Consultation Digest Issue 44, 24 September 2019: Speed cushions combined with traffic islands, car-free school gates and evidence that contraflow cycl

Would you believe it – Glasgow City Council are proposing an arrangement of speed cushions and traffic islands to daunt even the most foolhardy of us, but local residents in Hogganfield are looking for car-free school gates and we counter, again, anti-contraflow cycling moves. Read on for all the details:

Contents

Section 1: Current Consultations

1. Glasgow, Mossvale Road school parking petition, closes ASAP!
2. Glasgow, Pollok Park Transformation, closes 26 September
3. UK Government, Department for Transport, Carbon Offsetting in Transport, closes 26 September
4. Glasgow, Polnoon Avenue, Traffic Calming, closes 30 September
5. East Dunbartonshire, Proposed Traffic Regulation Order – Schools and Bearsden Town Centre, closes 07 October
6. **NEW** Glasgow (Belmont) (Traffic Management) Order 2005 (Variation No.2) Order 201_ – Consultation, Parking, closes 15 October
7. East Dunbartonshire, Proposed Traffic Regulation Order – Killermont Avenue, Rannoch Drive and Woodvale Avenue, parking/loading restrictions, closes 21 October
8. Consultation on Scotland’s National Transport Strategy, closes 23 October

Section 2: Forthcoming Consultations

1. Glasgow, Byres Road revised TROs- will they be issued soon?

Section 3: Consultation Feedback

1. Glasgow, Mount Florida, GoBike response to the City Council reply to our objection to the removal of two-way cycling to allow for increased storage of stationary cars.

Section 1: Current Consultations, in date order for response

1.1 Glasgow, Mossvale Road school parking petition, closes ASAP!

Featured in the Evening Times, yesterday, 23 September, is this petition from a concerned parent in Hogganfield worried about all the footway-parking large cars that people use to take their children in to the two schools on Mossvale Road. The Glasgow pilot, which was covered in Digests 34 and 35, only covers 6 schools with none being in the north or east of the city. We saw last week, in Digest 43, Item 1.6 and in Item 1.5 below, that East Dunbartonshire now has more ambitious plans than Glasgow.

Do please read the petition, from Change.org and help increase the numbers asking for this policy of banning cars from school gates to be extended far and wide.

1.2 Glasgow, Pollok Park Transformation, closes 26 September

The Burrell Collection is closed for renovation and upgrade and the City Council is expecting a big flurry of visitors when it reopens next year. Work is ongoing to cater for these visitors, not only those who arrive by private car, but all those people who arrive by public transport or who walk and cycle, but not forgetting everyone who visits Pollok Park for the enjoyment of being in the park.
Comments on the proposals, which may be found here are invited by email until Thursday. There is further information and a video here and you are asked to submit your comments by email to: PollokCountryParkTransformation@glasgowlife.org.uk

Quite a few GoBike members went along to the public consultation event on 10 September and, while we are generally very supportive of the proposals, there are significant improvements we think could be made to ensure that the balance between active and private motor travel reflects current stated policy both by the City Council and the Scottish Government. Comments submitted now will be considered before the planning application and traffic regulation order to allow the work to be done are issued.
The GoBike letter of response, submitted last Thursday, 19 September, is here.

1.3 UK Government, Department for Transport, Carbon Offsetting in Transport, closes 26 September

This consultation has been mentioned in our last two Digests and the link to the relatively short consultation paper is here. One of our members has described carbon offsetting as simply rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. We have tried to reflect the view that while carbon offsetting might be one tool in the box to address our current issues of congestion, pollution and global warming, there are far more pertinent issues that need to be addressed. Here’s the letter that we submitted last Friday, 20 September.
There’s still time to add your voice – the closing time is 11:45pm on Friday.

1.4 Glasgow, Polnoon Avenue, Traffic Calming, closes 30 September

This is the most curious traffic calming scheme we have seen and it flies in the face of all the guidance about creating streets for people. All the details issued by the City Council were given in Digest 43, Item 1.5. Here’s a detail from the plans that were issued:

You will notice that no overall dimensions are given for the roadway and thus there is no precise figure for the roadway width in which to avoid the speed cushion. Those of us who cycle where there are traffic islands will be aware that these pinch points are the sites of accidents waiting to happen. Islands do help people to cross the road, but so do zebra crossings and given that drivers are known to use the wrong side of the road if there is someone cycling legally past a traffic island, where would that leave the poor pedestrians? We have made what we consider to be robust alternative suggestions, quoting available guidance, in this letter that we submitted on Thursday 19 September.
Please do add your voice to our concerns about such a move.

1.5 East Dunbartonshire, Proposed Traffic Regulation Order – Schools and Bearsden Town Centre, closes 07 October

The details of these two proposals were given in Digest 43, Item 1.6 and address two issues. The first is the unfortunate fact that the stipulations of parking at junctions given in the Highway Code may only be enforced if there is a Traffic Regulation Order and the second is the exciting news that East Dunbartonshire propose to ban loading and unloading outside 10 primary schools. This could actually mean that children will have to walk part of the way to school!
Here is our letter of support to these moves, which we submitted on Thursday 19 September.
Please do add your support if you live, work or travel past junctions or primary schools in East Dunbartonshire.

