The Council have currently engaged consultants to look at cross-city transport connections and a drop in session took place on 18 May. There is a particular focus on the various new developments that are taking place or planned for the fringes of the city.
You can see some of the detail of what was presented here and there is an email address that you can send comments in to.
We hope that like many of us here at ACF you are excited about the prospect of our second very own North-East ‘Pedal on Parliament’ ride taking place next Saturday, 23 April, starting from Hazlehead Drive at 12 noon. We will ride gently down to assemble outside Marishcal College where we hope to present our case to various City and Shire Councillors, and possibly some candidate MSPs too.
If you took part in the ride in 2015, the arrangements are just the same. If you are new then you will be especially welcome and we are certainly hoping to exceed the 100+ riders who joined in last year.
If you don’t know the route, a detailed guide is available. But do please remember that the ride is on open roads with no special traffic management in place, so is only likely to be suitable for confident cyclists. Anyone who is unable to join the ride is still very welcome to meet us at Marischal College and add their voice to the campaign.
After the gathering at Marischal, photo opportunities etc a number of us intend to carry on the discussion at 6 Degrees North – a continental-style bar just round the corner on Littlejohn St. They serve food and coffee as well as a fantastic range of craft beers. Unfortunately, due to Licensing restrictions, under 18s are not permitted in the bar.
A risk assessment for the ride is also available should you wish to read it.
Following the success of our ride last year, we are repeating the event – from Hazlehead Park to Marischal College. The route will be via Hazlehead Drive, Queens Road, Albyn Place, Union St and Broad St. The distance is 3 ¼ miles and is slightly downhill. Estimated ride time at a gentle pace is 20 – 30 minutes.
Last year we had 100 riders leaving Hazlehead so this year we are hoping the ride will be even bigger and better!
Please note that this ride takes place on open roads and in normal city center traffic conditions. There are no closed roads or other traffic management. Participants will be responsible for their own behavior and their own safety at all times. Because the route is on busy city center roads, it is likely to be suitable only for cyclists who are familiar and comfortable with cycling in traffic.
The ride will leave Hazlehead Park at 12 noon, arriving at Marischal College by around 1230 where we hope to meet and speak to a number of Councillors from Aberdeen City Council. Assembly point at Hazlehead will be on the running track alongside Hazlehead Drive.
The purpose of the ride is to raise the profile of cycling in Aberdeen. The ride is a peaceful demonstration of our right to ride. We do not intend to cause any unnecessary disruption to traffic or disobey the rules of the road. Please respect this!
The route does cross busy roundabouts including Anderson Drive at Queens Road. At this and other roundabouts, less confident riders should be able to dismount and use pedestrian crossings, rejoining the ride after the junction. It is also proposed that riders who wish to miss out all the roundabouts could instead assemble on Albyn Place / Rubislaw Terrace Gardens, and join the ride there (1215). Anyone else wishing to show support but unable to join the ride is very welcome to meet the riders at Marischal College (1230).
Please note that no food or drink will be provided. There are toilets available at Hazlehead Park and at various locations near the arrival point in the city centre. Remember to dress appropriately for the weather and for cycling. You may wish to consider wearing a cycle helmet and brightly coloured / high visibility clothing, but these are not compulsory.
When assembling in front of Marischal College we have been asked by Aberdeen City Council to be aware of the need to respect the environment and the needs of others. Please ensure that the pavement is not obstructed to pedestrians or passers- by who are not involved in the ride, and please do not park your bicycle against the building or statue plinth. We hope to see you there on the 23rd!
At our January meeting we were pleased to have a Q&A session with Kathryn Mackay who is Cycling Development Officer working at Nestrans in a post created almost 2 years ago, jointly with Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Councils, and with support from Sustrans. A summary of the discussion can be seen here.
This year’s cycle count took place on 12, 13, and 14 May. The days were cold, but mostly sunny. We were not sure whether folks had switched over from winter to summer in their cycling habits since the spring has been so variable. After discussions following last year’s count, we decided to start the process at 7:00 am instead of 7:30. The volunteers generously picked up the extra half hour so that we would have data from both the old time period and the new one. If the new time period is taken forward, we will continue to count the full two hours for an additional two years in order to have comparison data during a transition period. The count did reveal that there are greater numbers of commuting cyclists at certain locations at the earlier time period. However, for some positions the 90 minute window of 7-8:30 did not vary greatly from the 7:30-9 window. Unfortunately, the cycle count is down the year compared to the large numbers counted last year. However, similar dips have occurred in previous years. Looking at a three year average of ’13-’15 to ’10-’12 the trend is definitively upwards. The full breakdown of numbers can be found here . Aberdeen City Council joined in the effort again this year and added five new sites to this year’s count in locations where new infrastructure has been installed or will be installed. We hope to see these numbers go up as the options for cycle transport become better connected. Finally, a huge thanks to our volunteers who helped with Cycle Count 2015!
