school car park to leave and collect scooters and bikes at the end of the day. This is obviously a safety risk

...If your child is older and comes to school by themselves then we ask for your support in encouraging your child to leave the scooters and bikes at home.

Some thoughts and questions spring to mind as a response to this letter. Is there nowhere that the school could designate as safe cycle parking. A particular area of railings would do?

The school seems to want to promote cycle use via the Bike Ability scheme but then follows this with a letter that seems designed to stop kids using their bikes on the journeys they make the most often.

If the school had been willing to work with us in partnership, we would have been delighted to both investigate funding, and provide design and build skills for a dedicated cycle shelter which would enhance the school and the local community.

We will be getting back in touch with the school and making this offer. We will of course let you know what happens.

A SMALL WIN - The woman from the council says. "Maybe Baby."

The game of  email ping pong that is lobbying over Knaresborough Rd cycle lane provision continues. The Woman from the Council (TWFTC) has now got back in touch with us and we have made another small step in the right direction.

TWFTC has agreed to consider our proposal at a meeting between herself and Gia Margolis in the next few weeks before any re-lining is undertaken. This means something which is good. North Yorkshire County Council are finally showing some willingness to listen and consult with cycling lobbying groups over this issue, something they seemed reluctant to even consider until recently.

Between now and the meeting we will need our new found knowledge of the Cycling Infrastructure Design Guide and the wisdom of team Margolis, To work out what particular pattern of lines would be most favourable to cyclists. We will of course keep you all informed.

image Jepoirrer

The woman from the council says NO

We have had a response from someone somewhat higher up in  NYCC about our Knaresborough Rd proposal via the wonderful Gia Margolis, its not positive. Essentially they argue that the road is not wide enough (according to the guidance) for cycleways which kind of means anything other than a seven lane highway in downtown LA is going to be too narrow and as there are lots of junctions and bus stops, cycle lanes might be effectively more trouble than they are worth.  They accept that cyclists may be poorly provided for on this section of road but basically tough, cars, lorries and pedestrians are more important, on your bike sunshine.

Well seems to me that at this point we have two choices: give up or turn up the heat.
I'm not feeling like giving up and here is why. I cannot accept that on a wide road like the one we are talking about some form of provision for cyclists can't be made so that cycling down Knaresborough Rd can be a pleasant, life affirming pastime rather than one that feels too often feels like that David Attenborough wildlife documentary. With the Cyclist as the wounded Buffalo and the cars and lorries as a pack of Komodo Dragons waiting for an opening to tear them apart. That doesn't seem to represent the kind of town I want to live in.

Having had a cursory glance through the Department of Transports cycle infrastructure design guide (the guidance) it seems like one idea contained in there which does have some merit is the cycle bypass. This is used to bypass pedestrian traffic islands which are part of the pinch point problem on the Knaresborough road.

The Search for a new bike - and some lanes in which to ride it!

In York today to have a look at some great bikes. We went to the super friendly Cycle Heaven and I tried a couple of nice bikes. This a a lovely Gazelle that I zipped around the block on. I definitely recommend this shop over in York. In the afternoon we came back over to Harrogate and I have found the perfect bike for me. The Big Red Bike Co I have ordered a beautiful Pashley Roadster Sovereign:

I cannot wait for this beauty to be delivered. Now all I want is the NYCC to sort out the roads with some cycle lanes so I have designated places to ride it. Come on guys, you know it makes sense . 

Breathe

More great stuff from Copenhagenize.com pointing out that pollution from cars kills ten times more people in Denmark than people who are killed on the roads. More cycling participation aided by better provision will it appears both save lives and reduce congestion.  Glen Donaldson from NYCC has claimed to us that they can't build cycle lanes on the Knaresborough Rd lanes as their road policy needs to ease congestion. Am I missing something here or am I to stupid too understand my council?


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Wonderful Wonderful Copenhagen

This is a  great blog post from a great blog,  Copenhagennize about cycling in Copenhagen. half a million people do it every day. Forty years ago few people did. Our towns and cities are our fault. All this cycling saves them money and makes it a nicer place to live, are you listening NYCC?

http://www.copenhagenize.com/2012/06/lets-talk-numbers.html

image Michael Coalville-Anderson

Don't try this on Knaresbrough Road!

Dude on a bike transporting a bed , Lira,  North Uganda. This would be ill advised in Harrogate even with designated cycle lanes!

IMPORTANT - Update on Knaresborough Rd

We have just got off the phone to the Highways Department at North Yorkshire County Council. They have investigated the central reservation white lining and have decided it was done too wide when they resurfaced, as we suspected. They plan to re-line in "July".

Currently they don't want to support a cycle path on the grounds of additional cost for signage.

Don't even get me started on them throwing good money after bad but anyway here is where we think the campaign is at:

We now have a potential four week window of opportunity to lobby like loons, to try and get them to postpone the re-line and support the cycleway scheme we propose.

It is now time to try and use whatever leverage we have between us as citizens to embarrass NYCC into doing the right thing.  I don't suppose they will be spending money on a cycleway once they have painted those  central chevrons twice in the same financial year.

We will continue to drive the social media agenda and generate as much local support as we can. You can expect to hear a fair bit from us in the next few weeks.

The worst outcome is that that NYCC  re-line in July. If that happens things will be better than when we started campaigning and we won't have wasted our time or squandered anyones support. All outcomes in excess of that are bonus. We might as well have a go though, I think the existing and future cyclists of Harrogate deserve local government that not only fixes its cock ups but is prepared to actively and creatively consult with its electorate on ways to make Harrogate an even nicer place to live.