Wheels in motion on short cycle lane

SHORT cycle . . . Frank Magnall is not impressed with the 100ft cycle lane complete with electrical box

Council way off-track, says Frank

COUNCIL chiefs have been ridiculed after creating a tiny cycle lane — with an electrical box stuck plumb in the middle.

But Oldham Council insists the junction box will be removed and the cycle track extended — once money becomes available.

The 100ft stretch has already cost £2,500 to Tarmac along Broadway, near Jardine Way, Chadderton, in preparation for cyclists to use — money residents say would be better spent on helping people survive the recession.

But the council says people are “crying out for” cycle routes. It eventually plans to create one along the entire length of Broadway, using a combination of cycle track and adjacent quiet roads.

A new Indian restaurant being built on the land gave up a piece of its car park for the cycle lane as part of a planning agreement.

Local resident Frank Magnall (67) said: “Cyclists have to go on the footpath to go round the electrical box. It’s one of our council’s blunders again. It’s just wasting money when it could be spent on better things.

“We’re in a recession and they’re coming up with stupid ideas.

“It’s one of those silly situations when you get a cycle lane or a bus lane and no-one uses it.

“All the cyclists that come down use both sides of Broadway and cycle on the footpath. I can’t see what difference it will make to anyone. All they have done is taken a bit more land in a ridiculous situation.

“If they’ve got no money, why build it in the first place? To extend it would mean taking up gardens and I would not be willing to give my land up as a cycle lane.

“It’s like living in a tin box here because of all the noise from traffic. No matter how many petitions myself and neighbours have put in to the planning department the council doesn’t take a blind bit of notice.”

The council’s Cabinet member for environment and infrastructure, Councillor Mark Alcock, said: “If we hadn’t acquired the land now then it would be more expensive in the future to negotiate for it when a car park or building was already established.

“It would probably prevent the cycle track from ever being constructed in the future and therefore deny the very cycle routes that communities are crying out for.”