We make no apology for continuing to plug our crowdfunding campaign to print the Missing Links publication! Although we’ve reached our first milestone, with over £1,000 pledged, we have just under two weeks to reach our full target of £2,000.
Category: News
“Missing Links” – we need you!
Update: You did it! After only 10 days of crowdfunding you helped us get to our first goal of £1000. This means we’ll definitely be able to print copies to deliver to some key people in the Council, organisations like ScotRail and local NHS Scotland executives, and third sector groups. Now we’re on to our stretch goal. The more copies we print, the more decision makers we can reach. Any amount helps and just as important as the amount we raise is the number of people we can show backing the campaign for better active travel infrastructure. Please continue to give so we can get copies to community councils, head teachers and PTAs.
A key pillar of our work is to lobby for better cycling connections in and around Dumfries. Over the part 10 years we have distilled all the route knowledge of our volunteers into a project called Missing Links. These are a collection of network improvements, some stretching as far as a safe route from Dumfries to Lockerbie via Lochmaben, others as small as a junction improvement at Dockhead. Combined, these gaps in the network would form a huge contribution to the cycling networks in Dumfries if they were closed.
Over the past few months we have been reviewing and editing all of these routes into one cohesive, professionally designed document which we now want to get printed and into the hands of the people who can help to close those gaps.
Dock Park crossing – act now!
Good news! The council are consulting about changes to the Dockhead junction (i.e. the junction between the Whitesands, St Michael’s Bridge Road, which should mean major improvements to the crossing into Dock Park.
As well as running an online survey, which is open until Sunday 24th March, they’re also holding an information event on Tuesday 5 March between 3–7pm at 109 High Street, Dumfries (this is the same day as our monthly meeting but as we don’t start until 6pm you should have time to attend both). The survey is very short but it does allow you to see the proposed concept design (after you’ve answered a few questions about how you use the junction as a pedestrian or wheelchair user, cyclist and/or driver).
Continue reading “Dock Park crossing – act now!”Have your say on who chairs the new Dumfries Town Board
You’ve probably seen articles in the local newspapers about an endowment of £2 million per year from the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. This programme is supposed to run for 10 years and applies to most of Dumfries.
A new Town Board will be established by April and you have the opportunity to nominate someone to chair and appoint the other members of the board. The Council is currently seeking nominations and will make a decision on who chairs the board at a meeting of the Council on the 27th of February.
An Early Christmas Gift … and a New Year Reminder!
As things start to wind down for Christmas and the holiday season, we couldn’t close up shop without a thank you to the council for one last-minute improvement to the active travel network: the removal of the chicane barriers on the path between Gilbrae and Westfield Road. Here’s the before and after shot from Gilbrae
Continue reading “An Early Christmas Gift … and a New Year Reminder!”Barrier begone! Enabling cycling for all
Right from the the start, Cycling Dumfries has always been about helping to remove barriers to cycling … some times more literally than others.
Back in February, we were reminded about this chicane barrier in Georgetown, which was at the end of the path that runs from the top of Wolfgill Road out towards the Maidenbower path:
This barrier meant a local resident had a long detour to get to the Maidenbower path on either her mobility scooter or her recumbent trike. Well, that wouldn’t do, so we got on to the council and local Councillor Keith Walters and flagged it up as an accessibility issue and lo and behold – the barrier has now gone, and been replaced by two bollards nicely spaced to allow both scooter and trike through.
This might seem like a trivial issue compared with some of the more substantial barriers to cycling (like having to ride with heavy traffic, or crossing major trunk roads or roundabouts) but it is important that we make active travel something that’s accessible to everyone. Like adding lights to cycle paths, removing chicanes opens up routes to people who can’t get off and push their bikes or who need to use a non-standard cycle. And by making it easier for those with particular access needs, we make it easier for everyone else as well.
So credit where it’s due – it’s great when something like this is done promptly and without a fuss. That means we can save our energies for the bigger battles and tackling the really difficult barriers!
Route Closure: Troqueer river path
The shared use path between the river and Troqueer Wastewater Treatment Works is closed due to path erosion. This means there is no way through between Troqueer and Mavis Grove along the river path.
Here’s the path closure on Google Maps.
It’s been a matter of time as to which but would go first – the bridge at the end of Mavis Grove (we first commented on this in 2018) or the path next to the sewage works.
This is a popular route for walking and cycling as it provides a nice little loop close to where many people live. It also connects residents on Mavis Grove to the town centre on a traffic free route.
We’ll be writing to our councillors to highlight the importance of this path as a local route and that we’d like to see it fixed as soon as possible. If you use this route please do the same. Councillors won’t know how much of a priority this is unless we tell them. You can find out who your Councillors are here. Citizens Advice Scotland has good advice on how to write a letter to a Councillor or MSP, if it’s something you haven’t done before.
