Kingsway cycle route – first attempt
October 21, 2009 Iain Roberts 3 Comments

Having done some thinking about a cycle route to get from the Kingsway/Gatley Road junction to Parrs Wood, I got on my bike yesterday and gave it a go.

This is a first pass at coming up with something reasonably easy and safe that isn’t too expensive.

I’ve knocked up a Google map of the route here.


View Kingsway cycle path in a larger map

Coming from Gatley/Cheadle you cycle down Coniston Road, then turn right onto South Park Road. So far, so good.

At the bottom of South Park Road, you need to cross onto the pavement that goes under Kingsway and then around the inside of the road up to join Kingsway. Two issues there. You need to cross safely onto the pavement. Then, as you cycle up to Kingsway, the pavement becomes too narrow, so it would need to be slightly widened.

Next you cycle along the pavement up Kingsway into Manchester. Issues here:

  • foliage often grows over the pavement on Kingswat near the South Park Road turn-off, would need to be cut back more often.
  • Big kerb at the entrance to the Barnes Hospital site – need a drop kerb.
  • There’s a pedestrian subway.  It can be cycled through – with care – but the entrance and exit ramps are steep, the subway isn’t wide and visibility isn’t great.
  • Once you get over the border into Manchester, what then?  There’s no obvious crossing point to get to the correct side of Kingsway and cycling along the pavement by all the houses isn’t a good idea.

So – all you cyclists out there – what do you think?  It is a viable cycle route, or are there too many problems?

cycling, streets

3 Comments

1
M F Haynes
Friday 23 October 2009 - 6:45 pm

Highway Code Rule 64 You must not cycle on a pavement. Too many cyclists do so, it must not be encouraged.

2
iainroberts
Friday 23 October 2009 - 7:10 pm

Quite right. I don’t like cycling on the pavement myself (the road is normally safer and was designed for traffic). Where we direct cycle onto the pavement as part of a cycle route, we’d need to be sure that
a) the pavement was not commonly used by pedestrians
b) it was designated as dual use for cyclists and pedestrians.

Not ideal, but probably better than sending cyclists down the middle of the A34.

3
W.M.Cocks
Saturday 24 October 2009 - 10:23 pm

I am a lifetime cyclist, and for about 15 years travelled to work by bicycle from Gatley to Manchester Piccadilly. The route north along Kingsway from the junction with Gatley Road and over the M60 motorway is far too dangerous for a cyclist except in the very lightest traffic conditions. Over the years I have found two ways to avoid this section of road as follows:
Cycling east from Gatley village along the A560, cross Kingsway at the traffic lights then dismount. Walk north along the footpath on the East Side of Kingsway to the point where it is possible to cross Kingsway at the Barnes pedestrian underpass. Re-mount and continue on the road towards Parrs Wood.
The second option is to cycle towards Cheadle and take a left turn (The Crescent?) opposite ‘BathStore’. From here take the back streets to Brook Road, past the Drill Hall, under the Railway Bridge, and on to Mill Lane. Note that the narrow track between the Railway Bridge and Mill Lane is technically a continuation of Brook Road (according to the AtoZ) so I assume it is legal to cycle along it (while giving way to pedestrians!). At the end of Mill Lane turn left onto Manchester Road (B5095) and re-join Kingsway at Parrs Wood.
It would be nice to see this second option signposted as a cycle route. It is a way for cyclists to avoid the Kingsway/M60 junction, and also to avoid the centre of Cheadle village. It should also be easy and cheap to implement.



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