As South Ribble Council is expected to give the green light to a new leisure greenway in Penwortham, another of the town’s attempts to encourage active and sustainable travel has been criticised as a ‘huge green elephant’ in the local press.

Members of the borough council will today confirm that £314,000 will be allocated to completing the ‘Penwortham Loop’: a ten kilometre, three-metre-wide track for cyclists, walkers and runners, which will run alongside the River Ribble between Priory Park and Howick Green.

This latest active travel scheme follows the installation of a cycle superhighway (link is external) which, once fully completed, will allow for a continuous active travel route between Penwortham and Preston.

The first phase of the project, along Liverpool Road on Penwortham Brow, was completed in December.

The proposals initially intended to introduce a one-way system for motor traffic (link is external) on part of the route, but following a public consultation, Lancashire County Council decided to keep the existing two-way flow (though the section on Penwortham Hill has still been reduced from a dual carriageway to two lanes).

The revised scheme features a segregated two-way bike lane and, according to the council, “has been designed with the safety of walkers and cyclists in mind”, with a parallel crossing on a road hump and a central refuge island installed to allow for safer crossing.

The council hopes the cycle superhighway will capitalise on the potential demand for safe cycling along the route and build on the success of the John Horrocks Way bypass, which has reduced congestion in Penwortham by removing an estimated 14 million vehicles from the town centre during the two years of its existence.

While the council claims that the new road layout improves safety for pedestrians, cyclists and other vulnerable road users, encourages sustainable transport between Preston and Penwortham, and improves local air quality, some locals aren’t as convinced.

When quizzed by the Lancashire Post (link is external) on the new scheme, one resident said the two-lane track was “too wide”, while another criticised the supposed lack of cyclists on the route, describing it as a “huge green elephant”.

The newspaper claimed that they only counted 12 cyclists using the route in one hour earlier this week – though the reporter failed to clarify the time of day those numbers were recorded.

There have also been anecdotal reports of motorists, unaware that the previous dual carriageway system was abolished, driving in the wrong lane towards oncoming traffic.

“It's happening all the time,” one local said. “There have been a few bumps with cars driving up the second lane and coming into contact head-on with vehicles coming down. It's a mess.”

Martin Wilkins said: “I think the cycle lane is a great idea, I just think they have over-cooked it on this one with the width. This is taking out quite a bit of road space and has made it a little bit more congested [for vehicles].”

“I'm here a lot and I don't see too many people come down here,” Joe Shackleton told the paper. “It is quite a large cycle lane and I don't think it warrants that.

“You might see two or three people go past [on bikes] in an hour or so.”

However, Heeran Rathof, who was cycling on the bike path with his wife Sarah, said: “I think it's a good idea. It needs to be safer for pedestrians and cyclists who are using this road.

“I think if people can reduce their costs in fuel by cycling then that's a great way forward.”

A spokesperson for Lancashire County Council said: “We want to get more people travelling sustainably between South Ribble and Preston and it is vital that we have the right infrastructure in place to provide a viable alternative to using the car.

“To make more space for cycling and walking, the road has been reduced from a dual carriageway to a standard width single carriageway.

“The existing central reservation was utilised to separate vehicles and cyclists, improving safety for active travel users and helping to encourage more people to cycle and walk both now and in the future.”

The next phase of the cycle superhighway project will feature a new CYCLOPS junction where Fishergate Hill meets Strand Road and Broadgate. CYCLOPS junctions – first installed in the UK in Manchester in 2020 – aim to protect pedestrians and cyclists by separating them from motor traffic and reducing crossing distances, while also cutting journey times for motorists.

As well as forming a key feature of the cycling superhighway, the remodelled junction is also part of the existing Preston Guild Wheel route.

“Currently, pedestrians and cyclists have no option but to cross the traffic, making conflict with vehicles and often creating a barrier to active travel,” the council said.

“We want to provide safety improvements in this location that will encourage more people to leave the car at home, bringing wider health and environmental benefits.”

https://road.cc/content/news/great-way-forward-or-huge-green-elephant-291305

On 24/03/2022 05:24 pm, swldx...@gmail.com wrote:

> As South Ribble Council is expected to give the green light to a new leisure greenway in Penwortham, another of the town’s attempts to encourage active and sustainable travel has been criticised as a ‘huge green elephant’ in the local press.
>
> Members of the borough council will today confirm that £314,000 will be allocated to completing the ‘Penwortham Loop’: a ten kilometre, three-metre-wide track for fairy-cyclists, walkers and runners, which will run alongside the River Ribble between Priory Park and Howick Green.

