Glasgow completes emergency cycle lane

Coronavirus: Clydesdale route will ease pressure on Clyde Walkway

Glasgow’s new Clydeside pop-up cycle lane has been completed and is now ready for use. Work on the ground started on 12 May.

The new lane, which runs for 1.5 miles between Saltmarket and the Clyde Arc, is part of City of Glasgow's effort to provide public space for physical distancing during the on-going coronavirus crisis. 

The new lane is designed to ease pressure on the shared space Clyde Walkway, which has a number of pinch points and has remained a place for exercise and active travel during lockdown.

Intended for westbound travel only, the lane also utilises a stretch of the Fastlink bus lane and will also offer a temporary solution to the closure of the walkway at Lancefield Quay following the fire there in December last year.

Cllr Anna Richardson, City Convener for Sustainability and Carbon Reduction, welcomed the rapid response to the call for Space for Distancing for people who walk, wheel and cycle. “The COVID-19 crisis is not going away any time soon and so we are moving as quickly as possible to provide reassurance that people can move around the city safely,” she said.

"Additional space for cycling along the route will also help walkers and wheelers to remain physically distant along the riverside and help stop the spread of covid-19. Everyone involved deserves huge credit for the speed with which the new lane has been delivered but we are still only at the beginning of the city's Space for Distancing project.

“This is a much wider initiative that also aims to support economic recovery by creating safe public spaces across the city for businesses and their customers. Plans are being drawn together rapidly and we hope to see these plans taking shape on the ground as soon as possible. "

In the support of Glasgow's overall Space for Distancing scheme, the council has submitted a bid to receive funding from the £10m national Spaces for People initiative announced by Sustrans earlier this month.

Glasgow's bid has focused on securing financial backing for physical distancing measures in the city centre and neighbourhoods and also along cycle routes.