Draft plans are still being displayed in the Kuumba Imani Millenium Centre, 4 Princes Rd, Liverpool L8 1TH, with further consultation events being planned at Granby Market, etc.  Plans should be on the Better Roads website soon, but as yet are not there.

In the meantime, below are some photos of the draft plans.  Main issues/questions identified at present are:

• Access on and off the central Boulevard section in both directions:
  • Safety and viewpoints (for both people walking and cycling)?
  • Possible for non-standard cycles ? (obligation required under the Equality Act (2010))
  • Priority to cyclists (and pedestrians)?
  • Will time delays/phaff at toucan crossings be too much? (as stated in Sustrans design guidance, cycle design criteria needs to be direct with minimal detours or delays)
• Connections to other places/junctions/cycle network: access from/to side roads?
• Connections to Upper Parliament Street: a 1.5m cycle lane (just a painted line on-road) is proposed:
  • Width too narrow for safety ? Evidence shows that drivers often drive ‘to the line’ ignoring the cyclist within the cycle lane, see e.g. Lancashire cycle guidance and Camcycle.  Also the minimum recommended width is normally 2m (see page 18 of Highways England design guidance and Camcycle)
  • Not following cycle design guidance:  Princes Avenue is a 30mph speed-limited road with a high volume of traffic, so a protected cycle track is called for.  Relevant guidance includes: “Where volume is above 1,000 vehicles during the peak hour, separation for cyclists or reduction of traffic volume is required” Page 8 of Transport for London Cycle Design Guidance or page 11 of Highways England design guidance.
• Chichane adjacent to Selbourne Street and access to central Boulevard:
  • How to slow traffic at this point (to be safer for all road users)?
  • How to protect people cycling on road or on proposed cycle track?
  • How to safely access central Boulevard?
• Central Boulevard: space constrictions/viewpoints around sub-stations?

Please send all comments to Transportation@liverpool.gov.uk and please copy MCC (Merseysidecyclingcampaign@hotmail.co.uk) in so that we can also represent your views!

MCC are also meeting up with the designers on Tuesday, so any comments before then would be great!

Liverpool City Council is working on a scheme to enhance the central reservation of Princes Avenue/ Princes Road together with upgrading of the footway and carriageway surfaces.

There is a public consultation event to discuss the scheme. The event will be held on Wednesday 17th May 2017 from 11am to 7pm at The Kuumba Imani Millenium Centre, 4 Princes Rd, Liverpool L8 1TH.

As part of this meeting Liverpool City Council Highway Staff and Designers from Amey Consulting and BCA Landscape will be available to answer questions  about the scheme.

In 2020, new trains will be introduced on to the Merseyrail network. Merseyrail says they will be state-of-the-art, safer, more reliable, and thanks to faster acceleration, journey times will be reduced. A sliding step level with the platform will improve access for people with bikes, pushchairs or wheelchairs.

Merseyrail is inviting cyclists to a briefing session about the new trains, there will be an opportunity to ask questions.

The latest issue of Pedal Press is now available and can be downloaded from this link: PedalPress-online

Printed copies are available, we can post a copy to you, email your name and address to pedalpress@merseycycle.org.uk

If you could help distribute some copies to bike shops etc. please let us know.

Due to the forthcoming 4th May Metro-Mayoral elections for the Liverpool City Region, Merseyside Cycling Campaign have teamed up with the votebike Cycling UK campaign to produce questions to which each candidate is asked to respond.  More information on the asks for the Liverpool City Region are here.

Please take part by asking the candidates to take action to support cycling if they are elected!

SAVE THE DATE!

22nd of April is International Earth Day. We want to show how important cycling is to us:

We are planning to be part of events that will be held all over the country, coordinated by CyclingUK and organised by local campaigning groups, like MCC.

Current thinking is to hold a mass rally at the Pier Head in Liverpool, from 11am on the 22nd of April. Please comment here or email with more ideas. We would also appreciate volunteers to help organise and promote the event.

