On Saturday 8th September a Pedals petition gained 124 signatures at The Tour of Britain Start in West Bridgford. The petition was in support of the proposal to build a Foot Cycle Bridge over the Trent, east of Lady Bay Bridge.

68% of the signatories live in Rushcliffe.

The Foot Cycle Bridge already has the backing, in principle, of Nottingham City Council’s Leader, Cllr John Collins and the survey results will be used to support funding applications to D2N2 and central government.

Following contact with Councillor Collins and Councillor Liversidge, we have now had a response to the comments we raised on the Broadmarsh plans.

Pedals’ questions are in bold text below, followed by the City Council response:

1) There appears to be ample room for bike parking under the NET bridge to site a substantial bike park on the East side of the new Broadmarsh. Cliff Road should be designated as a cycleway connection with the London Rd Roundabout and Eastern Corridor.

A large cycle hub facility will be opening within the Broadmarsh car park and will be directly accessible from Collin Street. The area under the NET bridge is part of aspirations for improvements to the public realm to link the new City Hub with Collin Street and Middle Hill.

There are no proposals to designate Cliff Road as a cycleway connection as it provides little benefit to residents of Cliff Road, and considering that more direct routes will be available on Canal Street, which will carry a lot less traffic that it currently does.

2) There is a need for a new road or shared path ramp going under the NET bridge to connect the Skills Hub to Middle Hill. This new road already appears in the Broadmarsh Plan. It would be good if we could get confirmation as to exactly its route and permitted use.

There are significant level differences between the ground floor of the City Hub and Middle Hill itself. Early plans for the Broadmarsh scheme did include a tram stop on Middle Hill that would have provided a pedestrian link at a higher level from the Hub building but this is no longer part of the scheme. There is an aspiration for improvements to the public realm on Middle Hill and the area around the Skills Hub and this will consider how links to Collin Street can be improved. Due to the level differences this is unlikely to include a cycle route.

3) Bike parking inside the current Bus Station entrance off Carrington St needs to be supplemented by at least 20 on-street cycle hoops. Our preferred location is on the northern side of Collin St where most of the current bus shelters are located. These, we understand, are to be moved when general through traffic is diverted to the south of the Station (Queen’s Road etc.) and buses diverted to Canal Street.

A cycle hub facility will be opening within the Broadmarsh car park and will be directly accessible from Collin Street. Street furniture will be incorporated into the public realm design for Collin Street and Carrington Street but this level of detail has not yet been considered.

4) The narrowing of Greyfriar Gate from 4 down to 2 lanes gives potential for a toucan crossing which could connect to the northern side of Castle Boulevard and then link to the Western Corridor. It’s not ideal but it would be an improvement on the current situation.

There will be toucan crossings across Wilford Street, Maid Marian Way and Greyfriar Gate that will provide shared facilities across both sides of the Greyfriar Gate junction. These will provide a link to Canal Street or Wilford Street to connect with the canal or the cycle facilities south of the Waterway Street junction. The cycle team at the City Council have seen the proposals for this and are happy with the facility they provide for the currently proposed road layout.

5) We accept that cyclists should not try to cycle through busy pedestrian areas and should also then be prepared to dismount. However, there should be no “cyclists dismount” signs, particularly in the new pedestrianised Collin St.

Noted. Collin Street will be a pedestrianised area with No Entry signs with supplementary plates ‘Except Cycles’. There are no proposals to install “cyclists dismount’ signage in the permanent scheme.

6) We need more detail as to the insertion of marked bus lanes in the area. While cyclists often find buses intimidating, bus drivers normally respect our road space. Though not ideal for many cyclists, bus lanes and bus stops along Canal St could help to link up the East and West Corridors.

Canal Street between Greyfriar Gate and the new Broadmarsh Car Park entrance and exit ramp will be a restricted access area for buses, cycles, loading and permit holders (accessing off street car parks). There will be bus gates at either end that will be enforced by camera. This means the number of vehicles in this area will be greatly reduced.

