Owens Park - Manchester - new bike lane

NFMC

I cycled past Owens Park in Manchester yesterday (it's the larget student Halls in Manchester on a main road going in to Manchester).

They've started to re-do the road, the bus lane and the bike lanes. Good planning to dig up the road the week after the students get back, nbut that's not my point.

They've narrowed the road to provide bus lanes on the way into town. They've also moved the bike lane into the middle of the road. It's elevated as well. They also seem to have removed the bike lane in the direction out of Manchester. Perhaps they want two directions of bike to use the new bike lane.

Has anyone seen this? It seems absolute madbess to get the bikes to go in the middle of the road? They have to cross past the buses twice. Highly bizarre.

redddraggon

Is this going to improve anything down by Owen's Park?

It always seems pretty hectic outside there.

NFMC

Well, not from what I could see. It was at a log-jam when I went past at lunch yesterday.

What I was amazed at was the number of people queueing up to get buses to go into town. It was a lovely autumnal day but there must have been about 300 people (students) waiting. To walk to the University would take 20 minutes. A bike ride would take 5, tops. It did seem strange.

redddraggon

NFMC wrote:

What I was amazed at was the number of people queueing up to get buses to go into town. It was a lovely autumnal day but there must have been about 300 people (students) waiting. To walk to the University would take 20 minutes. A bike ride would take 5, tops. It did seem strange.

Students are lazy b*stards, last year I lived by the new Edinburgh Bike Coop shop and walked into uni, taking me 20mins and that was to the UMIST (north) campus and some people still got the bus but I still arrived before them.

You don't cycle up Oxford Road do you? With those Polish driving all those buses I'd be in fear of my life continuously.

Parkey

NFMC wrote:

They've started to re-do the road, the bus lane and the bike lanes. Good planning to dig up the road the week after the students get back, nbut that's not my point.

It's a general rule that applies to all university campus building work anywhere in the UK. Scaffolding, fences and cones will be positioned during holidays. Actual work will not commence until term time.

cabledonuts

Got any pics of it? Maybe the council are starting to put some bike lanes in place in readyness for when they introduce the congestion charging? As per usual people within the council who don't ride bikes will be in charge of implementing a new cycle lane infrastructure and c*ck it up.