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Beelines busier road visualization (TfGM)Greater Manchester unveils ambitious plans for UK's biggest network of cycling and walking routes
Greater Manchester has today unveiled plans to create what it says will be the largest cycling and walking network in the UK, comprising 1,000 miles of routes including 75 miles of Dutch-style segregated cycle lanes.
There will also be 1,400 safer road crossings on most routes as well as 25 filtered neighbourhoods, with streets prioritising people and incorporating areas to socialise, sit and play.
The network will be known as Beelines, taking its name and logo from the worker bee that is one of the emblems of the city of Manchester and which achieved national prominence following last year’s Manchester Arena bombing when it was used as a symbol of commemoration of the victims.
The plans were announced today by Greater Manchester Cycling and Walking Commissioner Chris Boardman, and are due to be formally approved on Friday by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority.
Boardman said: “I’ve been massively impressed by the political will of all of Greater Manchester’s 10 authorities to come together to make this plan a reality.
“It’s not really about people using bikes and walking – it’s about making better places to live and work by giving people a real choice about how they travel. In doing so, we’ll make the city -region healthier and more prosperous.
Today, @Chris_Boardman has unveiled a plan to create the UK’s largest joined up walking and cycling network – #Beelines
The network will revolutionise how journeys are made in Greater Manchester.
Find out how we're making #MCR a better place to live: https://t.co/gG0VL8weVx pic.twitter.com/5j3dP0uxY3
— TfGM (@OfficialTfGM) June 27, 2018
“We’ve seen from other global cities that these methods work and the benefits are there for all to see – we simply can't afford to be left behind.
“So now the hard work begins and we’ll be working closely with all local authorities and partners to deliver this plan as urgently as possible.”
The initiatives is not primarily aimed at the people who already cycle or walk in the region, but is aimed at encouraging others to undertake more active forms of travel.
According to TfGM, each year around 250 million car journeys of less than one kilometre are made, many of them school runs, and one of the aims of Beelines is to “make walking and cycling the natural choice for short journeys.”
In total, £1.5 billion will be invested in the scheme, with the initial plans announced today costing £500 million.
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has allocated £160 million of the £250 million Transforming Cities Fund received from the government to the project, with planned spending in £15 per person per year comparable to levels seen in the Netherlands or Denmark.
He said: “Greater Manchester has a long history of doing innovative things and our approach to Beelines is no different.
“This proposal is bold and I make no apology for that. If we’re to cut congestion and clean up our air, decisive action is needed. I want to make Greater Manchester one of the top 10 places in the world to live and it’s action of this sort which will help to deliver that promise.
“I’ve no doubt that Chris Boardman and the 10 local authorities which make up Greater Manchester will do us proud and make journeys on foot or by bike the first choice for local trips.
“This will help to tackle congestion and it will help to tackle poor air quality, as well as boosting people's health and fitness levels.
“We have £160 million to get us started and we have a plan that has something in it for every single
Boardman continued: “Beelines will connect the quiet streets of Greater Manchester and lead in the most direct way to new crossing points to get people across busier roads.
“People using these routes will see new, distinctive signage which will be a marker of quality and will encourage them to take more journeys by bike or on foot.
“Beelines will be lined with zebra crossings at every side road, encouraging people to cross roads with priority and without fear.
“Planners, engineers and, most importantly, local people in each council area led on creating the first draft of these plans, which will evolve in the months and years ahead.
“By involving local people from the very first stage, and enabling them to inform the details of each proposed route and crossing, we’ll get the outcome they need, not what we think they need.
“That’s why we’ve taken the decision to create a first draft then immediately make it available to the public.
“This will be Greater Manchester’s network and it’s important that residents’ voices are the loudest, that they own it from start to finish.”
The initial list of routes and crossings will be announced in late July and further information on Beelines, including maps of the proposed network, can be found on the TfGM website.
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.
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29 comments
I was just thinking what would two Beelines with zebras on each side road look like if theycrossed each other. I think I found the answer in LegoLand...
beeline xing with bikelane.png
Good luck Manchester, make it happen then we can shame other cities into it too.
That'll be fair then...
Another set of congratulations here for Lord Sir Boardman, Supreme Defender of Sense. Can't wait to see these happen.
"Beelines" is such a brilliant name for them too, absolute genius.
Victoria Station 4 mins cycle, or 9 mins walk.
Wow, so people can walk at about 15kph, great going Manchester.
Eh?
That would assume that they are expecting the cyclists to travel at 34kph. Here's a clue: they're not.
Other than that, great contribution.
An attempt at humble-bragging by Mr G**** McD**** (aka Leviathan), who incidentally posted an average speed of 20kmh on Strava so far this week [60.3km in 2h59m total climb 297m].
With regards to the signage, wouldn't it be really cool if they used ANPR to calculate the average journey time for those entitled snowflakes who pay "road tax" to get to the same destintion and have a matrix display in the sign to tell the poor souls.
VICTORIA STATION
4 mins cycle
9 mins walk
*15 mins car*
Oops, almost forgot ...
2 mins Leviathan
Harsh but fair?
.
20180628_201402.jpg
Hey Leviathan, or should that be 'miss daisy' how'd you like those apples!
D'you push your bike between Strava segments, Leviathan?
