Cyclists rejoice as barriers finally installed on 'car park' bike lane.

After months and months of motorists using this piece of dedicated "separated" cycling infrastructure on Hardcastle Street in Belfast, as a playground to store their vehicles, a ray of sunshine has finally sprung from amidst the darkened skies.

Barriers, albeit only made out plastic, have finally been bolted down, to provide a safer, segregated route for cyclists to navigate. Rocket science, I know.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F4S0d91WEAAFYuz?format=jpg&name=medium

The irony is, that even in the picture posted above, there are cars still parked! I don't know if I should laugh or be sad, this is truly exceptional....

I know Belfastian cyclists are rejoicing though, with Cycling UK in Northern Ireland joining in celebration and euphoria, commenting: "Great turnaround @deptinfra and thanks to @BBCMarkSimpson for supporting the campaign."

I know right, how hard this been? This street, which has been a regular feature on our live blogs, is finally seeing the light of day as a cycling route free from the maddening levels of car parking rampant earlier.

Back in February, Sustrans described the situation on Hardcastle Street as “disgraceful – every single day, no action”.

“This is one of Belfast's ONLY ‘separated’ cycle lanes,” the North Belfast Cycle Campaign also noted. “This is the ONLY safe route across town.

It featured on our yesterday's blog as well, when the news broke that Northern Ireland's Department for Infrastructure at last stumbled upon a fantastical, earth-shattering solution to the longstanding issue of one of Belfast’s few ‘protected’ cycle lanes being almost constantly blocked by parked cars.

A DfI spokesperson told Belfast Live (link is external): "The Department recognises the frustration caused by inconsiderate parking on cycle lanes across the city. While the legislative process to make the pop-up cycle permanent is ongoing, in the interim the Department now intends to trial new bolt down barriers which will make the cycle lanes inaccessible to cars.

"These will be installed as soon as possible. We would encourage road users to respect everyone’s journey and think before you park."

The admittedly belated decision follows a meeting of Northern Ireland’s All Party Cycling Group, held to outline the group’s vision for a "better cycling future". The meeting came just days after councillors in Belfast launched a scathing attack on Northern Ireland’s Stormont government and what they describe as its "joke" approach to cycling infrastructure.

At the All Party Cycling Group meeting, call were made for the DfI "to step up and build infrastructure and maintain the paltry infrastructure that does exist" to make active travel safer and more accessible, while Cycling UK emphasised the business case for installing more cycle lanes.

Cycling UK's Andrew McClean also proposed painting double yellow lines on cycle lanes in a bid to stop motorists from parking in them.

"The DfI said that’s not a bad idea... it’s such an obvious solution but now they are only considering it,” he said, before adding that the group agreed that “one of the most important things we can do is enforce existing laws".

Well, everyone involved in campaigning for this seemingly impossible act does deserve a pat on their backs!

And after that lengthy blog post, it's time for some social media posts known as Tweets (do I still capitalise the T?)...

Cheers everyone, until next time!

https://road.cc/content/news/cycling-live-blog-25-august-2023-303449#live-blog-item-48955