Manchester: why not as nice as other cities?

[YahudaMoon]

Not sure what all this doom and gloom is on cycling through Manchester. The floating bus stops are a excellent idea , lots of road closures and building work going on, this is healthy, all these cranes building new projects means the city is spending money and moving forward though its making congestion on the roads really bad at the moment

Eventually Oxford Rd/Wilmslow Rd will be only open for buses and bicycles during peak hours,

Manchester City centre was built for horse and carts, getting bicycles, cars, trucks and public transport around all at the same time will never be easy if not impossible hence (Eventually Oxford Rd/Wilmslow Rd will be only open for buses and bicycles during peak hours,) and the traffic on these small roads has what looks like more than doubled in the last 25 years

 

[mjr]

@mjray are you mad? Continue it through the junction? That's a whole different project past the lights

Oh dear: so the idea of a cycling network hasn't reached Manchester and the councils are still doing things piecemeal?

Yes, you could do a u turn a bit further on.

Not a u turn, a hook turn:

although I guess that depends what they've done to the strange traffic island I think I remember outside EBC.

Not sure what all this doom and gloom is on cycling through Manchester. The floating bus stops are a excellent idea , lots of road closures and building work going on, this is healthy,

Because after riding around other cities like London, Bristol, or of course Cambridge, visiting Manchester is like going back 20 years and the excellent ideas like floating bus stops look like they're landing like aliens on more 1990s-style narrow cycle lanes. Road closures and building work is only healthy if the end result is suitable for all riders!

Much as I'd like to think that getting between Victoria and Deansgate stations is easy, just bimbling down Victoria Street and Deansgate, I'm no longer as quick as I used to be and it could easily turn into a white-knuckle ride if motorists are hostile, so I can appreciate @ColinJ's hesitation. It seems so blooming obvious that cycle networks need to link to stations yet even getting to the Irwell path right next to Victoria means riding a chunk of Deansgate and doing a right turn off it or pushing and carrying the bike down steps. Obvious useful-looking bridges (next to Victoria Bridge Street, the Calatrava Bridge) are festooned with cycling prohibition signs so I suspect it's an obvious desire line and the reaction is to ban rather than provide. and I wonder why.

Manchester City centre was built for horse and carts but it's really bizarre that the whole grid is still for cars and almost none of it is yet for cycles.

 

[Siclo]

Not a u turn, a hook turn:

although I guess that depends what they've done to the strange traffic island I think I remember outside EBC.

Ah yes, not a manoeuvre I think about, not sure if you could now, can't say I've noticed what they've done to the island, if they've left it alone you'd have to be very brave to cross the traffic flow, I've always avoided the right turn out of Rusholme Place and turned left and the gone down Great Western before coming back up due to most motorists jumping the reds at speed out of Moss Lane East.

In all fairness I do think it is improving in Manchester but that, IMHO, is in spite of the council rather than because of it and due I think to more riders, when I moved here 5 years ago I saw virtually no-one commuting, now there's a small but noticeable community of year round commuters.

 

[doughnut]

I'm thinking of manning up and commuting into Manchester once it gets a bit lighter in the morning. Here's my planned route. Is anyone familiar with the last few miles into Manchester centre (after I cross the M60). Got any tips or recommendations? 20 mile commute, so assuming I will be held back with red lights and some congestion I reckon I could do it in around 90 mins, so only 15 mins longer than in the car at the moment. Secure bike cage and showers at work - what could possibly go wrong

http://ridewithgps.com/routes/11838519

 

[Siclo]

I'm thinking of manning up and commuting into Manchester once it gets a bit lighter in the morning. Here's my planned route. Is anyone familiar with the last few miles into Manchester centre (after I cross the M60). Got any tips or recommendations? 20 mile commute, so assuming I will be held back with red lights and some congestion I reckon I could do it in around 90 mins, so only 15 mins longer than in the car at the moment. Secure bike cage and showers at work - what could possibly go wrong

http://ridewithgps.com/routes/11838519

NCN55 is your friend, I'd stay off the A6 through Swinton at anything like busy times, its carnage, you'll make better time on the NCN I think despite adding a mile, this will get you across the Irwell on a traffic free bridge too,

http://ridewithgps.com/routes/11868233 (ignore the stupid diversion at Walkden where ride with GPS won't plot)

Blackfriars Junction is somewhere to avoid if you can

https://goo.gl/maps/HcGSQzwTz4S2

 

[dan_bo]

Not sure what all this doom and gloom is on cycling through Manchester.

blahblahblah

Manchester City centre was built for horse and carts.

There's your answer.

