Urban planning consultant Tom Bailey rides his electric cargbobike on the Sunrise Cycleway on North … [+]
Elected officials in Exeter voted on October 12 to make permanent some of the temporary cycleways installed during the lockdown. Meanwhile, on Tyneside, the three-mile Sunrise Cycleway, a “pop-up” cycleway between the coastal resort towns of Tynemouth and Whitley Bay, is to be dismantled. However, it could make a return next year, said Councillor Carl Johnson, North Tyneside Council’s cabinet member for transport.
Officials on Exeter City Council’s Highways Committee backed making the pop-up cycleways into permanent fixtures on four roads. However, the pop-ups on several other streets in this Devon city will be removed. The temporary cycleway on Wonford Road, close to the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, is one of the four to be made permanent.
Will Pratt, principal transport planning officer, told the committee that some of the pop-ups had seen levels of cyclist usage on those roads increase by up to 70%.
A cyclist with an attached surfboard cycles on the Sunrise Cycleway.
People on bicycles have also flocked to North Tyneside’s Sunrise Cycleway, but the pop-up “will be removed,” Johnson told me by email.
“The [cycleway] was always only ever going to be a temporary measure to allow social distancing and reduce conflict between pedestrians and cyclists on the promenade during busy periods,” he said.
No decision has yet been made when the cycleway—marked by traffic cones and portable barriers—is to be dismantled. An evaluation report will be published once the cycleway has been removed.
Acknowledging that installing the cycleway was a “divisive issue,” Johnson nevertheless pointed out that “it has been great to see more young people and families out cycling than ever before.”
He added: “It has been a case of balancing the needs of everyone, but ultimately the safety of our residents during the pandemic has been our main priority all along.”
A freedom of information request to North Tyneside Council from the Living Streets campaign group revealed that motorist speeds dropped dramatically on roads adjacent to the cycleway.
“Any reduction in speeds is to be welcomed,” said Johnson.
“However, it’s important to view the information from the FOI with caution as the reduction in speed is not necessarily due to motorists driving slower: slower speeds are often a by-product of an increased volume of traffic.”
Some locals dispute this. Cycle advocate Claire Prospert said that the speed data “completely tally with anecdotal evidence that it’s a lot quieter and safer along the seafront.”
A petition urging the council to maintain the cycleway has attracted nearly 4,500 signatures.
“The dual cycle lane is attracting thousands of cyclists, young and old, to this beautiful stretch of coastline, helping tourism and local business in the process,” asserts the petition’s author, John Hodgson.
Sunrise Cycleway goes from Whitley Bay to Tynemouth.
Whitley Bay resident Karl McCracken said: “When I open the window now, the sound I most love to hear is the burble of children chatting to their parents as they wobble along.”
He continued: “I’ve seen people riding handcycles, and lots of snowy-white-haired people cycling, yet you can still get to anywhere along the coast by car.”
McCracken believes the cycleway has significantly reduced overall motor traffic volumes.
“The coast is no longer appealing to the hot-hatch people who used to like to speed up and down the road,” he said.
“I had personal experience of the consequences of this in 2014. I was the first on the scene of a fatal crash at the end of our street. There have been several other severe crashes and fatalities within a mile or so of where I live. Several of my neighbors have had parked cars written off by joy-riders or the lethally inattentive.
“The Sunrise Cycleway changed everything: it’s calmer, quieter, and safer,” he stressed.
