“You need a degree to work out the system”: Local business owners welcome decision to rip out “absolute disaster” cycle lane which led to “lots of customers” getting parking tickets

Local business owners in Middlesbrough have praised the decision to rip out a controversial cycle lane which has been mired in controversy since plans for it were first introduced over two years ago, and which traders say has been an “absolute disaster” and has negatively affected trade in the area due to customers receiving fines for parking on the seemingly ‘protected’ infrastructure.

Earlier this week, we reported that a four-week consultation period has got underway surrounding plans to reinstate the previous layout on the B1272 Linthorpe Road, a key route into Middlesbrough, which would see the removal of the £1.7 million cycle installed in 2022.

The project, approved by the North Yorkshire town’s former independent mayor Andy Preston, was designed to provide cyclists with a “quick and safe” route into the town centre while also creating a more pedestrian-friendly environment with improved road crossings.

However, before the lane was even installed, traders on the street – somewhat bizarrely – raised concerns that the scheme would provide a “clear getaway” for drug dealers and shoplifters.

And despite the infrastructure increasing the number of cyclists using the road by 70 percent, the low Orca dividers initially introduced to separate the bike lane from traffic through ‘light’ segregation were almost immediately condemned for creating a safety hazard for cyclists and pedestrians while also failing to deter motorists from illegally driving or parking in the cycle lane.

> Cyclist says motorists should be prevented from parking in bike lane “before someone gets killed”

In October 2022, cyclist Paul Harris – who was hospitalised after being hitting one of the Orca separators – claimed that the layout forced people on bikes to “constantly” dodge parked cars, buses, and pedestrians, and that a comprehensive overhaul of the lane was required “before someone gets killed”.

The 50-year-old’s nasty spill came less than two months after a 78-year-old woman was left with a broken wrist, a black eye, and concussion after tripping over one of the bike lane markers on the same road, while a 27-year-old fractured her elbow on a night out while crossing the lane.

Despite the council addressing these safety concerns by replacing the Orcas with wands, and then-mayor Preston scrapping plans for the cycle lane’s extension, the infrastructure has since proved a tense, and sometimes messy, political battleground.

> Under-fire mayor accused of "abysmal failure" to rip out "disastrous" cycle lane insists works will go ahead once council can afford it

Labour’s Chris Cooke, who replaced Preston as Middlesbrough’s mayor in 2023, made the cycle lane’s removal a key part of his election campaign, claiming it had “caused nothing but injury and mayhem” – but quickly came under pressure from residents and political opponents for his “abysmal failure” to immediately rip out the lane, with Cooke claiming that the works would go ahead once the necessary funds were available.

A public spat between Cooke and Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen (the only Conservative mayor left in England after May’s local elections) ensued earlier this year, with Houchen claiming that “businesses and jobs are at risk because of the Linthorpe Road cycle lane”, before suggesting “others have promised and failed” to get it removed.

However, that political squabbling appears to have been put to bed this week, as Cooke announced that plans to finally rip out the cycle lane will be consulted upon this month.

“We’re all for improving how everyone gets around Teesside, Darlington, and Hartlepool but the Linthorpe Road cycle lane simply hasn’t worked and should never have happened,” the Middlesbrough mayor said.

“It’s been a pain for businesses, hasn’t improved life for cyclists or pedestrians, and it needs to be removed.”

> Political spat between Conservative and Labour mayors finally comes to an end as both reach agreement to remove "unpopular" cycle lane that "simply hasn't worked"

Meanwhile, Houchen – who posed with Cooke in a rare display of cross-party co-operation this week while holding a banner reading ‘Bye-bye Bike Lane’ – said on social media: “During the election I said I would rip out this hated cycle lane in Boro. And when I say something, I make sure I follow through on it.

“This week we take a big step forward to achieving that. Work is set to start this year to remove this hideous thing. It’s not as quick as I’d like but it’s the quickest we can legally do it! I’d like to thank local businesses for their patience, but rest assured, I do what I say, and this is coming out!”

🚲 Removing Linthorpe Road Cycleway 🚲

A timeline to take out cycle lanes on Linthorpe Road has been set out ⌛

Subject to orders and regulations being passed, removal work will start this year 👷‍♀️

Read more here ➡ https://t.co/NH4gP2vvnN pic.twitter.com/FyY2VsWKRh

— Tees Valley CA (@TeesValleyCA) July 29, 2024

Those aforementioned business owners have responded to the news by expressing their relief that the writing is on the wall for one of the UK’s most contentious cycle lanes.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the owner of Madame Rouge vintage pub and tearooms, Paolo Arceri, described the scheme as an “absolute disaster” and said he was concerned that it cut off less mobile customers from using businesses on the road.

“Taxis can’t drop off because it takes over the lane,” he said. “We have lost elderly customers because of it, without a shadow of a doubt. Where can you drop off? Where can you park?”

Meanwhile, Li Miao Wong, owner of the Li Beauty Nail Salon, who says traffic is a problem on the road and claims to have witnessed several crashes, echoed Arceri’s accessibility concerns.

“I have had lots of customers who have got parking tickets and they stop coming,” she said.

> Cars damaged and abandoned after drivers smash through newly installed protected cycle lane

Janet Housam, of Housams Fireplaces, also claimed that “chaos” ensued if emergency services were required to use the road or when buses were stopped, due to motorists having “nowhere to pull up”.

“That’s always been a problem in the past 40 years but they have made it worse,” Housam said. “It’s so confusing for people – you need a degree to work out the system.”

However, not everyone who works on the street is opposed to the cycle lane, with Ameer Hamza, an employee at Novello Ristorante, arguing that the introduction of more cycling infrastructure is positive for the environment, noting: “I think it’s okay as it is. Lots more people are using cycles.”

According to Mayor Cooke, work will begin to remove the protected wands and Orcas by the end of the year, with major works expected after Christmas.