In addition, we are in the process of reviewing the opportunity to further improve the cycle provision along Canal Street and indicatively, a two way segregated cycle facility could be provided along the southern side of Canal Street between Greyfriar Gate and Carrington Street. This would enable linkages to the public realm on Carrington Street/Canal Street and Carrington Street/Station Street and to continue along the remainder of Canal Street, which will feature reduced traffic to connect to the eastern cycle corridor. The inclusion of this facility is still subject to approval.

7) Canal St will have much less traffic, making it easier to cross from Carrington St to Station St. This will make it easier for cyclists to connect to the City Centre from the south. We need to ensure that cycling on Carrington St continues to be permitted.

There are no proposals to change Carrington Street so that cycling is not permitted. This provides the link to the Railway Station, Station Street and cycle facilities beyond.

8) We need more detail as to where the entrance to the Broadmarsh Car Park is going to be located and how many cars will be able to queue while waiting to enter. This potentially affects air quality in the area.

The Broadmarsh car park entrance and exit is located on Canal Street to the west of the junction with Middle Hill. The car park entry and exit lanes are long ramps which widen to provide two entry and exit lanes at the barriers located at the top of the ramps within the car park building so the queues will be contained on the ramps while vehicles are waiting to enter.

The previous car park attracted local employees driving to and from work due to its pricing structure which generated peak time arrivals and departures. It is envisaged that the new car park will be marketed more towards retail users and consequently traffic generation at peak hours could be lower than the former car park.

Canal Street between Greyfriar Gate and the new Broadmarsh Car Park entrance and exit ramp will be a restricted access area for buses, cycles, loading and permit holders (accessing off street car parks). We are in the process of reviewing the opportunity to further improve the cycle provision along Canal Street and indicatively, a two way segregated cycle facility could be provided along the southern side of Canal Street between Greyfriar Gate and Carrington Street. This would enable linkages to the public realm on Carrington Street/Canal Street and Carrington
Street/Station Street and to continue along the remainder of Canal Street, which will feature reduced traffic to connect to the eastern cycle corridor. The inclusion of this facility is still subject to approval.

For more details on the car park see the planning application details here:
http://publicaccess.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/onlineapplications/
applicationDetails.do?activeTab=documents&keyVal=P0XVGXLYJ8D00

9) The route for cars accessing Fletcher Gate from the south needs to be clarified. In the new plan, it appears that vehicles will have to cross the pedestrianised area at the intersection of Collin St and Middle Hill. Drivers may also make sudden, erratic decisions to switch from joining a queue to enter Broadmarsh Car Park, to head for the Fletcher Gate Car Park instead. This potentially leaves both pedestrians and cyclists at risk.

There are two lanes on the approach to the mini roundabout proposed at the junction of Canal Street and Middle Hill. One for the right turn into Middle Hill and the other for the ahead movement into Canal Street for the Broadmarsh car park. The lanes will also be signed along Canal Street as well as providing car park information which should minimise the potential for last minute lane changing.

The design for the junction of Collin Street and Middle Hill has not yet been determined and the Council is still considering options for Middle Hill itself. All designs are subject to Road Safety Audits which review the proposed designs and identify potential safety issues.

10) When the Peoples’ College site west of Maid Marian Way is redeveloped following the completion of the Skills Hub we should press for a continuous safe link across the bottom of Maid Marian Way between Castle Road (Castle Boulevard) and the west side of the Broadmarsh Centre / bottom of Listergate, with more cycle parking.

Noted. The redevelopment of this site will be some time in the future.

General Scheme Update

The current work programme is focused on the waterproofing of Collin Street and Middle Hill as well as some preparatory works on Wilford Street, Maid Marian Way and Albion/Melville Street. These works will take until autumn 2018 to complete.

The highway works will resume in 2019 and we will announce this programme once it has been confirmed and the current phase of works is completed.

The City Hub is on site.

The car park demolition is complete and approval has been received to progress with awarding a contract for construction of the new build car park and bus station.

Public consultation is underway to seek people’s views on the proposal to develop a modern Central Library in the revamped Broadmarsh Area.