1.6 **NEW** Glasgow (Belmont) (Traffic Management) Order 2005 (Variation No.2) Order 201_ – Consultation, Parking, closes 15 October

Hamilton Gardens is on the site of the old BBC buildings on Hamilton Drive just off Queen Margaret Drive and it seems that commuters by car will seek out any wee space they can to leave their vehicle while they go off to work.

Here’s the email that we received last week from the City Council and it explains the concern:

” Date: 17 September 2019 at 15:20
Subject: FW: THE GLASGOW CITY COUNCIL (BELMONT) (TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT) ORDER 2005 (VARIATION NO.2) ORDER 201_ – Consultation

MESSAGE SENT ON BEHALF OF KEVIN HAMILTON, HEAD OF ROADS, NEIGHBOURHOODS AND SUSTAINABILITY
Dear Sir / Madam
THE GLASGOW CITY COUNCIL, (BELMONT) (TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT) ORDER 2005 (VARIATION NO.2) ORDER 201_

The Council propose to consider the introduction of the above named Traffic Regulation Order and I wish to establish the preliminary views of your organisation prior to the publication of these proposals.

Background to the proposed Order
Glasgow City Council’s policy is to dissuade commuter parking and encourage more sustainable methods of transport. The Belmont area was identified as being negatively affected by commuter parking and general adverse parking practices including indiscriminate and obstructive parking. Following this, parking controls were put in place. 
Since these controls have been implemented, a new development has been completed in Hamilton Gardens.  This is now an area that we are looking to include within the existing Belmont parking controls.  In view of this the statutory process for proposing parking controls throughout this area has now commenced.

These proposals will improve road safety and pedestrian safety by prohibiting unsafe and obstructive parking.  This would also minimise access problems for any emergency service vehicles such as fire appliances and other services such as cleansing vehicles, etc. for refuse collection.

Area affected by the proposed Order, The roads affected by these proposals are:-
Hamilton Gardens

Details of the proposed Order, The proposed Order (as depicted on the attached plan) will comprise of:-
No Waiting at any time
These restrictions are proposed where waiting is deemed unsafe or undesirable.

Please provide any comments you wish to make on these proposals within 28 days (reply by 15th October 2019).
In the meantime, should you require any further information or clarification on any points arising from the proposals, do not hesitate to contact my assistant (name and phone number removed by GoBike).
Should the Council proceed with these proposals; a copy of the Notice of the proposed Order will be forwarded to you intimating an opportunity to lodge any objections to the proposals.
Yours faithfully“, etc

GoBike will be getting our support in for this as soon as we can – our streets are for moving, not stationary, traffic and Hamilton Drive provides a handy, cycling cut-through, avoiding a busy section of Great Western Road. The fewer cars there the better for us.

1.7 East Dunbartonshire, Proposed Traffic Regulation Order – Killermont Avenue, Rannoch Drive and Woodvale Avenue, parking/loading restrictions, closes 21 October

All the details for this proposal to restrict parking/loading just off Maryhill Road near the car dealership and the golf club were given in Digest 43, Item 1.7.

This is a residential area and parking near the exit to Maryhill Road is a barrier to people who wish to cycle through here. GoBike will be supporting this move.

1.8 Consultation on Scotland’s National Transport Strategy, closes 23 October

This is now the fifth appearance of this consultation in our Digests and our response will be submitted before the deadline. Responses will help set government strategy for the next 20 years so it’s important that views of the active travel community are heard.
Here’s the link to the government website and consultation details.

Section 2: Forthcoming Consultations

2.1 Glasgow, Byres Road revised TROs- will they be issued soon?

On 30 August we were emailed with the news that Glasgow City Council are working to issue consultation documents for the revised layout of Byres Road in September. Nothing has been heard yet but as soon as we get the information we will get it out to you.

Section 3: Consultation Feedback

3.1 Glasgow, Mount Florida, GoBike response to the City Council reply to our objection to the removal of two-way cycling to allow for increased storage of stationary cars.

Back in Digest 39, Item 1.4 we published all the details we had received about proposals on waiting and loading restrictions in Mount Florida. We were told that the community want more parking spaces and thus streets are proposed to be made one-way and echelon, or angled parking is to be extended in the area.

GoBike submitted this letter objecting to the removal of two-way cycling, among other concerns, on 22 July.

On 27 August Glasgow City Council replied to us with this email.

We have made further investigations, both of echelon parking and the supposed hazards of contraflow cycling and we commend these links to you:

• Contraflow Cycling, a briefing from the European Transport Safety Council, which reports on studies showing that cycling against the flow of traffic is less hazardous than either cycling with the flow or making large detours on busy streets to avoid one-way sections.
• Echelon parking, a document from the USA, which strongly recommends that drivers reverse into angled parking places, listing the advantages of such a practice. The main positives are that the driver is able to see oncoming traffic and passengers, particularly children, exit the car towards the footway and not into the roadway.

We have sent this reply to Glasgow City Council today, 24 September, in which we also mention a Scottish Government document, Designing Streets and refer to Nairn Street in Yorkhill, see below, where contraflow cycling has been authorised.

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That’s it for now. Hope you enjoy the September weekend, whatever you are doing. The next Digest is planned for 15 October – but, if we hear news of proposals for Byres Road, we’ll be in touch.