Come on your bicycle, bring a banner or flag, or whatever you can think of, to show your love of cycling and to support our campaigning efforts.

Download a poster to print out Space-for-Cycling-1

Please note: As an attendee you take full responsibility for any travel arrangements and attend the event entirely at your own risk.

Deadline 14th March!!

Also, we are requesting a site visit, so please let us know if you would like to be involved!

Letter from Liverpool City Council and proposed plans: please email MCC on Merseysidecyclingcampaign@hotmail.co.uk and let us know your views!

A compilation of previous MCC member comments as submitted to LCC in March 2016.

During the track renewal work of the Wirral loop Merseyrail are offering a unique service for passengers with bicycles. Please read this report by Paul Rogers, a cycling and bus enthusiast who we are proud to have on our member’s list. You can follow Paul on twitter, his handle is @cyclist13:

Firstly  this appears to be a first in the UK a dedicated bus carrying bikes and cyclists together for rail replacement services, so a big thanks to Merseytravel, Merseyrail ,Network Rail and Arriva bus drivers and its staff at Green lane for the conversion work.

http://www.merseyrail.org/wirral-track-renewal/bikes.aspx

The bus is a single decker bus run and driven by 2 dedicated very friendly, helpful professional drivers, branded both sides and back as “BIKE BUS”, painted blue and white, running hourly from the side of Hamilton Square station, Bridge street, to Liverpool Tithebarn Street, under the old station clock, near Moorefields stations, 1 minute walk if that. See timetable above.

There are seats for 9 cyclists to the rear of the bus, and floor mounted racks for a similar amount of bikes, the racks hold the front and rear wheels of the bike and a  movable arm attached to the floor clamps onto the  frame.

The racks look as if they can accept a tandem  as there is adequete space between the racks,(see pictures), and the drivers have access to elastic cords, but fat bikes may struggle eg bikes with 4 inch wide tyres.

The Driver will show you how to secure your bike, start loading  from the back of the bus when loading,and work forward, it makes it easier for new boarding cyclists to load their bikes so they dont have to squeeze between bikes.

As the bus runs hourly there is plenty of time to unload, wait till bus stops as there are no grab rails, a bit weird if used to having seats to hold onto.

A few other things of note, the bus is warm, got back tonight soaked through, and nice to get onto a warm bus,its also a recycled bus, it was a service bus, then a bus driver trainer, now a bike bus  = recycled bus.

Finaly let Merseytravel and Arriva bus northwest know your thoughts, and hopefully the scheme/bus can be used on other rail replacement services.

Paul Rogers,  a cyclist and bus enthusiast (@cyclist13).

Success! Merseyrail have finally acknowledged that an important proportion of their customer base want to use bicycles in combination with the trains. We will have a way to cross the Mersey during the track renewal that is not just relying on the ferry service. Please refer to the bike bus timetable here.

This is great news for everybody in Merseyside who wants to continue using their bicycle during the track renewal and a great testimony for all campaigners, from individuals to organisations as ours as well as the local groups of CyclingUK (formerly CTC).

NEWS: LETTER FROM MERSEYRAIL:  Rail -replacement specially adapted buses will carry bicycles through the Mersey road tunnels during the wirral track rail closure.  See letter from Merseyrail.

For more information see: http://www.merseyrail.org/wirral-track-renewal.aspx

Merseyside Cycling Campaign have been collecting information on the numbers of bicycles carried across the Mersey using a simple survey form at: http://goo.gl/forms/IkDuWTskR5nxUm022 ….  This survey is now being wound up and updated results will be here shortly.  All updated data will also be given to Merseyrail.

Thank you to all who filled in the survey!  We have nearly 200 responses and lots of great suggestions to give to Merseyrail!

Data of people with bicycles/ cycles using the trains and ferries to cross the River Mersey, in order to demonstrate on-cycle carriage usage and demand by rail and ferry passengers.  This evidence is required to support appeals for cyclist provision during the proposed wirral track closure in January 2017

Merseyrail now have published their advice on how to travel during the 6 months affected.