Consultation Digest Issue 13. Parking - we are not amused, but some good news on segregated cycle lanes

We know that most of our members are concerned about the extent of on-road parking in the city, and this week we have two items on parking – see items 1.3 and 3.1. We have responded on a new Concordat between Glasgow City Council and the Third Sector (see item 1.1), and we hope that its implementation will bring changes to the current lack of early meaningful consultation, that all too often leaves us with objecting to a Traffic Regulation Order as our only option. For the good news on segregated routes, see our items on Connecting Woodside, the Argyle Street Avenue and Bunhouse Road.

Contents:

Section 1: Current Consultations

1. Third Sector Concordat, closes this Friday 13 July
2. Argyle Street Avenue, closes 13 July
3. Woodside Parking and cycle access, closes 13 July
4. Connecting Woodside, closes 17 July
5. Bunhouse Road and Benalder Street, new cycle lanes, closes 27 July

Section 2: Forthcoming Consultations

1. Old Dumbarton Road, cycle lane (in connection with Bunhouse Road, 1.5)

Section 3: Consultation Feedback

1. Hyndland, Hughenden and Dowanhill West parking

Section 1: Current Consultations – in date order for responses

1.1 ** NEW** Glasgow Third Sector / City Council Concordat, closes 13 July

We heard about this from GoBike member Neil, who works at Dumbarton Road Corridor Environment Trust and De’ils On Wheels and whom many of you may know. We agree with him that there is potential for Glasgow City Council to improve their relationship with groups in the third, ie voluntary sector, which includes GoBike, so we have responded on-line with this: Third Sector Concordat GoBike response 040718

We are very concerned that frequently our only option is to object to a consultation when we would very much prefer to be involved earlier in the discussion, so that our views as a group campaigning for public statements on active travel to be put into practice, are taken into account.

Do please read the Concordat and respond, either as an individual or encourage the organisation/s you are involved with to respond.

This is the text from the GCVS newsletter:

“Glasgow Third Sector Interface (TSI)  partners and Glasgow City Council have agreed to create a Concordat that sets out the principles which will underline a refreshed relationship between the Council and the third sector. A draft of the Concordat is now out for consultation. You can read it here.

The Consultation will be open until 13 July 2018 and can be completed online here.
 
The TSI believes that the new Concordat will offer greater engagement and new opportunities for partnership working between the Council and the third sector, and we are looking forward to the final Concordat being launched, and to working on the all-important Action Plan that will seek to put some of the principles in the Concordat into action.

A very busy event held at The Albany this month saw representatives from a wide range of third sector organisations come together to give their thoughts on the draft. As was to be expected, while people were generally happy to see progress being made, many are keen to see what the Action Plan will look like, and to find out how this new approach will be evaluated. The TSI will aim to ensure that people are kept informed as this work progresses.”

1.2  Argyle Street Avenue, closes this Friday, 13 July

This was a new item in our last Digest 12 and we do encourage you to complete the short on-line consultation, see: https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=22919  Information on the Avenues is given here and you can see the visuals for Argyle Street here

We have now sent a short letter of support to the design team, see: GoBike Argyle Street comments 090718 This is just the sort of streetscape we wish to see in the city.  By return we have been put on the mailing list for future Avenues consultations, so we will be able to keep you up-to-date.

1.3  Woodside Parking and cycle access, closes 13 July

We have mentioned this before, (Digest 11) and it’s one that we support. Parking of the irresponsible nature shown in this photo needs to be stopped.

We are also pleased to see that, while North Woodside Road will be closed to traffic, cycles will be exempted. This is a move that ties in with all policies to promote active travel and it’s good to see action of this type in the city. Here’s our response to the Traffic Regulation Order: GoBike Woodside Parking support 090718

There’s still time for you to add your support.

1.4 Connecting Woodside, on-line consultation closes 17 July

Details of this were in Digest 12 and there is an online consultation, which you can find at https://connectingwoodside.commonplace.is/  The consultation information is at https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=42014&p=0  We have sent in this short letter of support, with a couple of comments, to the proposals: GoBike Woodside comment 090718

1.5  Bunhouse Road and Benalder Street, Segregated cycle lanes, closes 27 July

Digest 12 gave information on this Traffic Regulation Order, which was issued further to moves by Yorkhill and Kelvingrove Community Council to improve conditions for walking and cycling in their area. We asked three questions of the City Council about these plans and we received the following replies:

1. The crossing from Bunhouse Road over Dumbarton Road/Argyle Street to Kelvingrove Park: “A full signalised junction with a diagonal crossing introduced for cyclists will replace the existing Toucan crossing. The cycle phase will operate in tandem with the pedestrian phase of existing crossing. Signage and screed will be introduced at the north side of the crossing to reduce potential cyclist / pedestrian conflict.”
2. Will the cycle route on Benalder Street be segregated? “The cycle route will be segregated from other traffic along Ben Alder Street. The existing vehicle containment barrier will be retained.”
3. Is a new 2-way cycle route shown on Ferry Road and Old Dumbarton Road? “A separate redetermination order will be promoted”  

There’s a bit more information on Ferry Road and Old Dumbarton Road in item 2.1 below. We got a prompt response to those question but have not yet heard back on two further questions, the first about the footway on Bunhouse Road, and the second about arrangements at the north end of Benalder Street, at the junction with Beith Street. This apart, we are generally supportive of these measures.

Section 2: Forthcoming Consultations

2.1  Ferry Road and Old Dumbarton Road, Glasgow, proposed new cycle lanes

We have heard about this through our queries on the drawing issued for Bunhouse Road, and the full reply to reply to our question about a new cycle route on these two streets is “There is an existing shared path along this footway from Bunhouse Road to Ferry Road. A separate redetermination order will be promoted to split the path between cyclists and pedestrians as well as extending the route to the existing crossing at Yorkhill Street. The existing path will be widened to a minimum of 5m (3m cycles, 2m pedestrians).”  This, while it’s not a major route in the city, is one we will support on the grounds that the local community is looking to improve active travel, and the existing shared route is of low quality.

Section 3: Consultation Feedback

3.1 Hyndland, Hughenden and Dowanhill West parking

In Digest 12 we published our comments on the proposed parking changes in this area, GoBike Hyndland Hughenden & Dowanhill West comments 250618 and we have now received this quite astonishing reply: H H & D GCC response to GoBike comments 040718  It includes the statement “residents have no alternative but to park on Clarence Drive overnight” prompting the question as to whether the City Council has a responsibility to provide residents with parking space for private vehicles. Reference is made to an objection GoBike submitted in 2014, Go Bike GCC Colleges Phase 2 Objection 290914  This was a very detailed letter in which we highlighted many areas where we considered the proposals brought forward at that time to “upgrade” the Colleges Cycle Route, needed considerable improvement and yet, instead of revisiting their design, the City Council used our objection as a reason to abandon any improvement. The fact that this objection has been brought up by them again with reference to this, highlights even further why we feel the need for a much needed overhaul and improvement of the council’s consultation process.

We will be responding.

So that’s it this fortnight but please e-mail us on consultations@gobike.org particularly if you know of any consultations from local authorities other than Glasgow, which we should be aware of.