Consultation Digest Issue 22, 20 November 2018: A bumper bundle of new consultations.

Good news: Glasgow City Council is looking to reduce traffic on Oswald Street and Union Street (pictured left) in an attempt to cut emissions. Not so good news is that no cycle lanes are proposed but see more detail in item 1.5. Excellent news: consultation is underway on improving walking and cycling on the "Underline", (see Item 1.3) but bad news is that there is still no word on the status of contraflow for Elmbank Street to allow northbound cycle access to Sauchiehall Street (see Item 3.1 for this). We have lots more for you in this issue so do please read on.

Contents:

Section 1: Current Consultations

1. Station Road Millerston - Robroyston, FINAL REMINDER, CLOSES TOMORROW, 21 November
2. **NEW** Glasgow Early Years Capital Investment, closes Sunday 02 December
3. **NEW** Glasgow Underline Avenues Project, Sauchiehall Street to St George's Cross, closes 09 December.
4. **NEW** Glasgow Secure Cycle Parking, closes 17 December
5. **NEW** Glasgow City Centre Traffic Management Order Bus Priority, ie Oswald Street and Union Street Bus Gates, closes 21 December
6. **NEW** The Scottish Parliament, Restricted Roads (20 mph Speed Limit) Bill Survey, closes 28 January 2019
7. ** NEW** TOMORROW! North Toryglen Green Space and Active Travel Design Proposals, Wednesday 21st Nov

Section 2: Forthcoming Consultations

1. Transport Scotland Active Travel Meeting 22 November, STOP PRESS - POSTPONED to the New Year.
2. SPT Regional Transport Survey
3. Glasgow Avenues: North Hanover Street and Cathedral Street

Section 3: Consultation Feedback

1. Glasgow City Centre Traffic Management Sauchiehall Street Elmbank Street
2. Road Justice, Westminster debate TODAY
3. Battlefield Design Event 15 November
4. Glasgow Avenues: Argyle Street
5. New bridge linking Yoker and Renfrew gains approval

Section 1: Current Consultations, in date order for responses, except for item 1.7, a late entry - it happens tomorrow, 21 November.

1.1 Glasgow Station Road Millerston - Robroyston, parking removal, closes TOMORROW, 21 November

We first raised this in Digest 20 and if you haven't done so already do please get those fingers on the keyboard to support our response: GoBike Station Road Support and comments Letter 171018

1.2 Glasgow Early Years Capital Investment, closes Sunday 02 December

This is one that GoBike member Neil L, has told us about. It doesn't apply to all of Glasgow but, if it applies to where you are, then you might wish to respond. Positive responses could encourage cycling to school and outdoor cycle practice or training. See here for details.

1.3 Glasgow City Centre Avenues Underline, initial designs for Sauchiehall Street precinct, Cambridge Street & New City Road to St George's Cross, closes 09 December.

This is an exciting project, encouraging walking and cycling from St George's Cross to Sauchiehall Street. It is proposed to light the underside of the M8, reduce the space given to motor traffic on New City Road and replace the death-defying cycle lane down the centre of Cambridge Street (see photo above). All the information is here and, if you ignore the artistic licence where the weather is better in the future, we hope you will agree, that this is just the thing Glasgow needs and what the City Deal money should be spent on. Click on "Consultations" once you have opened the link to the City Council website for further information, including the survey, to be shown.

1.4 NEW Glasgow Secure Cycle Parking, FOR RESIDENTS, closes 17 December

Iona, our co-convenor, told us about this one after she represented GoBike at the recent meeting of Glasgow City Council's Active Travel Forum and here's the introduction to the consultation from the Council's website:

This is for YOU, if you live in a flat with nowhere to store your bike(s), so do please get your community council and/or housing association and/or factor to add their voice to yours.

1.5 NEW Glasgow City Centre Traffic Management Order, Bus Priority on Oswald Street (north of Midland Street) and Union Street plus parking changes including West Nile Street, closes 21 December.

Behold the current cycling horror that is Union Street (left). Scottish Government Policy and Glasgow City Council, in line with the Low Emission Zone (which we fully agree with Friends of the Earth Scotland, could be better), propose to restrict private motor vehicles from here and the northern part of Oswald Street. That's the good news. Not so good is that there are suggested parking changes that could have a negative impact on cycling in West Nile Street. If you have ventured onto the contraflow lane from St Vincent Street down to Gordon Street you will be aware that there is car parking on your left with moving traffic on your right. The proposal is to change this parking to disabled parking, something we are definitely not against. However, compared to standard parking spaces,  disabled parking spaces are wider (2.4m as opposed to 2.0m), and this could push people on bikes further towards the moving traffic in the northbound lane. There is a solution to this which we have suggested that relocates the cycle lane next to the footway, out of the stream of traffic, and also, with a buffer, out of the door zone. Given that only a couple of years ago we were shown plans by the City Council for cycle lanes right along West Nile Street (where are they now?) this change would be minor in comparison.

Another concern we have is the absence of any move to incorporate cycling into that major artery, Jamaica Street and Union Street. When, just a year or two ago, traffic was diverted along Midland Street and the northern part of Jamaica Street was made one way southwards, GoBike committee member, Peter, proposed a two-way cycle lane from the Clyde to Gordon Street, along Jamaica Street and Union Street, and then on to Queen Street, thus bringing cycle traffic from the Southside into the city with access to the two main railway stations. There's no mention of that in the proposals. Read the detail in the "Advert" here with all the documents supplied by the City Council for you to peruse: CCTROv24Advert TS-5199-M-000-P-001A_TRO CCTRO(v24) Report Oct2018 CCTRO(v24)_SOR

You can see our response here: GoBike City Centre Bus Priority TRO qualified support 201118 . Please do add your voice: the email address for responses is land@glasgow.gov.uk

1.6 The Scottish Parliament, Restricted Roads (20 mph Speed Limit) Bill Survey, closes 28 January 2019

GoBike member Ellie, who's also a leading light with Get Glasgow Moving alerted us to this survey from the Scottish Parliament's Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee. GoBike has been campaigning for the default urban speed limit to be reduced from 30 mph to 20 mph ever since our member Bob put his petition forward to Glasgow City Council early in 2015. It's a short survey, do please complete it. Let's make our towns and cities safer for us all by reducing motor vehicle speeds.