Wow.
However, are zebras that close to a junction sensible? And where are the zigzags that everyone just parks on anyway?
The vast majority of drivers give way at zebras, whereas most will not give way to pedestrians crossing a side road despite the HC saying they should (based on my own personal anecdata - YMMV).
The point of this first phase of "beelines" is to make walking and cycling from A to B as direct as possible ... you shouldn't have to go 100 yards down the side road to a crossing or find somewhere that feels safer, then another 100 yards back again to continue along the road you were originally walking along.
This is perhaps one use of a bit of white paint and that actually might have a real benefit.
@Argos74 - no design schematics yet, but did you take a look at the actual document ?
https://assets.ctfassets.net/nv7y93idf4jq/6J11U1IT8kAq2oCISoEGYy/ae9e07d...
It includes examples of the types of infrastructure in mind. Also consider that this is aimed not at those of us who already cycle (and walk), but the people who currently don't.
Wonder if they'll do raised tables for the crossings? Reason I mention it is because they've recently installed a new pelican near me which can't be switched on because it's too close to a junction, just like those zebras.
Aye, and there's a lot of good stuff in there (particularly separating out walking and biking space - p32) and I'm so not the target market for this. I'll take filtering between a car transporter and an HGV over segregated lanes every day, because it feels safer for me. And fun.
If it gets more people out walking and riding bikes who wouldn't normally do so, then much cake all round. I'm all for it. But the devils are in the detail, and some of the infrastructure put in in recent years has actively put me off using those routes. Here's hoping the next batch will be better.
there should be zebra crossings at every junction. It certainly seems to be the case in France - although I haven't formally checked, I do notice every time I'm there what a sensible and simple thing it is. And over recent years, even in Paris, drivers do seem to stop for you, whereas in the 80s you were roadkill.
Under current design regs, that wouldn't be allowed. Off the top of my head a zebra has to be 20m min from a junction, but as this is an artists impression only (a poor one, wheres the dropped kerbs or buff tactile paving?) I'm not going to bother my arse looking it up, TA 01-95 or TA 02-95 I think.
Its possible they could be applying for a departure from standards but I doubt it given the no. of crossings and the precedent it would set. It would fail on visibility for a zebra too - you'd be asking someone in a wheelchair to turn 180 degrees to check its clear behind them. This just looks like a 'we'll do something here, but we've not investigated exactly what we can do yet'
They manage it fine in the centre of Bristol:
https://goo.gl/maps/zNhsMn2M6PL2
and, They always seem to expect cyclists to turn their heads like owls every time they want to cross a junction, so why can't we share the fun?
Chris Boardman always comes across as a man of action, of getting things done rather than just pontificating. Very driven (I suppose you'd have to be as a former elite athlete), very erudite. Manchester is lucky to have him on board, as well as Andy Burnham.
Kind of ironic that they're both from Merseyside!
The maps published on TfGM site are jpegs and hard to see the detail - although saving them to file and then zooming in using your favourite image editor/viewer reveals a bit more as they are reasonably hi-res (1600x1225 for the Trafford ones).
More detailed maps are apparently available here - https://mappinggm.org.uk/beelines/ - although they seem to be having some issues currently:
Cautious welcome. I want to see the details, especially the practical designs and impact. Wilmslow Road is on my doorstep, and I've used it twice since the segregated infra was put in. Regretted it both times.
Personally, I'd be happy if they just fixed all the damn potholes.
I know I keep seeing stats like this one being bandied around, but every time I do it just astounds me.
Who in their right mind would get the car out for a journey of less than one kilometre?
(I have to think twice about even getting the bike out for a journey that short...
)
Brill!
AWESOME!!! Saint Chris of Boardman, the citizens of Manchester thank you!
Great stuff Chris. Will be difficult for the more dilatory authorities of the north west to ignore something of this scale.
It's great to see genuinely ambitious plans with real funding behind them. The real challenge, once (if) full approval is granted, will be completing works quickly enough. The construction phase of the segregated lanes in London has been been a disaster. They have taken far too long to build, taken a vast amount of road space during that time (making those routes more dangerous for pedestrians and cyclists) and caused a lot of anger. The routes need to be constructed quickly and efficiently to minimise the disruption period, so that the city can start enjoying the benefit without having to go through years of extra pain.
In London we have shifted from what was rather a surprise with Boris Johnson still being responsible for he best infrastructire for London to date, to Sadiq Khan who, with less than two yeas of his job left, still, hasn't 'g o t' cycling (even after St Chris persuaded him to make it a manifesto pledge).
Andrew Gilligan advised repeatedly - exactly what you suggest - getting the job completed - quickly - befiore the petrophiles get shouty and stompy. All to no avail.
Campaigners have lost valuable time treading water -when we shouldn't have had to waste time and energy on keeping ho;d of schemes that had been achieved.
Chris B and Andy Burnham would appear to be relatively free of the kind of constraints that Sadiq has allowed to get in the way
Between the mayhem he's caused as foreign secretary, and the pathetic inertia of Sadiq "no we Khan't" as mayor, it seems inarguable to me that things would have been vastly improved all round if Johnson had stayed as mayor. At least there he could only do limited damage, and he actually got one thing right (more than he's managed in his current post).