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news
Hull - licenseed CC BY ND 2.0 by Keith Laverock on FlickrHull seeks Dutch inspiration to get more people cycling
Councillors in Hull are reviewing the city’s existing policies on cycling, including the provision of infrastructure, and are seeking inspiration from the Netherlands to get more residents on bikes.
Hull Live reports that initiatives aimed at encouraging still more Dutch people to cycle such as paying people to ride for work will be considered by Hull Council’s scrutiny committee, as will the country’s world-leading infrastructure.
Hull has a head start on most other English cities when it comes to cycling – it already has some of the highest levels of daily cycling in the UK, ranking fourth behind Cambridge, Oxford and York.
That is a legacy of the city’s industrial past when workers would stream out of the factory gates at the end of the day – something that died out elsewhere with the rise of private cars, but has persisted in Hull more than anywhere else.
Car ownership remains low in Hull compared to similar cities, and its flat topography make it ideal for cycling, with 8.5 per cent of commutes by people living there undertaken by bike according to the 2011 Census.
Cycling infrastructure on the road, where it does exist – the major commuter route, Spring Bank, has none at all – is low-quality and, like off-road cycle paths in the city, is in a poor state of repair, however.
Initially, the council plans to spend £2.5 million over the next two years over maintenance as well as introducing advance stop lines at major road junctions.
As the newspaper notes, however, that is a drop in the ocean compared to the half a billion pounds Greater Manchester is investing in cycling and walking, including 75 miles of segregated cycle routes.
It adds that the council is likely to set up a review panel to consider next steps such as potentially introducing a pilot Mini Holland-style scheme in part of the city.
Councillor Paul Drake-Davis said: "To encourage a change in behaviour we need to demonstrate a change in the culture of getting from A to B.
"Doing it in one pocket of the city allows people from other parts of the city to see if it works and, if it does, they will want it in their area too."
The council’s regeneration director, Mark Jones, said that car ownership was now not a priority for many.
"We are seeing a lot of office and studio apartment queries at the moment in the city centre and for investors, car ownership is very much a secondary issue,” he said.
“They know people who choose to live and work in a city centre might not necessarily have a car.
"The Dutch model is all about high-density living and working and that is what we are trying to create in the city centre."
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
Latest Comments
- Rendel Harris 2 sec ago
I'm game, 100 miles, 100 pies has a ring to it...
- don simon fbpe 11 min 16 sec ago
And? Your neck don't work?
- lonpfrb 17 min 45 sec ago
No, that's very doubtful while proper testing would be fully destructive.
- TheBillder 1 hour 4 min ago
In that £1000 exactly scenario, beginners should probably be made aware that pedals will be extra.
- don simon fbpe 1 hour 32 min ago
What's wrong with dropping down on to the Millenium Bridge, or the swing bridge, then the brief, but satisfying climb back up the hill? #training....
- chrisonabike 2 hours 12 min ago
The relatives might of course disagree, but in general I'd countenance a relatively light sentence* if only we could fix it so that those who...
- ktache 2 hours 52 min ago
Id forgotten that I got a second hand set of project two's for my getting to work bike over twenty years back.
- Veganpotter 3 hours 49 min ago
My bet is that all these tires popping off are from people with bad pressure gauges or they're simply just putting too much air in on purpose. ...
- chrisonabike 5 hours 5 min ago
David9694 - you were right! These new autonomous vehicles really are conspiring to run out of control!...
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17 comments
Hull’s cycle network is a mixed bag. A piecemeal approach over the years has led to some very good stuff and some wrong-headed, dangerous rubbish.
Among the objections to more pedestrian and cyclist-friendly developments is that some of them are “killing the high street”. Perhaps the image chosen to accompany this article was chosen playfully. At any rate it is already very much out of date...
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The high street or more accurately city centre has been on its arse for decades, down to the offer being poor so people go elsewhere out of the city, hence why the big stores have either gone or on their way out and also because the city as a whole is skint, 129th from 138 places ranked in the Quality of Life Index
Only recently the council had to help fund the rents (not disclosed) and help renegotiate things with respect to what was once a big player in the city centre. They are 'saving' circa 300 retail jobs but it won't last because the business model does not work for the demographic. Another big player is pulling out of the city centre after around 30 years.
Sure the City of Culture had lots of good stuff going on but it's had a negligible effect overall if any. Employment rate has not shifted - still 50% higher than the national av. If they want to make the city more attractive to people from outside the city and change how the existing population feel then making massive changes is required. £2.5M for all the things mentioned is pocket change that won't do squat.
(Double post)
Shirley you mean Kingston upon Hull, darling.
At least we haven’t been subjected to the dread word ‘Humberside’.
What's the problem with Humberside (out of curiosity)?
Clydeside, Merseyside and Tyneside seem OK!
"Humberside" was one of those made-up counties from 1974, like "Avon".