No route between Priory Park and Howick Green "run[s] alongside the
River Ribble". Such a route would be the past part of ninety degrees out
of running alongside that river.

Someone is lying in the relevant report.
>
> This latest active travel scheme follows the installation of a fairy-cycle superhighway (link is external) which, once fully completed, will allow for a continuous active travel route between Penwortham and Preston.

Penwortham is a settlement astride the A59 Liverpool to York trunk road
(via Preston).

> The first phase of the project, along Liverpool Road on Penwortham Brow, was completed in December.
>
> The proposals initially intended to introduce a one-way system for motor traffic (link is external) on part of the route, but following a public consultation, Lancashire County Council decided to keep the existing two-way flow (though the section on Penwortham Hill has still been reduced from a dual carriageway to two lanes).

Unbelievable.

Or at least, it would be if one was not dealing with fairy-cyclists and
their apologists.

> The revised scheme features a segregated two-way fairy-bike lane and, according to the council, “has been designed with the safety of walkers and fairy-cyclists in mind”, with a parallel crossing on a road hump and a central refuge island installed to allow for safer crossing.
>
> The council hopes the fairy-cycle superhighway will capitalise on the potential demand for safe fairy-cycling along the route and build on the success of the John Horrocks Way bypass, which has reduced congestion in Penwortham by removing an estimated 14 million vehicles from the town centre during the two years of its existence.

Where does the traffic disappear to?

Lockdown is over.

> While the council claims that the new road layout improves safety for pedestrians, fairy-cyclists and other vulnerable road users, encourages sustainable transport between Preston and Penwortham, and improves local air quality, some locals aren’t as convinced.
>
> When quizzed by the Lancashire Post (link is external) on the new scheme, one resident said the two-lane track was “too wide”, while another criticised the supposed lack of fairy-cyclists on the route, describing it as a “huge green elephant”.
>
> The newspaper claimed that they only counted 12 fairy-cyclists using the route in one hour earlier this week – though the reporter failed to clarify the time of day those numbers were recorded.

Why would that matter?
>
> There have also been anecdotal reports of motorists, unaware that the previous dual carriageway system was abolished, driving in the wrong lane towards oncoming traffic.
>
> “It's happening all the time,” one local said. “There have been a few bumps with cars driving up the second lane and coming into contact head-on with vehicles coming down. It's a mess.”
>
> Martin Wilkins said: “I think the fairy-cycle lane is a great idea, I just think they have over-cooked it on this one with the width. This is taking out quite a bit of road space and has made it a little bit more congested [for vehicles].”
>
> “I'm here a lot and I don't see too many people come down here,” Joe Shackleton told the paper. “It is quite a large fairy-cycle lane and I don't think it warrants that.
>
> “You might see two or three people go past [on fairy-bikes] in an hour or so.”
>
> However, Heeran Rathof, who was fairy-cycling on the bike path with his wife Sarah, said: “I think it's a good idea. It needs to be safer for pedestrians and fairy-cyclists who are using this road.
>
> “I think if people can reduce their costs in fuel by fairy-cycling then that's a great way forward.”
>
> A spokesperson for Lancashire County Council said: “We want to get more people travelling sustainably between South Ribble and Preston and it is vital that we have the right infrastructure in place to provide a viable alternative to using the car.
>
> “To make more space for fairy-cycling and walking, the road has been reduced from a dual carriageway to a standard width single carriageway.
>
> “The existing central reservation was utilised to separate vehicles and fairy-cyclists, improving safety for active travel users and helping to encourage more people to fairy-cycle and walk both now and in the future.”
>
> The next phase of the cycle superhighway project will feature a new CYCLOPS junction where Fishergate Hill meets Strand Road and Broadgate. CYCLOPS junctions – first installed in the UK in Manchester in 2020 – aim to protect pedestrians and fairy-cyclists by separating them from motor traffic and reducing crossing distances, while also cutting journey times for motorists.
>
> As well as forming a key feature of the fairy-cycling superhighway, the remodelled junction is also part of the existing Preston Guild Wheel route.
>
> “Currently, pedestrians and fairy-cyclists have no option but to cross the traffic, making conflict with vehicles and often creating a barrier to active travel,” the council said.
>
> “We want to provide safety improvements in this location that will encourage more people to leave the car at home, bringing wider health and environmental benefits.”
>
> https://road.cc/content/news/great-way-forward-or-huge-green-elephant-291305
>

Owd Big 'Ead | 115 posts | 3 hours ago
1 like
Lucky buggers!

