Local councils accused of undermining Scottish Government cycling targets as cycle lanes scrapped

". You don't convert drivers to cyclists without clear cycling infrastructure."

Who says drivers want to convert to cycling? The vast majority don't want to cycle.  As for cycle lanes not causing congestion. Segregated lanes taking away two lanes of a 4 lane road already a capacity do. Unless there is some magic pixie dust effect.

I'm all for appropriate cycling provision. Bearsway 2 wasn't it.

I'm pleased the councilors listened to their electorate.  As a cyclist I don't like Bearsway Part 1. Ok going south but going north means crossing the ongoing, often very busy, traffic flow twice for the sake of a mile or so of lane. Hence why around 10% of cyclists choose not to use it.  Due to the remaining road being much narrower the choice of not using the lane often results in hassle from driver.  With the old on road lanes this wasn't an issue.  The old lanes needed a better surface and parking restrictions in a couple of places, otherwise fine.

As for Bearsway 2 - unlike phase 1 it would involve going through a couple of junctions which are already at capacity much of the day - Boclair Road, and West Chaplton Ave.  Halving the road capacity would cause chaos.  Not an issue on Bearsway 1 where the road was already 1 vehicle lane in each direction.

Unlike Bearsway 1 which causes slight delay Bearsway 2 would result in major delays to the 18000 motor vehicles a day for the sake of the 150 or so cyclists a day that use it. Overkill.  For an experienced cyclist the section where Bearsway 2 would go is not a problem. Take the LH lane and traffic flows past in the RH lane.

Novice or child cyclists should be coped with by a shared ped/bike lane on one of the footways. They carry very little pedestrian traffic and it would work Ok. Leaving faster commuting cyclists to use the existing 4 lane road.

A bit more wide ranging than that petition — please share this page http://www.facebook.com/walkcyclevote/with as many people as you can. As Kim says, local elections are coming up. We need to try and persuade as many people as possible to take cycle infrastructure seriously.

Signed and shared. 500 signatures in the first 10 hours. Great news! Keep it going. 

I live near this and I concur completely with unconstituted's observations on the people in question. Outwardly playing the respectable middle class card but shouting down debate at a public meeting and even threatening to murder people on bikes or people who work for the council. I find that vile and utterly unacceptable in a supposedly civilised society. 

Well done to those who initiated the petition. A positive and peaceful action. 

Link a bit dodgy. Try this:

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/complete-the-bearsway-project

Signed of course, shared to friends. My other half also wants to commute to work by bike, but it's too hairy at the moment from where we are. We need proper cycle paths from every direction into the city centre to get less experienced riders on the move. 

I drive along Milngavie Road a number of times a day.  There is actually only one frequent bus, (frequent unbearable holdup apparently), the 60A, and it's every fifteen minutes.  Hardly central London.  Traffic still moves at 30mph as it has always done.  

My wife intended to get on a bike for the first time in ten years once this cycle way reached a local park and she could then be segregated from traffic as far as the city centre.  My wife will now remain in her car.  

I have copied a page from the Facebook page asking for those who support cycling lanes to do so.  Please sign the petition to support other cyclists from the G62 postcode.  (If my cut and paste works!)

Friends Of Bears Way.

A local resident has set up a petition to the council to complete the Bears Way cycle lane as soon as legally possible. If you live in the area, please sign. If you don't live in the area, but you think this is important, please sign. This is much bigger than one lane. This is the future of cycle infrastructure nationwide. Please share far and wide using whatever means you can. https://you.38degrees.org.uk/…/complete-the-bearsway-projec…

 “We don’t know whether or not, by taking it out, they intend to reinstate the previous path, which was usually filled with parked cars, meaning that cyclists were continually leapfrogging parked vehicles and into the traffic lane.”

 Why not reinstate the previous cycle lanes BUT with the rubber kerbstones left over from the ripped up lane? Row machine protester gets his status quo back (almost). Cyclist get a lane that is protected by kerbs so doesn't become a car park...

Hang on, this bloody minded metal-boxers, we're talking about - some (4x4s, transits)would probably still park in the lane and now you have to leapfrog the parked vehicles and the kerb.      

In time New South Wales residents will look at Scotland and think; "poor cyclists. I'd never move there"

So we live in a country where the national government overrules the county council and local opinion to allow fracking in Lancashire but when it comes to cycling infrastructure local councillors have the final say.

This country is becoming more mental by the day

Maybe they need to consider an alternative approach, where cycleroutes are unravelled from roads. Or just make all aurban roads 20mph and paint sharrows everywhere.

I think that if you are aiming for 10% then you should be spending 10% of infrastructure budget on it.  Anything else is just platitude.  If you build it they will come.  Difficult with these NIMBYs mind.

And giving into the idiot rower sets a very dangerous precident.

From what I could tell on social media at the time of the local Milngavie council meetings, it was a riot. NIMBYs screaming people down. Raw, irrational aggression. They wouldn't listen to anything. Councillors sent in lackeys - too scared to face the mob, which made it even worse of course as they couldn't get at their intended targets. 

Honestly, people think I'm exaggerating or taking the piss when I talk about Scotland and how regressive the older generation are, you got no clue. They're mental throwbacks, and they've taught their sprogs the same.

The younger NEDs aren't so much an issue though, yes on the street, but they don't stop shit happening, they don't go to council meetings and object to stuff, mostly. It's the mid 40s + and it gets progressively worse the older they are. It's not just the lesser educated, who get  blamed for everything, unfairly in my view - the tweedy lot are just as regressive. They wear thick brown pants because they shit themselves everytime some has a progressive idea. It is known.

Utter throwbacks. Funnily enough, it's a tiny persistent minority of the same generations who're trying to make this sort of progress happen. Feel bad for them - they must feel totally out of touch with their own generation. Way ahead of their time. Have to thank them for trucking on, because I'd have either nuked whole sections of the country or moved by now.

The irrational reaction to these safe cycle lanes is worrying. The NIMBY's are making a lot of claims about them which are without any evidence to support them. Sadly with local elections coming up in May next year there are a number local Councillors who are willing to listen to reason or evidence. The strangest thing is the reaction of SNP Councillors who are deliberately undermining their your parties policy. This is negative for the whole of Scotland and the SNP should be ashamed of this behaviour, it is the sort of thing which the Lib Dem's have been pushed my the votes for, all parties should wary of.