Cycling Forum

Minutes - 11th April 2005

• Attendance
• Approval of Minutes
• Matters Arising
• Bike Week Programme (11th - 19th June)
• Pedestrian Refuge
• Schemes in Progress
• Any Other Business
• Date of Next Meeting

Attendance

Introduction and apologies:

Cllr Doubleday announced the start of the meeting of the Tameside Cycling Forum.

Apologies received

• Steve Smith
• Post meeting note: apologies received from David Collins, a potential new member, who was away at the time of the meeting.

Present:

• Cllr Doubleday (Member Tameside Council) (Chair)
• Carol Willgoose (Tameside Council-Engineers)
• Rodger John (Tameside Council-Consultant)
• Chijioke Ebizie (Tameside Council-Engineers)
• Peter Brocklehurst ( Janus Road Club)
• Rod Whitworth (GM Cycling Campaign)
• David Robinson (Concerned Cyclist)
• David Collins (C.T.C.)
• Alan Pickles (Cyclist)
• Colin Ellis (Dukinfield C.C.)
• Stuart H. Bailey (Cyclist)

Approval of Minutes

Cllr - Moved for adoption of previous meeting minutes and this was unanimously accepted.

Matters Arising

RW - Happy with response of Tameside Council staff to enquiry.

AP - Still have not received Information pack, requested at previous meeting.

CE - All previous "minutes" of meetings of the "cycling forum" was forwarded to his email address on my database.

CW - CE will collect your current email address and send you the Information you have requested.

AP - Raised the issue of some new construction work on Stamford Street at a "pedestrian refuge". This particular "refuge" has been renewed recently but opportunity missed to relocate and or reduce width and provide cycle lane.

PB - Traffic Calming Mottram Old Road ; full width road humps have been reduced in height but speed cushions still too severe for cyclists. (CE to advise PB on any proposals to alter speed cushion levels in the area concerned).

Bike Week Programme (11th - 19th June)

CE - Have arranged for "Company of Cyclists" to run a "Cycle Event" on the 14 th of June 2005.

PB - The Mayor's Fun day bike event was not given enough publicity.

CE - Publicity was handled by the Mayor's Office.

DC - The event was organised to raise funds and that may have contributed to the amount of money spent on promoting it.

SB - Wanted to know if any "Cycle hire" was in operation in Tameside.

DC - Current information available from Primary Health Trusts indicate that the age group most interested in taking up cycling are the primary school children, so can we target this group?

Employers should introduce effective schemes to encourage their staff to commute on bicycles.

RJ - In Manchester during one of their "Bike week's", the leader came in on his bike, so did many of their Senior Management and this got a very positive response from other staff of the Council.

CEl - Terrain is a limiting factor for cycling in Tameside. Tameside is hilly unlike areas like Manchester City .

DC - Tameside should mobilize their staff during this "Bike week" to come to work on their bicycles. Incentives like "free breakfast" could be used.

CE - The Council have put in place some incentives, like; providing secure Cycle parking facilities, changing rooms, showers and mileage for using cycles for site visits.

PB - Paul Manning, part of the winning 4000m team pursuit team at the World Championship in the USA, could be invited to give the day prominence.

AP - Employers with over 50 staff should be made to provide Cycle facilities.

SB - Can Halfords be approached to see if they will sponsor any events?

AP - Has a system of recycling "banners" and he is willing to advice the Council if the need be on how to carry out this process.

Can produce banners at very cheap rates.

PB - Can one of the days be set aside for a "mass" cycle ride covering Ashton, Denton and Hyde? (Consider for 2006).

SB - Can the Council go into partnership with Halfords to run a Cycle hire scheme?

DC - The main hindrance to cycling is the lack of desire.

SB - A majority of people do not take pains to service bikes. That is why hiring a bike could get more people to cycle.

Cyclists are in the minority.

Cllr Doubleday - Cost and insurance implications could be prohibitive, to run such a "Bike Hire" scheme.

DC - Newspapers should be involved at an early stage to give publicity to the Cycle to work programme by staff of the Council.

CE - To look at the possibility for a TMBC Cycle to work day during Bike Week.

Pedestrian Refuge

Mottram Road (Stalybridge)

CW - A brief history of the new Local Safety Scheme (LSS) on Mottram Road . The reasons why the scheme was implemented. A child was knocked down at this location and residents in the area and their representatives backed the scheme.

DC - The location picked was at the wrong place. The apex of the corner could have been used to provide the best view either side for pedestrians wishing to cross?

