Another win for Birmingham

Earlier in the year, as Birmingham proudly hosted the Cycle City Expo, Andrew Stunell, a Lib Dem MP, accidentally leaked on the internet (and then withdrew it) that Manchester had won their bid for money to develop further their cycling potential. The assumption that followed was that there was no way that Birmingham would win, given the size of Manchester's bid. This view gained a lot of traction - even I bought in to it - but Monday saw the announcement that we were all wrong. Yet again, Birmingham has won a competitive bid and gained the largest chunk of the £62m won by any single local authority (the Manchester bid covers the Greater Manchester area and Leeds is actually a West Yorkshire bid including work across Leeds and Bradford). We've secured £17m of funding - to go with a further £7m of city council money - to make some major improvements for cyclists in Birmingham.

Infographic from Dave Atkinson @roadccdave

Although this is going to be used to create 70 miles of new cycling routes and improve the 60 miles that we already have, this is only a start. As was pointed out during the Changing Gear scrutiny inquiry, the infrastructure in the Netherlands has taken four decades of work to get to the level that it is now - it has taken consistent investment and political will, backed by popular pressure, to get to their standard of provision. As a city, we're a long way behind this curve and this money is only a contribution to what we need to do to revolutionise cycling in our city.

This is a long term investment for the city - changing how we travel and making sure that we can use the most appropriate method for the journey will make our city cleaner, it will improve the air quality and have significant health benefits well beyond the value of the investment. It makes financial and health sense to do this.

While I'm delighted to see this boost for cycling in Birmingham, a tweeter (@roadccdave - Dave Atkinson) put this money into the context that we normally see for transport projects. The realignment of the A45 Coventry Road to allow the extension to the airport runway has cost £30m by itself. The Cycle Expo saw Andrew Gilligan, Boris' cycling tsar, visit Birmingham and tell us that he has the same amount to spend on a single project on the Embankment as we have won from the government for the whole city. I'm not being ungrateful - but let's put this into context.

Of course, we now have to deliver on the promise. That's the next challenge.

By the way - SkyRide Birmingham returns to the city on Sunday September 15. Sign yourself up....

Biking to Birmingham

As the 19th July gets closer and the tunnel closures start to loom larger ahead of drivers, why not think about biking into the city from Acocks Green?

CENTRO have organised led cycle rides along recommended cycle routes (on road and traffic-free) over the next few weeks:

• Mon 8 July
• Friday 19 July
• Mon 22 July
• Mon 29 July

The rides leave from Acocks Green station car park. Be there at 7:30am for a 7:45am departure, with a planned arrival time of 8:30am at Moor Street Station and covering about 5.5 miles. You'll need to have a roadworthy bike and be able to cycle safely.

If you aren't sure about whether your bike is safe, Dr Bike mechanics will be offering a free safety check on 4 July between 3pm and 6pm in the station car park.

You can get more information by mailing cycling@centro.org or calling 0121 214 7381

I may even have a go myself....

2 wheels good...

Last Friday, a group of councillors joined a team of committed cyclists to have a ride around Birmingham (about 4 miles in total) to see how difficult it is to get around the city by bike. We only rode around the City Centre, but it was genuinely instructive. You can see more pictures here and here on Brownhills Bob's page, who ran across us by chance on Moor Street - a particular disaster area. I can't claim to be anything other than a leisure cyclist and occasional commuter.

While it was an all-party ride, the only non-Labour councillor was Dave Radcliffe, a Lib Dem. We were joined by cabinet members Steve Bedser and James McKay, scrutiny chairs Victoria Quinn and Lisa Trickett and fellow backbencher, Peter Griffiths. Very disappointing not to see any Tories there, but given the state of the roads, that's probably more out of embarrassment than anything else (although a couple did give their apologies...)

We saw some areas where cycling has been thought about, with on-street cycle lanes and reverse flow lanes against one-way traffic, but too many where it has been forgotten - or might yet be forgotten. The Hill Street/Hurst Street cycle lane is very heavily used, but we aren't clear what the future is when the New Street main entrance is relocated. Moor Street is a nightmare for two-wheeled travellers - millions have been spent on the highway, with no consideration at all for cyclists. I found that out when I came to cross it later that afternoon on the way home - navigating the traffic was a nightmare.

Acocks Green isn't well served in terms of great cycling routes to the City - we don't have the Rea Valley route that runs in from the south of the city and the canals aren't suitable for any serious numbers of cyclists. We have an opportunity with the Smarter Route scheme which will be coming to the Warwick Road over the next few years and I'll be making it my mission to get a good deal for all road users - pedestrians, cyclists, public transport and drivers.

Cycling is coming up at a forthcoming scrutiny committee meeting. So, I'd welcome your thoughts on it. :Looking to the future, how can we make Birmingham a cycling city? Do we surrender to the car or push on with making our roads safer? (I think we should encourage cycling for the health and environmental benefits, but I'd be happy to hear alternative arguments too) What would make you want to cycle or cycle more? Do we need more cycle routes? Better signage? Driver & cyclist education?

This link was sent to me and it does seem a pretty sound starting point.

Here are the core questions that we are considering

1. How can we encourage cycling in the city that is efficient and safe, getting people from A to B desirably and sustainably linking urban areas?

2. How can natural green corridors and walkways alongside road networks be best used to create a city cycle and/or pedestrian network? How has this been developed in other cities?

3. What are the resource implications of adapting current cycle routes and joining them up?

4. Which partners can help us to do this and what resources do we need?

5. Who is currently cycling? Who could be most easily encouraged into cycling? What are the barriers and opportunities to uptake by more people and between more places?

If you would like to comment directly, you can send your views to Baseema Begum in the Scrutiny Office at Birmingham City Council by phone on 0121 303 1668 or by email to baseema.begum@birmingham.gov.uk by the 5th October (or to me, if you want). There will be a public evidence gathering session 1300-1500 Friday 19th October in the Council House.