1.7  NEW North Toryglen Green Space and Active Travel Design Proposals, Wednesday 21st Nov

Just in in the nick for time via the Urban Roots twitter, and spotted by our member Brenda, green spaces and active travel routes are being looked at in and around North Toryglen at some presentations and sharing of ideas at Prospecthill Circus tomorrow.

Section 2: Forthcoming Consultations

2.1 Transport Scotland Active Travel meeting with Campaign Groups, 22 November, postponed until the New Year.

Tricia, the author of this Digest, was, until 5pm today, going to this meeting at Victoria Quay in Edinburgh on Thursday. Our colleagues from Spokes and Pedal on Parliament, among others have been invited. Transport Scotland have postponed, apologised for the short notice and will re-programme for the New Year, when the discussion will include a detailed discussion of the budget allocation for active travel, which was doubled at the last budget.

2.2 SPT Regional Transport Survey

GoBike committee member Rachel and our new co-convenor John attended a meeting with SPT on November 15, along with representatives from Cycling Scotland, Living Streets, Paths for All and Sustrans. There was a consensus that SPT should play a positive role in effecting modal shift from private transport to public and active travel. SPT are consulting with lots of partners, including twelve local authorities to develop a strategy. One of their next steps is to issue a public survey, which is going to look at what is not working across all transport modes. Sounds a bit negative - surely something must be working, but it should help their strategy and it's clear that they are looking to improve. As soon as we hear the date for the survey, we'll let you know.

2.3 Glasgow Avenues, North Hanover Street and Cathedral Street

If you read the Glasgow City Council website page for the Avenues in relation to the Underline, above, you will have seen this:

"

With Sauchiehall Street, the Underline, works at St George's Cross/Woodside, Argyle Street (see Item 3.4 below) and modal filtering in the city centre (ie reducing private cars) and the South and East City Ways the city will really be changing if these two streets become avenues. North Hanover Street links in well to Sighthill and the North East Travel Routes we told you about in Digest 15 and Digest 16 . Goodness, it's almost like there's a plan!

Section 3: Consultation Feedback

3.1:

Most of you will be aware that work is proceeding on the cycle lanes on Sauchiehall Street from Charing Cross to Rose Street, but there is one factor that really concerns us. Some road changes are being made and one of them is to make Elmbank Street from Sauchiehall Street to Bath Street, or for those of you who navigate differently, from the Variety Bar to the Griffin, one-way southbound, with NO exemption for bikes!

Essentially, our concern is that there will be no route from the area around Charing Cross Station to Sauchiehall Street without either going west over the motorway to North Street and then into Sauchiehall Street or going south down Elmbank Street and via St Vincent Street, Pitt Street and Blythswood Square!

In February 2017 we submitted this response to the consultation for the cycle lanes: GoBike Sauchiehall Street partial support 280217 and in February this year we responded to the City Council who were not amenable to two-way cycling on Elmbank Street. We have heard nothing since then and so emailed again on 15 November. Here is the grand email chain: Sauchiehall Elmbank email chain 2017-8

3.2 Road Justice, Westminster Debate TODAY

We raised the issue of consultation on new cycling offences in Digest17 along with the call to action from CyclingUK. 13,000 people responded to CyclingUK, so well done if you were one of them. The consultation closed on 05 November but our MPs are debating this today. Last week CyclingUK put out a call to its members to contact their MP, which some of you might have responded to. If you didn't you might want to check the link and let your MP know your view.

3.3 Glasgow Battlefield Public Consultation Event 15 November

Several GoBike members, including co-convenor Iona, and Digest author Tricia attended this event, along with members of the public and the local councillor, Anna Richardson. The proposals currently for Battlefield show one of the three roads around Battlefield Rest being closed - which one will be decided further to consultation. Also, uni-directional cycle lanes are shown from Grange Road through to Battlefield Road, so it's generally, despite concerns about the number of homes Sanctuary wish to build on the old hospital site and possibly on the car park on the new hospital side and a view from some residents for no change, looking positive. News just in today from Sustrans:

"Last Thursday we displayed the feedback we’ve gathered so far and gave you the opportunity to put your ideas into designs using a 3D miniature model kit and maps of the area. To view the information on display and photos of the event please visit our latest project blog.
The next stage of the project is to gather these comments and ideas from the event and with the background data, material and facts from the discover stage we will commence forming the outline design for the area. These designs will be open to your comments in March. In the meantime we will be holding more local events in your area including led rides, local walks and film screenings. Please follow our project news for the latest updates by visiting https://battlefield.commonplace.is/ where you can subscribe to the ‘News’ section."

Further updates as they become available.

3.4 Glasgow Avenues, Argyle Street

Also on Glasgow City Council's Avenues website page is this news: "

3.5 New bridge linking Yoker and Renfrew gains approval.

Neil L told us about this news from Renfrewshire Council. Scottish ministers have approved the construction of a new opening bridge across the Clyde - and it will have cycle lanes, we are told. See here for details.

Quite an exciting bumper bundle there - do get your responses in to ensure Glasgow City Council staff get a lot of mail in the run-up to Christmas!