BURY residents have expressed frustration over plans to improve cycle lanes on some junctions across the town.
The scheme will upgrade the A56 Manchester Road and A58 Jubilee Way junctions to a CYCLOPS arrangement, with links to onward quiet roads.
A CYCLOPS (Cycle Optimized Protected Signals) junction is designed to fully segregate cyclists from general traffic and aims to make it easier for pedestrians and cyclists to traverse the road.
The scheme will cost around £2m and it is hoped that this will encourage more residents to cycle and walk, rather than drive.
However, the announcement has garnered negative responses from some motorists who believe the money could be better spent elsewhere.
One resident said, “What a waste of time and money when the condition of the roads are so bad.”
Others queried whether cyclists would even take advantage of the new lanes, suggesting that they had seen little use in other parts of Bury.
Another resident asked, “Has anyone seen a cyclist use those new crossings at Market Street, I haven’t, I have seen them stopped at the lights with me in the normal lane.”
Surprisingly, both motorists and cyclists alike appeared to agree that the funding for this project could be better spent on repairing the road surface around Bury more generally.
One road user said, “As both a cyclist and a driver in the area, fixing the actual roads would go a long way to help make EVERYONE safer.”
Another agreed, saying, “Being a cyclist and car driver this is a complete waste of money. Good planning to increase traffic flow would decrease pollution and decrease frustration.”
However, the new junctions did gain praise from some who believed the project could reduce reliance on cars thus reducing congestion and traffic in the area.
One resident said, “Anything that promotes safer cycling or options other than cars is fantastic, anything that might encourage people out of their cars for shorter journeys helps reduce congestion.”
Labor Cllr, Kevin Peel stepped in to defends the plans. He said, “As a car driver, a cyclist and a pedestrian I want our roads to be safe for all users. These are desperately needed crossing points long requested by local residents and bike users.”
“As for the condition of the roads – Your regular reminder that we’ve had road maintenance funding brutally slashed by government since 2010 but Bury’s Labor council has borrowed £30 million since 2018 to plug some of the gap those cuts left behind and we are doing our best with that money to repair potholes and resurface as many roads as we can.”