RW - It is obvious this refuge cannot be taken out, no matter how much we complain. Authorities are making it worse for cyclists. Available guidelines state that it is most dangerous for cyclists when the carriageway width is between 3.5m and 4m.

CW - Though not involved in implementing this crossing the location DC has indicated might be too wide for a formal pedestrian crossing.

DC - The reason for putting up this refuge is to discourage overtaking in this area.

CEl - Feedback on another location with a restricting pedestrian refuge at Acresbrook should be presented to the Forum. Since the last meeting, he has been runoff the road by a bus at Acresbrook and the resulting complaint to the Police has not yielded any results. This particular problem on Mottram Road seems to come up at every Forum meeting, with no solution being formulated by the Council.

PB - Can we have a count at these locations to determine, whether the Council got it wrong?

DC - Would want a Council Staff, preferably someone from the Traffic Management Section to accompany him on a ride up Mottram Road in Stalybridge.

CEl - A new build out has been constructed on Dowson Road in Hyde, creating another danger for people cycling through this point.

CW - 4m width in the uphill direction on Mottram Road offers some assistance to cyclists.

F - The forum advised that 4.0m width encouraged HGVs to try to overtake cyclists at this narrowings.

Proposed Traffic Calming Stockport Road ( Oxford Park )

RJ - A brief History of the rational for this scheme. A disadvantaged area. The scheme will require installing restrictions, reducing the carriageway width to 3.1m at the pinch points. The Cycle Lane will be segregated from vehicles and will share the existing footway. The problems associated with the on footway cycletrack include, the fact that some semi mature trees would have to be removed and that cyclists will have to give way to pedestrians entering/leaving the park and passengers boarding and alighting from buses.

RW - Regarding safety for pedestrians in the area, what has been done to reduce the volume of Traffic on this stretch of road?

RJ - This is a Principal road in Tameside, so it is bound to carry a lot of Traffic. The newly completed M60 has contributed to a reduction in traffic flow on this particular stretch of road and as part of the Council's LSS a "Watchman Traffic monitoring camera" covers this stretch of road.

Cllr Doubleday - This area falls into the 5% of the most deprived area in England .

RW - The Cycle Lane width of 1.5m is rather narrow.

AP - Can the whole road alignment be altered to achieve a chicane in this section, instead of the existing proposal?

DC - Will these Bus shelters provide "Real time bus information".

RW - Every compromise makes it worse for cyclists.

CW - There is a Manchester wide programme to have bus shelters on the Quality Bus Corridor (QBC) to provide real-time bus time information.

F - Forum agreed to provide comments on the proposal within 3 weeks.

Schemes in Progress

CW - Cycle Stands have been ordered and delivered, the Council is in the process of installing them.

F - Appropriate signing requested by forum. (Action CE).

CW - The Council is also providing assistance both financial and technical to primary schools in Tameside as regards providing suitable cycle facilities within their premises.

CW - The Council is continuing to work with schools to develop "travel plans". Cycle routes to these schools are assessed and improvements identified if necessary. Aim is to produce leaflets showing cycle routes to school, aimed in particular at new starters at secondary schools. The Council has also started to work with large employers to encourage the development of "travel plans".

CE - Circulated 2 maps, one shows how Tameside will link up to the "Fallowfield loop" and the other shows proposed and existing on and off road Cycle routes

F - Forum agreed to provide comments on the proposed cycle route network within 3 weeks.

Any Other Business

AP - What has happened with the Two Trees Lane scheme?

CW - Agreed to provide further information at the next meeting. (Action CW/CE).

CE - The scheme is still being designed at the moment.

RW - The CTC extended Bench Marking has been extended to the North West . Will Tameside be willing to sponsor their staff on one of the Cycling Courses, which I will be forwarding to you?

Also members of staff of Tameside Council should be encouraged to attain "A category of Professional Membership" of the CTC.

CW - The Cycling Officer has been on a Course on Cycling since he took up his current position. Send your proposals and the Council will consider.

PB - At the last SUSTRANS meetings, 3 items of interest were raised which I do not know if you are aware of?

• The link up to Hattersley of the Transpennine Trail
• Disused Railway Cutting link to Oldham
• Provision for Cycling in new developments

CE - I am aware of the first two projects and I will be contacting SUSTRANS regarding these.

AP - When scheme drawings are tabled, can we have smaller scale location plans, as well. This will give us a better idea of the scheme in question?

Date of next meeting

Cllr Doubleday - 6.00pm Committee Room 4 on the 4th of July 2005

Thanks for attending