Before that, that was (IIRC) the East Riding of Yorkshire (north of the Humber) and Lincolnshire (south). Then suddenly it was changed to Humberside.
... said no Yorkshireman - whose birthright was snatched from him as though his beating heart was plucked from his cleaved-open breast - ever.
(Er, I’m not a huge fan of that former non-metropolitan authority.)
Have a read of the comments re this from a few weeks back when it was announced, usual type of thing!
https://www.facebook.com/search/str/hull+cycling+investment/keywords_sea...
Blah blah blah, same old pony and the same old we aren't putting any money into it in case it doesn't work BS.
This is my city of birth, commute to school and college in the early to mid 80s and rode around the area until I left though I visit back frequently using my bike to get around.
The levels of cycling are DESPITE the absolute crud that are the road network in and around the city. They are spending £392M on about a mile of road https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/news/plans-392m-castle-street-upgrade-20... for what is the end of the A63 going through the centre of Hull making it basically a psuedo motorway to get to the docks.
Guess what, there is no cycle route planned along that section, to get to the other side you have to push your bike up a long ramp shared with pedestrians or use a set of lifts which are there for the disabled/less able!! The promise of a cycle route when the old Hedon road was updgraded into a dual a few years back also never transpired, that is further up from this and is now designated A63, it's stop start shared use that has no priority anywhere, basically it's a complete shower of shit!
The old railway line from Withernsea to the centre of Hull is garbage, it's tree rooted to buggery, also shared with peds and dog walkers, again is stop start at every single road it crosses and has no signage when it gets to the park just before the city centre so as a cycle route it's impractical and dangerous in parts. The alternate is to use narrow car parked routes with all and sundry bearing down on you not to mention the poor condition of the roads..
Routes through the main industrial areas with 40 tonners, white van man and entitled motons bombing through, not a chance. Safe routes for kids to cycle to the high schools or the juniors, don't be daft!
The city is ripe for cycling as it once was, concentrated and flat as a pancake, the highest natural point is 15m ASL on the golf course on the 15th hole IIRC!! Even in the 80s over 20% of people cycled in the city, but the labour council who have been in power since forever (barring a LD brief moment) are thick AF.
It's no wonder whenever there is a crash on one of the main arterial routes or we have a flood/bit of snow that the city comes to a standstill.
£2.5M is just risible, it won't do shit and these jokers will continue talking BS, fail to grasp what actually needs doing and will continue to fail people on bikes and fail the city.
SNAFU!
Whilst I agree with the thrust of what you are saying (since I still live in Hull and have all my life) given the amount of money cut from the council's budget over the last decade, allocating £2.5m to this has to be welcomed at least. Absolutely it isn't enough to make a significant impact, but at least they are doing something at a time when many council funded services are constantly having to cut back, and cut back hard.
It won't touch the sides, money from that will be used to fill in potholes, money that should come from the highways budget not cycle specific money.
The thing is though that cycle infra has been proven time and time again to be an investment, to pay back far more than it costs in many differing aspects. If the city leaders want to change the status quo, want to stop the massive issues with motor traffic across the city then they need to think further than filling a few holes and bits of paint. You did read the bit about the £££ been spent on Castle street right, that bit of road is not going to have any cycle lane along that length thus forcing people off bikes completely because it's already a hostile environment.
Everytime I come back I'm one of the very, very few who cycles along the A63, along Castle street and over Myton bridge. The whole environment is nasty everywhere, the city council have spent tons of money on 'motor' roads and naff all on cycling.
Given the massive problems the city have, isn't it about time they got off their arses and actually made a massive commitment to getting the city cycling again (thus saving millions more in health costs) instead of the piecemeal offering that is being touted?
I could tell them myself where money is needed, what roads they need to close off to motors. This is Beverley road, at lunchtime in December, a continuous stream of traffic, extremely uniinviting, that bit of green paint, yeah, it doesn't last and means the buses and other motors will come up right next to you, so hardly anyone cycles from the surrounding estates either for work or for shopping, it's horrendous everywhere.
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Good luck Hull. Starting from such a high base will make things easier.
Advanced stop lines. If they do, I hope they have a campaign to inform motorists what they are.
I am convinced a good proportion are unaware what they they are and why they are there.
Hull does have some nice long distance shared use paths heading out into the countryside and nearby villages, but the centre needs to be brought up to date. Could be a great network if they put some effort into it...
With this little money you can do next to nothing and doing it on such a small scale will not help with encouraging comutes, only neighbourhood safety.
The best thing to do in my mind:
find a ring route around the center of secondary roads and ban all cars (except for local traffic that would be a guest on these roads at max 25kph).
It's great that they are talking about cycling, and I was feeling encouraged by this article until:
Initially, the council plans to spend £2.5 million over the next two years on maintenance as well as introducing advance stop lines at major road junctions.
That's no money.
Nobody ever took up riding a bike because of advance stop lines.
The mini-Holland idea sounds good, but like everywhere else, they need to get on with it.