Proposing a Cycle Lane along Bangor's School Corridor
​Bangor already has a small amount of poorly planned cycling infrastructure. One particular shared use section on pavement connects Bangor Grammar School and Bangor Ring Road. Unfortunately it goes no further.
As can be seen from the map, a fully-fledged cycleway along the Gransha Rd would link a range of educational establishments including Bangor Grammar, Glenlola Collegiate, SERC and Bangor Academy.
This presents an opportunity to reduce the heavy school traffic that plagues Bangor every morning and afternoon. Furthermore, it would provide an Active Travel link for a for a significant residential area of Bangor.
While the provision of this infrastructure is entirely dependent on DfI, an onward link to the City Centre and the Station could be provided by the Council through judicious use of land in the Castle Grounds and Ward Park.
Let's investigate the current provision, starting at Bangor Grammar School near the intersection of Gransha Road and Bexley Road. The shared use path here is wide. There is a bus station right outside the school, as are free car parking spaces either side of the bus station. How considerate - and car-centric!
Note the wide hatched section in the middle of Gransha Road. The wide road encourages speeding - right outside a school... Why not narrow the road and install a cycle path that is physically separated from the road by a curb and get rid of the parking spaces at the same time, thereby encouraging Active Travel? There certainly is enough space to do this.
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As we cycle along the shared path to the entrance of the school we encounter them main problem with the current layout: cyclists on the shared path are treated like pedestrians by DfI planners. Once they reach the entrance to the college cyclists have to yield to cars entering the college grounds.
This is the wrong way round: a correctly designed cycle path gives bikes priority over turning traffic.
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Cyclists travelling into Bangor could continue their journey uninterrupted were they to use the road instead of the shared use path.
Continuing our journey on the shared use path towards the Gransha Road roundabout we are confronted with a rather narrow section that passes many driveways and business entrances. From an experienced cyclist's perspective riding on this path is actually more dangerous than riding on the road.
Had the photographer not stopped for taking the photo below, he would have had to yield to the car turning into the side street. Cycling on the road he would have had the right of way.
More excitement was to come: after taking the photo below the photographer was cycling past the BP petrol station on the shared use path when a customer pulled out of the forecourt in her car and stopped on the pavement/path in front of the cyclist. She had not checked properly whether the pavement was clear and probably did not realise that on a shared use path cyclists have the right of way over anyone coming out of the forecourt. The rider braked as he received a guilty wave of acknowledgement and apology...
At the very least there should be a sign at the edge of the forecourt that cyclists and pedestrians have the right of way.
This is why experienced and confident cyclists ride on the road here rather than on the pavement: it's actually safer - if we ignore that some drivers will try to close-pass cyclists as they pass the pedestrian islands...
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Things get even worse for cyclists using the shared use path once they reach the Gransha Road roundabout: the path just disappears into thin air. Cyclists cycling into Bangor's city centre have two choices:
1. they can find their way through a very awkward pedestrian crossing or
2. jump off the curb - where they would end up in the wrong (right turn lane).
This is another example of why it is actually safer (and quicker) for experienced cyclists to avoid the shared use path altogether. They would bear right on the two-lane section after the BP station and use the righ-hand lane until they reach the stop light.
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Once cyclists have circumnavigated the inconvenient pedestrian crossing and reached the other side of the roundabout, they will discover that a machete would come in useful to cut back the vegetation covering the narrow footpath. Do you see what we mean when we say the shared use path just disappears into thin air, without any notice?
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Moving along Gransha Road towards SERC, there's plenty of space for a segregated cycle lane:
Past Castle Park Road, continuing to Bangor Academy, there is still plenty of space for a segregated cycle route:
In front of Bangor Academy the pavement is wide. So wide in fact that frequently it is used as an impromptu parking lot.
Note to drivers: Pavements are for People! There is no need to park on the pavement - just check the sign conveniently pointing drivers to many nearby car parks!
Perhaps the driver of the silver car should make an appointment at Specsavers...
Gransha Road could be the first stage of building a Hub and Spoke cycling network in Bangor with the train station at its centre or "hub". With a bit of imagination this is not difficult to realise as there is plenty of space to do this.
The result will be much reduced rush-hour traffic volumes, better air quality, less noise pollution and improved public health.
It is time for Ards and North Down Borough to follow up on its 2022 declaration and truly become a "cycle-friendly borough" (page 2).