If only my local council could be so forward looking.

Apart from a leisure path that meanders up the side of the River Derwent and gets flooded every year to the point that much of it is unrideable for 6 months every year, we have absolutely nothing of this quality anywhere throughout the city.

Well done South Ribble B.C.
WELL SAID - SM

>
> https://road.cc/content/news/great-way-forward-or-huge-green-elephant-291305

eburtthebike | 3006 posts | 13 hours ago
3 likes

The most depressing thing about this article is that such schemes are in any way controversial. We desperately need to get more people cycling and walking and therefore new infrastructure is needed to help them do that, but the media, while acknowledging the need for change, sabotage it at every opportunity. They create controversy, seeking out the tiny minority of radical anti-cyclists to boost their ratings in a ferocious click war, all the while ignoring the real elephant in the room; the massive, overwhelming benefits of a change to active travel.

Contrast their coverage of this story with anything about building a new road, which will be reported in glowing terms "congestion-busting, reducing jams" etc, while conveniently skating over the incredible sums these roads cost, while they never actually achieve their stated objectives.

>
> >
> > https://road.cc/content/news/great-way-forward-or-huge-green-elephant-291305

Zebulebu | 297 posts | 18 hours ago
0 likes

The Guild Wheel is brilliant for families, kids and people who don't want to take their life in their hands cycling through Preston Marina or Strand Road. The bike lane down the hill from Penny is fantastic as well - it's unfortunately emboldened the gammons to scream at you when riding down the hill on the road, on your road bike (not particularly safe to hit 60k/h in a bike lane, and it's easy to achieve that down there), but it's a small price to pay to have a safe route for families and people who otherwise would hate riding down there to have a safe place to ride.

The Lancashire Post is just about the most anti-cycling local rag in existence, and always has been

biker phil | 666 posts | 21 hours ago
2 likes
I've used this many times as instead of riding through Preston on the main roads when coming back from my sunday ride, I get on the Guild Wheel near the Mercedes garage and ride along to the new superhighway, then back along the tracks near the river to Walton Le Dale, avoiding the Guild Wheel through Miller and Avenham park as it can get too busy. Theres a lovely track alongside the south side of the Ribble all the way to Walton Le Dale, which is currently shut as a new footbridge is being installed. It's great. I see loads of cyclists using this, and any motorist getting confused about which lane to be in, quite clearly should not be behind the wheel as the road layout is very clear.

Ignore the miserable bastards. Lancashire Evening Post and Blog Preston are very anti cycling. They love to print biased anti cycling stories which always get the knuckle draggers foaming at the mouth, with the same depressing comments.

>
> https://road.cc/content/news/great-way-forward-or-huge-green-elephant-291305

On 24/03/2022 05:52 pm, swldx...@gmail.com wrote:
> biker phil | 666 posts | 21 hours ago
> 2 likes
>
> I've used this many times as instead of riding through Preston on the main roads when coming back from my sunday ride, I get on the Guild Wheel near the Mercedes garage and ride along to the new superhighway, then back along the tracks near the river to Walton Le Dale, avoiding the Guild Wheel through Miller and Avenham park as it can get too busy. Theres a lovely track alongside the south side of the Ribble all the way to Walton Le Dale, which is currently shut as a new footbridge is being installed. It's great. I see loads of cyclists using this, and any motorist getting confused about which lane to be in, quite clearly should not be behind the wheel as the road layout is very clear.
>
> Ignore the miserable bastards. Lancashire Evening Post and Blog Preston are very anti cycling. They love to print biased anti cycling stories which always get the knuckle draggers foaming at the mouth, with the same depressing comments.

But IS there a downside to it?
>> https://road.cc/content/news/great-way-forward-or-huge-green-elephant-291305

IanMK | 553 posts | 1 day ago
2 likes

Fantastic forward thinking from South Ribble. I wish my council was this proactive. It amazes me how some people simply can't join the dots. With many people complaining about the cost of living increase and even suggesting that fuel duty be reduced, a council is criticised for providing infrastructure that conveniantly allows their constituents to save money by leaving the car at home and get more healthy at the same time.