Rood Fair: An Update!
A quick post updating on the situation with the Fair and the Whitesands after our post last week.
We attended a short but very productive meeting on Thursday with two officers from the council and the Fair operator, to discuss a way forward for future fairs.
This year, the fair doesn’t have as many rides as usual, so the Whitesands is actually passable on a bike with care. However, it does mean cyclists weaving in and out of people attending the fair, which with kids running about isn’t that safe and is also a bit annoying for all concerned.
The council have proposed that from next year, a 2m wide path be maintained along the river side of the Whitesands for the full length of the path, and that it be barriered off from the fair set up (using the same barriers that currently run along the road). This will help keep rides from encroaching on the path and also offer a clear through route for those walking and cycling through (the barriers can be opened in places when the fair is running to allow access to all the fun).
This approach will be trialled during the spring fair, and we hope if it is successful it will become the norm for all events making use of the Whitesands. Failing that, we have some ideas for alternative diversions for bikes – but this should mean no diversion at all, which is ideal.
Thanks to Council staff Matthew Crossan and Mike Grunwell of the Council Roads Team for looking into this, and to Climate Champion Dougie Campbell for chasing the issue up.
And now we just need the rain to stop so everyone can enjoy the fun of the fair!
Fair’s fair…
After a year’s interruption due to the pandemic, we note with somewhat mixed feelings the return of the Rood Fair this coming weekend. While this fair offers a grand day out for young and old, and is an ancient tradition in the town, it also means severing the cycle route through the Whitesands for the week that it is on.
According to the council’s road closure notification, cyclists who would normally enjoy the traffic free route along the Whitesands, will have to take the same diversion as the cars – up St Michael’s Bridge Road, down St Michael’s Street and down Nith Street – all large and in some cases multi-lane roads that are not inviting to cyclists. The Whitesands is the A75 of cycling in Dumfries -as well as being part of the National Cycling Network, it joins up many of the routes out of Dumfries to the south and east. Cutting off access to it without providing a reasonable alternative is not acceptable for a council that has recently declared a climate emergency.
We don’t wish to disturb the operation of the fair, which has been coming to Dumfries since time immemorial. But we do believe that with a little imagination, it would be possible to make space for cyclists at least as far as the Suspension Bridge, allowing them to cross over (on foot) and proceed along the traffic free path on the other side of the river. We have suggested this to the council and objected to the closure but haven’t yet received any reply. Indeed, we made the same suggestion last year, and in previous years, in a tradition that is almost as time-honoured as the fair itself. We hope that this time our plea will not fall on deaf ears. But you may wish to plan your routes accordingly next week, just in case.
Bike Train at Kirkgunzeon: Transforming the school run
We interrupt our summer programme of rides to look back at an excellent initiative at Kirkgunzeon Primary School that started as a Bike Week event and grew arms and legs (or perhaps, wheels)
Parent (and Cycling Dumfries member) Richard Colbeck has written the following (photos mostly courtesy of Emma Maxwell of Kirkgunzeon Youth Club):
Parents and teachers at Kirkgunzeon School thought that it would be a great idea to do something in recognition of Bike Week.
Some of the older children were already cycling to school unaccompanied but to encourage more to do this, the idea of a Bike Bus was suggested. This is an organised accompanied group to safely deliver the children to school and there were sufficient parents in Beeswing who were willing to set up a rota. The “Bike Train” has been running 5km from Beeswing to Kirkgunzeon and back twice a week up until the end of term. The children have all been really enthusiastic and it is planned to start up again when schools return in mid August.
As well as encouraging a more environmentally friendly method of travelling to school it is also good for fitness and well being and the children taking part have made noticeable gains in this respect already.
Before the Bike Train’s inauguration, parents ran a Bike Fun evening in the school playground which gave the opportunity for a bike mechanic to check that bikes were all roadworthy as well as having some bike skill tests and the smoothie bike in operation. Thanks to the help from Emma & John from the youth club for joining forces with the parent council for this event, and for their input ensuring that it was well attended.
Some former pupils who have now moved on to high school were on hand help run the skill session and also demonstrate their own bike handling skills. The children had an absolute ball and quite a few were asking to do it again the following week!
The smoothie bike had been in use most of the day during school hours and was worked flat out in the evening with an enthusiastic group of mothers keeping the blender supplied with ingredients and eager children providing the pedal power and the thirsty mouths!
Thanks to Sally and Briony for the ideas and Briony for arranging for the use of the iBike smoothie bike.
There was clearly a lot of organisation that went into this initiative – but it does show that even small rural schools can provide alternatives to the car for the school run if there are suitable routes available. If you think your school could benefit from a bike bus (or Bike Train, as Kirkgunzeon school call it) then there is some helpful guidance here from an Edinburgh based group of bus organisers.
Cycling Dumfries 