Council pledges to act on drivers turning temporary cycle lane into “pop-up car park”

Liverpool City Council has pledged to act against motorists parking illegally in a temporary cycle lane in the Toxteth area of the city after a cyclist described it earlier this week as a “pop-up car park.”

As we reported on our Live Blog on Monday, Twitter user Liverpool Wanderer took 17 photos of vehicles parked partly in the lane, which is separated from the main carriageway using wands, and partly on the adjacent footway.

> “The Kingsley Road pop-up car park” – “around 2” cars parked in pop-up cycle lane over a stretch of just 0.2 miles

The Kingsley Road pop-up car park, sorry, cycle lane, in a thread. @lpoolcouncil @Merseysidersp @MerPolTraffic @MerseyPolice @CllrNickSmall @siobridg @sharonconnor28 pic.twitter.com/G3lqvBNj13

— LiverpoolWanderer (@LiverpoolWande1) June 21, 2020

Vehicles shown in the photos, taken in just a 0.2-mile stretch of the road, included a licensed taxi as well as vans belonging to Providor and Carter Synergy, with the parking rendering the cycle lane unusable.

Cars were still parked in the lane yesterday, with Simon O’Brien, the actor and former Channel 4 Tour de France presenter who is now Liverpool City Region cycling and walking commissioner, tweeting a video yesterday morning.

Liverpool’s next pop up cycle lane/car park. Car is king even here. Revolution of minds needed. pic.twitter.com/XsDKB84Ufu

— simonobtv (@simonobtv1) June 23, 2020

According to the Liverpool Echo, the city council has now pledged to act on the problem, initially through sending letters to local residents and businesses, then through enforcement if necessary.

A Liverpool City Council spokesperson said: “The new pop-up lanes are being installed to reflect people’s transport needs presented by the Covid-19 lockdown.

“There have been some teething issues with is totally new process, with the problem of cars parking on them being an example.

“The council is in the process of drafting new road traffic orders to address this and will be letter dropping residents to remind them of the safety hazards cars present to these lanes.

“Enforcement options are being looked at but it is hoped behaviours will change as these new pop-up lanes bed in. However, if car parking persists action will be taken.”

This week, local authorities in England have been handed new powers to help deal with motorists parking in mandatory cycle lanes, something highlighted by the city council on its Twitter feed on Monday.

> Councils get new powers to fine drivers parking in bike lanes

New powers came into force today (22nd June 2020) which means councils in England will have the power to use CCTV to issue penalty charge notices to drivers who park or load illegally in mandatory cycle lanes.

Learn more: https://t.co/VNBOzq1dU7 pic.twitter.com/ckG8wE6vML

— Liverpool City Council (@lpoolcouncil) June 22, 2020