Cyclists push for right to ride through footstreets
11:42am Thursday 8th May 2008
A CYCLING campaigner called today for cyclists to be allowed to pedal along some of York city centre's pedestrianised streets.
Paul Hepworth, of the North Yorkshire branch of the Cyclists' Touring Club (CTC), said there should be an experimental period of 24/7 cycling along Fossgate and other streets which might be turned into car-free footstreets.
"We would also like options to be examined for 24/7 cycling on selected cross city routes, where this helps avoid significant detours along busier peripheral roads," he said.
"Colliergate comes to mind, as a logical continuation of the route along St Andrewgate.
Mr Hepworth was speaking after The Press revealed on Tuesday that a major review of the city's footstreets was about to start, which would look at extending them to new streets such as Fossgate and Micklegate, but also examine other matters such as operating hours and allowing cyclists to pedal through from west to east, and from east to west.
Coun Ann Reid, City of York Council's executive member for city strategy, said it would be beneficial to cyclists, but pedestrians might be concerned about dangers.
Mr Hepworth said that Cycling England, an offshoot of the Department for Transport which issued advice to local authorities on a range of issues, had claimed that cycling through restricted areas should be the rule rather than the exception.
"Where this is not appropriate, consideration should be given to allowing access to cyclists outside of the busiest pedestrian hours," he said.
"Especially, it suggests that 24/7 cycling is permitted for an experimental period of, for example, six months after motor vehicle bans are introduced, to fully test their advice in affected streets."
He said that when cars were first banned in Deangate some years ago, cyclists were included in the ban but were then allowed to cycle through.
He said: "If the present city centre vehicle restricted zone is extended, the CTC would like to see a full and fair test of the Cycling England advice, by an experimental period of 24/7 cycling, along Fossgate and other affected streets."
He said that in Cambridge, cycling had been reintroduced in 2005 on selected streets after a blanket ban in the city for some years.
"The Government's Transport Research Laboratory carried out extensive research in the UK, and also in mainland European cities where city centre cycle and pedestrian mixes are far more commonplace than in the UK," he said.
"Their 2003 publication, Cycling In Vehicle Restricted Areas, established that cyclists alter their behaviour according to the density of pedestrian traffic by modifying their speed or dismounting.
"Furthermore, the evidence of the case studies contained within the report shows that very few collisions actually occur between cyclists and pedestrians."