I am a very fair weather commuter so this week has been perfect. The distance is less than 10 miles each way but still probably a fuel saving close to £4.00/day. I know it's not for everyone but we also know a huge number of bikes have been sold over the last 2 years and if councils remove obstacles to cycling & walking then the only excuse left becomes "habit".

If you build it they will come.

Edit: quick calculation, if the spend is approx £300,000 and fuel costs on average 20p/mile then the cost is equivalent to 1.5m miles (seems alot) but if the population of south ribble is 100,000 then they would only have to convert 15miles/person from driving to active travel for this project to cover the council tax investment. How is that not cost effective.

On 24/03/2022 10:02 pm, swldx...@gmail.com wrote:
> IanMK | 553 posts | 1 day ago
> 2 likes
>
>
> Fantastic forward thinking from South Ribble. I wish my council was this proactive. It amazes me how some people simply can't join the dots. With many people complaining about the cost of living increase and even suggesting that fuel duty be reduced, a council is criticised for providing infrastructure that conveniantly allows their constituents to save money by leaving the car at home and get more healthy at the same time.
>
> I am a very fair weather commuter so this week has been perfect. The distance is less than 10 miles each way but still probably a fuel saving close to £4.00/day. I know it's not for everyone but we also know a huge number of bikes have been sold over the last 2 years and if councils remove obstacles to cycling & walking then the only excuse left becomes "habit".
>
> If you build it they will come.
>
> Edit: quick calculation, if the spend is approx £300,000 and fuel costs on average 20p/mile then the cost is equivalent to 1.5m miles (seems alot) but if the population of south ribble is 100,000 then they would only have to convert 15miles/person from driving to active travel for this project to cover the council tax investment. How is that not cost effective.

Do ONLY residents of South Ribble District Council's area use the A59
(Liverpool to York Trunk Road) between Liverpool and Preston?

I have never lived in the area but have used that stretch of that main
road hundreds of times. It is the main route from western Lancashire
(and therefeore, western Cheshire) to Preston and all points north,
including the Fylde, the Lancaster / Morecambe area, the Lake District
and Scotland (hence it starting in Liverpool as "Scotland Road").

alchemilla | 166 posts | 1 day ago
4 likes

Bravo Lancs Council! Ignore the few naysayers, they haven't expressed informed opinions, just gut reactions against any kind of change.
We need this kind of infrastructure in my area but the Tory council haven't grasped the importance of actually doing anything to encourage active travel - yet.

reply quote

On 24/03/2022 17:47, JNugent wrote:
> On 24/03/2022 05:24 pm, swldx...@gmail.com wrote:

>> Members of the borough council will today confirm that £314,000 will be allocated to completing the ‘Penwortham Loop’: a ten kilometre, three-metre-wide track for fairy-cyclists, walkers and runners, which will run alongside the River Ribble between Priory Park and Howick Green.

> No route between Priory Park and Howick Green "run[s] alongside the
> River Ribble". Such a route would be the past part of ninety degrees out
> of running alongside that river.

> Someone is lying in the relevant report.

But it's been swallowed HLS by the target gullibles.

--
Spike

On 24/03/2022 17:50, swldx...@gmail.com wrote:
> eburtthebike | 3006 posts | 13 hours ago
> 3 likes

> We desperately need to get more people cycling and walking

Do we? Who said so?

> all the while ignoring the real elephant in the room; the massive, overwhelming benefits of a change to active travel.

Which are?

>>> https://road.cc/content/news/great-way-forward-or-huge-green-elephant-291305

--
Spike

On 24/03/2022 17:51, swldx...@gmail.com wrote:

> The Lancashire Post is just about the most anti-cycling local rag in existence, and always has been

Perhaps they aren't blinded by the virtue-signalling.

--
Spike

chrisonatrike | 1902 posts | 1 day ago
5 likes
Looking at the example picture - although this may be "for illustration" - am I the only one thinking "look at the width of tarmac still allocated to motor vehicles"?

That includes some of the "pedestrian refuges / islands" because of course without motor vehicles they, like traffic lights, would be entirely unnecessary.

There is an elephant in this room but it's not a green one.