Pedal Power

Issue 162
January 2023

For a few Dollars More! Or “How to do cycling infrastructure”

By Max Hunt (County Councillor for Loughborough NW)

Leicestershire County Council is our local transport authority so as a regular reader it’s time I contributed something. Cards on the table, I think our local transport authority is too fixed on chasing every major highways bid and consequently lacks any long term vision. In recent years they have completed multi million pound projects on the A512 (J23) and A42(J13) and A46 (Anstey Ln) and there are several more in the pipeline: Melton (NE), Melton (S), A511 (Coalville) and A6 (N).

Each time we are told that they will include cycling improvements but they are rare and dispensable if costs over run – which they invariably do. Inflation is now driving up costs even higher with Melton’s NE distributor well over £100m with a £33m shortfall. If it goes ahead, which is likely, it will put an extra £4million pa on Council Tax. But at County Hall these projects are seen as essential to feed growth.

So in this tricky climate we have to know which buttons to press to improve cycling prospects. Here are the main ones.

1. Housing and Industrial Developments: Any planning consent from Charnwood, advised by County, should include capacity for cycles and pedestrians. This includes all developments like new housing at Woodthorpe or at Garendon. The imperative is to respond to Charnwood early and make the case for appropriate safe routes, surfacing and lighting, linked to other cycle infrastructure. You may need help understanding the planning system, so talk to an interested councillor.

2. Specific DfT funds and local grants: the County doesn’t routinely allocate capital spending for cycle infrastructure but when there is a new source of funding, usually from the DfT, the County will bid. Ciities usually get priority for cycling because their demand is higher so the County sometimes supports City bids in the wider built up area.

   The purpose of the County Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (CWIP) is to prepare the case for any new funds which arise. They have allocated about £1m but it only covers the advanced design to develop CWIPs, not the proposed schemes.

3. Borough opportunities. These are rare but Charnwood pedestrianised the Market Place in 1996 and built Beehive Lane car park before that. Most recently they improved Bedford Square and Wards End (but not for cyclists). Blaby did spend money on cycle infrastructure. Such projects are approved and adopted by the County Council who then maintain them up to a point.

Charnwood’s Bedford Square project did boast improvements for pedestrians and cyclists. But anything very radical was lost in the process, and again was overspent.

LCC is now reviewing their Highways Design Guide, which provides guidance on design of new highway schemes including active travel. It will update it to reflect the DfT’s LTN 1/20 guidance. Any new schemes developed by LCC will normally be designed to align with LTN 1/20 guidance, as set out in the high level strategy.

Wishing you all a Happy New Year on our wonderful country lanes!

“On Yer Bike” - How does Loughborough compare?

By Neil Parr

Cycling has a major role in the achievement of government environmental objectives. Currently, Leicestershire County Council are developing proposals to improve Loughborough’s cycling network (including Quorn and Shepshed). These should be available in early 2023.

The following simple chart compares Loughborough with Cambridge, statistically the best in the UK, and Assen in Holland, which is similar in size to Loughborough. Holland is recognised as having the best cycling in Europe. Data for the chart has been collected from recent UK Government, Cycling UK and Dutch Government statistics.

Initial Conclusion

Loughborough does not compare well in this analysis, it is around about average for towns in England, despite having a university which is recognised for sport and exercise.

Possible Causes

Quality of Cycling Network

• Loughborough has a limited, poor quality network which has had little attention or investment in the last 10 to 15 years. This is not unusual for the majority of UK towns.
• Cambridge has invested heavily in its network and continues to do. Recently, £70M has been committed to the Greater Cambridge Greenway Scheme.
• Assen has a high quality, purpose built network which is 7 times the size of Loughborough’s. Annual investment in the network is a priority for local authorities.

Culture

Not everybody wants to cycle! However, the culture and potential in Loughborough is being under exploited.

• Only 2% of children cycle to school at secondary level.
• There are an estimated 29,400 adult bikes in the town yet only 3,400 (11%) of these are being used regularly.

Political Influence and Control

Leicestershire County Council is responsible for the Loughborough cycling network. Would this be better handled by the local borough council? It might be more locally focussed on improving the image and environmental credentials of the town, possibly in conjunction with the university as a starting point.

Topography

Holland is famously flat. Cambridge and Loughborough have broadly similar topography. There are no significant “roadblocks” in Loughborough’s topography to limit its potential to increase cycling rates.

Conclusions and Summary

Cycling in Loughborough is a long way behind the best. It is held back by a poor quality network with distant political leadership which has resulted in a lack of ambition (or more likely interest) to change the current car based culture. This is disappointing as it has the potential, and probably the right ingredients, to become a cycling powerhouse and an example to the rest of the UK.

The area is relatively flat and compact, ideal for short cycling journeys and it has a world class university renowned for sport and exercise with a large student population.

However, in order to make a significant change there would need to be significant investment in both infrastructure and culture towards more active travel. Schools, workplaces and the university would need to be involved.

The cycling network will probably need to be twice the current size and significantly better in quality. It is unlikely that painting more white lines at the edge of the road will have the desired effect.

With the right political leadership and commitment to investment over time, Loughborough could easily challenge Cambridge for the best in UK title. It will be interesting to see what proposals are forthcoming.

Ed. - Perhaps we should advocate for the University emulating Oxford and Cambridge, making it a condition of enrolment that students do not keep or use cars within say a 5 mile radius of the town (unless given specific dispensation for disabilities). See Pedal Power 83.

Census 2021 travel to work data

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has released the results of the travel to work data gathered by Census 2021 for England and Wales. These show that 569,000 people said they usually travelled to work by bicycle, or 2% of residents aged 16 and over in employment.

This represents a drop compared to the findings of Census 2011, when 741,000 working residents were found to cycle to work (2.8%), Census 2021 also reveals a marked drop in commuting by car or van too.

This is not surprising since Census 2021 took place during the Covid-19 pandemic and these results must be seen in the context of the lockdown and furlough.