Cycling in the city
By Ross Fittall, Project Director at Argent.
Historically, Birmingham is not renowned for being a bike-friendly place. And while cycling has really taken off in other cities across the UK over the past fifteen years, most notably in London, it still feels as if the Midlands is behind the curve.
Yet the region as a whole is starting to do a lot more. For example, Vélo Birmingham, the second largest closed road event in the UK after Ride London, was held last year with 15,000 participants. The city also has the Birmingham Cycle Revolution that has given away more than 3,000 bikes as well as overseeing the construction of the A34 and A38 cycle superhighways, both of which are due to open later this year as part of a £60 million investment.
These dedicated cycle lanes with priority signals and junctions are perhaps the most important new infrastructure because they will ensure cyclists from both the north and south of the city find a safe and quick route into the city centre.
The recent announcement by Metro Mayor Andy Street of a West Midlands-wide cycle hire scheme like the Santander Bikes in London will also see more than 5,000 bikes for hire at dozens of strategic points from 2022, with more than 2,000 bikes due for Birmingham.
This is another game-changer because it makes cycling much more visible and part of an overall, integrated public transport package. Normalising cycling as just another form of transport that is accessible to everyone is a major part of encouraging people onto the bike. Safety is every cyclists over-riding concern, so the safer it is, the more people will take it up.
The private sector needs to match these efforts as well if we are to see transformational change in the way cyclists use the city. At Paradise we are firmly committed to supporting bike use in and around Birmingham. Our proposal is to build a secure 440-space cycle hub in the basement of the next building on the site, One Centenary Way.
We are currently conducting a survey with cyclists to find out what kind of facilities they would like to see. As well as lockers and showers we want to know if people would like to see maintenance facilities, for example, or a bike hire station. This way we can tailor more detailed plans to fit what end users actually want.
We hope this brand new facility, run on a membership basis but open to everyone to join, will provide much needed facilities for cyclists in our city. By working with Birmingham City Council and cycling groups we want to keep improving infrastructure so there are no barriers to moving around the city by bike. That will not just be good for everyone’s health and well-being, but will cut air pollution and congestion, especially for motorists.
Very simply, the more cycling going on in and around the city, the better off everyone is.