Derby’s new electric bike sharing scheme is gaining new converts

Featuring a selection of the state-of-the-art ebikes, Derby launched the UK’s largest electric bikeshare scheme in June.

A total of 200 ebikes provided by US-based Social Bicycles, can now be found at 30 docking stations across the city, with the day-to-day running being handled by Hourbike – the UK’s longest established bikeshare operator in the UK.

In addition to being the country’s largest electric bikeshare scheme, the technology behind the ebikes in Derby is also being used in New York and San Francisco.

Customers pay 3p per minute to ride the ebikes (there’s a minimum charge of £1 per rental) after signing up through the Social Bicycles app, or via the eBikes Derby website (www.ebikesderby.com). There is a maximum daily charge of £12 and customers can pre-load credit onto their account.

Docking stations are currently found at the following locations: University of Derby sites, Rolls-Royce, the Railway Station, Derby Arena, the Council House, the Market Place, Victoria Street, The Spot, Castle Ward, the Roundhouse, Royal Derby Hospital and the Rail Technology Centre.

We would encourage local cyclists to take a look at the website, go for a ride in the city and report their experience back to us. We understand that there has been a high demand from people in Derby trying out the ebikes, so book well in advance!

The “Broadmarsh Gyratory” was recently voted the City Centre’s “Most Dangerous Cycling Blackspot” according to a survey by Pedals in June. I50 survey respondents gave us that feedback, so it will be interesting to hear their views on the new Broadmarsh Redevelopment Plans.

While there is much to be positive about in the new Plans, Pedals is very concerned about the apparent lack of detail regarding many facets of the new scheme. Below is a list of our specific concerns:
1) There appears to be ample room for bike parking under the NET bridge to site a substantial bike park on the East side of the new Broadmarsh. Cliff Road should be designated as a cycleway connection with the London Rd Roundabout and Eastern Corridor.
2) There is a need for a new road or shared path ramp going under the NET bridge to connect the Skills Hub to Middle Hill. This new road already appears in the Broadmarsh Plan. It would be good if we could get confirmation as to exactly its route and permitted use.
3) Bike parking inside the current Bus Station entrance off Carrington St needs to be supplemented by at least 20 on-street cycle hoops. Our preferred location is on the northern side of Collin St where most of the current bus shelters are located. These, we understand, are to be moved when general through traffic is diverted to the south of the Station (Queen’s Road etc.) and buses diverted to Canal Street.
4) the narrowing of Greyfriar Gate from 4 down to 2 lanes gives potential for a toucan crossing which could connect to the northern side of Castle Boulevard and then link to the Western Corridor. It’s not ideal but it would be an improvement on the current situation.
5) We accept that cyclists should not try to cycle through busy pedestrian areas and should also then be prepared to dismount. However, there should be no “cyclists dismount” signs, particularly in the new pedestrianised Collin St.
6) We need more detail as to the insertion of marked bus lanes in the area. While cyclists often find buses intimidating, bus drivers normally respect our road space. Though not ideal for many cyclists, bus lanes and bus stops along Canal St could help to link up the East and West Corridors.
7) Canal St will have much less traffic, making it easier to cross from Carrington St to Station St. This will make it easier for cyclists to connect to the City Centre from the south. We need to ensure that cycling on Carrington St continues to be permitted.
8) We need more detail as to where the entrance to the Broadmarsh Car Park is going to be located and how many cars will be able to queue while waiting to enter. This potentially affects air quality in the area.
9) The route for cars accessing Fletcher Gate from the south needs to be clarified. In the new plan, it appears that vehicles will have to cross the pedestrianised area at the intersection of Collin St and Middle Hill. Drivers may also make sudden, erratic decisions to switch from joining a queue to enter Broadmarsh Car Park, to head for the Fletcher Gate Car Park instead. This potentially leaves both pedestrians and cyclists at risk.
10) When the Peoples’ College site west of Maid Marian Way is redeveloped following the completion of the Skills Hub we should press for a continuous safe link across the bottom of Maid Marian Way between Castle Road (Castle Boulevard) and the west side of the Broadmarsh Centre / bottom of Listergate, with more cycle parking.