Council criticised after resurfacing entire road... except cycle lanes

A Greater Manchester council's road improvement project caught the eye after the entire road was resurfaced... except for the cycle lanes, which "badly need improving".

One Trafford, the body linking the council to contractor Amey on road maintenance projects, proudly took to social media last week to share photos of the "completed" works, prompting local riders to fill the replies with questions along the lines of 'when will the cycle lanes be resurfaced too?'

And there's the answer. @OneTrafford seem to think this is finished, despite not touching the cycleways.https://t.co/DI05wm8lhs

— Dom (@domcycling) March 31, 2023

We contacted Trafford Council to ask if the cycle lane will be resurfaced too, but have not received a reply, instead hearing only from one of the cyclists displeased by the job who told us the cycle lane "badly" needed work too.

"It's disappointing that after the recent good work the council has done installing protected cycleways on a section of Chester Road, they've carried out this resurfacing work, without addressing the cycleway that badly need improving," Dom told road.cc.

"There have been issues with poor surface and standing water on the Stretford Cycleway since it was installed. These have been repeatedly raised with the council, who have failed to do anything about it. While Trafford Council's recently approved strategy to get more people walking, wheeling and cycling looks promising, we need to see this backed up with actions, including ensuring that maintenance money is spent fairly.

Dom explained how the cycleway is part of the Stretford Cycleway scheme, that was installed in 2018. At the time the work was carried out, many people told the council that the surface needed improving and the drainage issues sorting before installing the wands.

"The council patched up some of the surface, but left much of it as it was, and didn't address the drainage issues. It's now a popular route and is well used, but it's really quite bumpy and awful after it has been raining," he said.

Dom details his thoughts on the area's active travel infrastructure projects on his blog and, from the response to the resurfacing works, was far from the only person hoping to see improvements for all road users.

They did a bit 😂

Cycling back from Tesco this afternoon and south bound cycle lane is abysmal. It was that bumpy, I thought my fillings were going to come out. pic.twitter.com/vDTHblC7WB

— SiBt65 (@FentonRedbush) April 2, 2023

Another asked: "Why have the vast majority of the cycle lanes been carefully missed out on this resurface when they had just as many, if not more, surfacing issues as the carriageway?"

This is not a good look. pic.twitter.com/qVB125WjEe

— Tom Jeffs (@tom_a_jeffs) April 1, 2023