 

[doughnut]

NCN55 is your friend, I'd stay off the A6 through Swinton at anything like busy times, its carnage, you'll make better time on the NCN I think despite adding a mile, this will get you across the Irwell on a traffic free bridge too,

http://ridewithgps.com/routes/11868233 (ignore the stupid diversion at Walkden where ride with GPS won't plot)

Blackfriars Junction is somewhere to avoid if you can

https://goo.gl/maps/HcGSQzwTz4S2

Many thanks - I will give it a try out one weekend soon.

I agree about Blackfriars Junction. I have to cross that junction as a pedestrian after I've parked the car, so I've seen the mayhem many times.

 

[User482]

I'm going to stick up for Manchester. The few times (and I'm not speaking from great swathes of experience) I've cycled there its been no worse than any major town or city - in some parts slightly better.

Liverpool on the other hand...

Hmmm...my experience is the opposite: tram lines, poor infrastructure and aggressive drivers make it less than pleasant. I find it worse than Bristol or London.

 

[davefb]

I used to commute bolton to central manchester a few years back ( mainly drove halfway to be honest) . using the 666 was insane because of idiots and me not being quick enough to keep up with traffic..
What's disgusting is the way they've spent millions making some road routes into 20mph (a6 thru salford) or put in cycle lanes. but they're utterly useless by either being no help in the traffic or being insanely routed ( ncn6) . Whats even more barmy is there's loads of space for a nice segregated route in and out of the centre using 'those rat runs that need to be cut off', instead they decide to reduce traffic on another major arterial route ( bury new road) .
driving... well, the problem is it's "which road are they digging up today" and "why the hell is this route suddenly slow" , the routing for traffic is apalling , in that to get from one side to the other, you pretty much have to go through the middle , especially with the hole in the mancunian way.. so no wonder drivers get hot under the collar.

hehe blackfriars junction.. that was my second clip moment.. unclipped right foot, started leaning left...

 

[davefb]

NCN55 is your friend, I'd stay off the A6 through Swinton at anything like busy times, its carnage, you'll make better time on the NCN I think despite adding a mile, this will get you across the Irwell on a traffic free bridge too,

http://ridewithgps.com/routes/11868233 (ignore the stupid diversion at Walkden where ride with GPS won't plot)

Blackfriars Junction is somewhere to avoid if you can

https://goo.gl/maps/HcGSQzwTz4S2

isnt 55 an old railway line ? I think I've used it once, but was annoyed it was badly drained so got covered in mud. one of those 'this could be brilliant', thats whats so annoying, theres so much that 'could work' but isn't totally joined up or is overgrown or isn't drained...

ah liverpool st... yeah used to drive down that years ago commuting.... when they did the work on the a6 to make it 'friendly' i frankly don't understand why they didnt try to expand usage to liverpool st, instead of ( in the council plan) expecting 'traffic will just use other routes' .

 

[ColinJ]

I lived in a flat above the shops next to Blackfriars junction for my 3 years as a student. I haven't been back up Chapel Street for 30 years. Just checked it out on Street view and it has changed a lot since then! The pub opposite the church has gone, for a start, and there are lots of new buildings.

 

[Katherine]

I lived in a flat above the shops next to Blackfriars junction for my 3 years as a student. I haven't been back up Chapel Street for 30 years. Just checked it out on Street view and it has changed a lot since then! The pub opposite the church has gone, for a start, and there are lots of new buildings.

Everytime I go into Manchester, it's changed. New buildings and road layouts. Atm it's roadworks, cranes, boarding, scaffolding and confusion.

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

I don't think Manchester is too bad for cycling. I commuted from Rossendale for 3 years of nurse training and another year for my masters. The Jewish quarter around Cheatham Hill / A56 is like Russain roulette during rush hour but is easily avoided. The centre is ok but I find it less stressful if I bumble rather than head down arse up.

 

[Siclo]

isnt 55 an old railway line ? I think I've used it once, but was annoyed it was badly drained so got covered in mud. one of those 'this could be brilliant', thats whats so annoying, theres so much that 'could work' but isn't totally joined up or is overgrown or isn't drained...

ah liverpool st... yeah used to drive down that years ago commuting.... when they did the work on the a6 to make it 'friendly' i frankly don't understand why they didnt try to expand usage to liverpool st, instead of ( in the council plan) expecting 'traffic will just use other routes' .

Correct, it is the old railway line, surfaces are variable but they are supposed to have improved it although I haven't been up lately, I would have ridden it on 23's.

Never had any trouble using Liverpool Street, its one of my regular routes to the station.

 

[al78]

I occasionally cycle into Manchester when I am up with family. I don't see it as any worse than other cities I have cycled in. The only slightly frustrating part is the seemingly endless red lights, that frequently seem to change to the red phase when I am 50 yards from them, then I am stuck waiting for 2-3 minutes whilst a convoy builds up behind me. I think Manchester is preferable to London, it is not as congested and progress is faster due to fewer red lights and drivers in queues don't tend to stop in a higgledy-piggledy manner straddling lanes and making it impossible to filter.