The promise “feels decades away” with the “chaos of the car” on Liverpool’s roads

A 2023 report by cycling charity Sustrans said 48% of people now walk or cycle at least five days a week, according to the survey. However, the survey also found that 27% of people wanted to drive less, but 36% often use a car because there is no other transport option. It also found that people wanted to walk, cycle and cycle more, but more felt the roads were less safe.

Susan Kirkham, from Oxton, got a cargo bike over a year ago and has now put over 1,000 miles on it. Often taking her children Sylvia and Terry with her, she said: “You’ll leave a lot more room on the cargo bike. There are a lot of positive reactions from people saying “what is that?”. There are a few times when people get too close, but not as much as when I’m alone.”

Overall, her experience with drivers was positive, but on her own, she said: “People drive too close. People overtake and then stop right in front of me. People are overtaking me on my left. People will shout at you. Standard stuff. I’m cycling on London Road, but I’m going to avoid that because I’m going to get killed next.

“Some bus drivers, I was pushed off the road by a bus. If I wasn’t walking on the sidewalk, I would have been crushed.”

Mrs Kirkham, a nurse at Royal Liverpool, said: “People have to believe he is a human being. This is not someone trying to screw me over. He’s actually trying to get to work. This is someone’s daughter, maybe me. I won’t yell at her.”

She said separate cycle paths to work would make things safer, adding: “We’re going to lose more people on the roads if we don’t make them safer. There is no easy option. There is no magic solution, but we have to try.

“Let it stop me? Then I give in, right? It’s hard. There are times when I feel nervous. I have three friends who have suffered life-changing injuries while on their bikes.”

Andrew Woodside cycles from Wallasey to work in Cammell Laird, with most of his commute on the road. He said active travel wasn’t about people on expensive bikes or lycra, adding: “It’s normal people who want to go out in jeans and take their kids. These are the people who will make the change.

“If there was investment in attracting people and leaving their cars, you might see a change, but in the current situation, no. There must be significant investment.

“There were little pieces. You have to look at the roads leading down to the ball. There are little bits here and there, but nothing like I could take my grandkids. We are lucky to have the boardwalk, but to encourage people to walk and leave their cars, we are decades away.”

Elaine Cresswell, who lives in Smithdown, would like to cycle around Liverpool but thinks cycling is too dangerous. As a car driver, she said: “I’m looking forward to not having it. Paying all this money to the insurance companies,” adding: “I love walking, but it’s too slow as part of your work day. You cannot prepare the time here or there. Cycling would be ideal.”

On the roads, she said: “It’s car chaos. I think everyone is trying to get from A to B at work. We see each other as big blocks of metal rather than human beings. When I’m driving, there are so many things to keep track of. You have people parking on the sidewalk.

“Pedestrians walk in front of parked cars. You have cyclists on very narrow bike lanes trying to stay but then you have to turn right. There is so much going on as a driver that it will almost increase the stress level. Even driving in this community is not a pleasant experience.”

She said smaller street improvement initiatives in communities would help, adding: “If you don’t feel safe within 500 metres, you’re not going to start. Some people choose not to travel and stay in their area because of this.

“Do you get everyone from where they are to where they want to go? Not everyone wants to go to the city. They want to go to the doctors, the coffee shop or the supermarket.”

Jenny Carter, from disability advocacy group Together All Are Able, said she almost had a ride with a cyclist outside ASDA in Birkenhead, adding: “Cyclists on pavements shouldn’t happen but they have to we make the roads safer. Cyclists should be on the road and pedestrians should be on the sidewalks.” She said cars on the pavement and cracked surfaces are a particular problem for people with disabilities in wheelchairs.

Andi Armitage, from cycling campaign group Cycle Liverpool, moved from the city to North Wales in 2023. He felt the city’s roads were too unsafe for his daughter, who has just started school, adding that walking and cycling “it felt like a battle every day. day.”

He said despite promises to deliver active travel infrastructure, he claimed “people are let down at every level” with little evidence of progress pointing to rising rates of people killed and seriously injured in Merseyside.

According to Department for Transport figures, 6,882 people were killed and seriously injured in Merseyside between 2013 and 2022, with the total now lower despite increases in 2021, 2022 and 2023. 231 people were killed between 2013 and 2022.

Mr Armitage said: “I actually felt safer cycling in London in the 1990s than now. London had no infrastructure in the 90s, but I felt safer there than now. I’m very experienced so I can see why those people who don’t bike but want to bike don’t.

“Liverpool and Liverpool City Region have been given a lot of money for active travel infrastructure and I think the question has to be asked, what has actually happened with that money?”

Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner Emily Spurrell said improving road safety was a priority for her and Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram. In 2022, they launched the Vision Zero strategy, which aims to ensure that no one is killed or seriously injured on the road by 2040.

She said: “The fact that we have seen an increase in road deaths since the launch of the Vision Zero strategy is deeply concerning, but it is important to stress that the picture over the last decade shows that overall road safety is improving in Merseyside.

“There is no doubt that Merseyside Police have a vital role in this work – enforcement is essential. It runs throughout the year, focusing in particular on key issues including speeding, distracted driving, people not wearing seat belts and people still drug and drive.”

In 2023, she said Merseyside Police carried out 85,000 road safety operations, almost 11,000 tickets issued for “obstructive parking offences” in five years and almost 4,000 drink and drug driving arrests. She said police are investing in new technology, such as aerial cameras, to identify offending drivers.

She said she was bidding for extra funding to enable councils to identify accident hotspots. She said: “It is important to recognize that the police cannot make our roads safer on their own; it must be supported by the work of our partners who have a vital role to play in improving the safety of our roads through engineering, infrastructure and education,” adding: “We know there are no quick fixes.”

A spokesman for Liverpool City Combined Authority said it wanted to make walking and cycling the first choice for short journeys, adding: “It’s important that active travel infrastructure works for people living in our region, which it means consulting directly with local residents. , pedestrians, cyclists and other road users on the plans for these new routes. This takes time, but it is the right approach. By 2026 we expect over 260 km of the planned 600 km network to have been completed.”

The authority pointed to projects delivered on Princes Avenue in Toxteth, the Silver Jubilee Bridge in Runcorn and a new interchange outside Lea Green station. Construction work is also starting on a scheme on Conway Street in Birkenhead and cycle links to Whiston in Knowsley.

The spokesman added: “In addition to the £70m already committed to walking and cycling schemes in the Liverpool City Region, more than £1m has been secured to continue detailed route planning in each of our neighborhoods. This work should help connect existing active travel infrastructure to new bike lanes and pedestrian paths in suburbs and cities across our region.

“We are also continuing to commit funding to trials of secure bike parking in residential areas and to develop and expand our free bike safety training program for all ages so people can use bikes with confidence.”

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