It’s been a couple of weeks since our very first ‘PoP Aberdeen’ ride. We hope you were as pleased to see it happen as we were. Such a stroke of luck to get some sunshine in that week of rain!
We had more than 100 riders leave Hazlehead Park and we had cyclists joining us seemingly from every corner – some even joined from side streets on Union Street itself! At Marischal College, we were met by some of you who couldn’t cycle on the day as well as MP Dame Anne Begg, Councillors Neil Cooney, John Corall, Ross Thomson, Gordon Townson, and Ian Yuill. We were able to have a chat with them about cycling in Aberdeen – both conditions now and what we’d like to see for the future.
We had some press coverage, maybe you’ll spot yourself in the photos!
The Citizen article is no longer online, but here are ones from the Press & Journal and the Evening Express:
http://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/news/local/aberdeen-rally-ride-highlights-safety-for-cyclists/
There was some wider coverage of Pedal on Parliament – here’s the BBC article:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-32446845
Thank you to everyone who shared information to get the word out about the ride, thank you to those who rode along, thank you to those who met us at Marischal, and thank you to the group of ACF members that worked so hard behind the scenes to make it happen.
We’re not sure what date we’ll choose for next year’s ride, but we will definitely be making a tradition of this. We’ll let you know as soon as possible about a date for 2016!
To coincide with the main event in Edinburgh, this year Aberdeen will host the first satellite ride – from Hazlehead Park to Marischal College. The route will be via Hazlehead Drive, Queens Road, Albyn Place, Union St and Broad St. The distance is 3 ¼ miles and is slightly downhill. Estimated ride time at a gentle pace is 20 – 30 minutes. Download the Detailed Route Guide
The event has been discussed with both Aberdeen City council’s events team and Police Scotland (Aberdeen City Divison) who have confirmed it may go ahead. As you can see from the Police’s letter and our response they really should get out on their bike more.
Help us get the word out Download the Poster or handlebar flyers
Please note that this ride takes place on open roads and in normal city center traffic conditions. There are no closed roads or other traffic management. Participants will be responsible for their own behavior and their own safety at all times. Because the route is on busy city center roads, it is likely to be suitable only for cyclists who are familiar and comfortable with cycling in traffic.
The ride will leave Hazlehead Park at 12 noon, arriving at Marischal College by around 1230 where we hope to meet and speak to a number of Councillors from Aberdeen City Council. Assembly point at Hazlehead will be on the running track alongside Hazlehead Drive.
The purpose of the ride is to raise the profile of cycling in Aberdeen. The ride is a peaceful demonstration of our right to ride. We do not intend to cause any unnecessary disruption to traffic or disobey the rules of the road. Please respect this!
The route does cross busy roundabouts including Anderson Drive at Queens Road. At this and other roundabouts, less confident riders should be able to dismount and use pedestrian crossings, rejoining the ride after the junction. It is also proposed that riders who wish to miss out all the roundabouts could instead assemble on Albyn Place / Rubislaw Terrace Gardens, and join the ride there (1215). Anyone else wishing to show support but unable to join the ride is very welcome to meet the riders at Marischal College (1230).
Please note that no food or drink will be provided. There are toilets available at Hazlehead Park and at various locations near the arrival point in the city centre. Remember to dress appropriately for the weather and for cycling. You may wish to consider wearing a cycle helmet and brightly coloured / high visibility clothing, but these are not compulsory.
When assembling in front of Marischal College we have been asked by Aberdeen City Council to be aware of the need to respect the environment and the needs of others. Please ensure that the pavement is not obstructed to pedestrians or passers- by who are not involved in the ride, and please do not park your bicycle against the building or statue plinth. We hope to see you there on the 25 th!
Westhill cycle path – an update
The latest on this long-running saga, following Aberdeen City Council’s Committee decision on 28 October, can be read here here.
Consultation on ‘locking in the benefits’ of the AWPR on Wellington Road
ACF members recently met with AECOM who are studying options for improvments on Wellington Road. The note of the meeting can be seen here and we welcome feedback or comments – especially from regular users of the Wellington Rd corridor – before responding further.
Consultation on proposals for a bypass of the Haudagain roundabout, August 2014
This is a note of our meeting with consultants looking for comments on the proposals for a Haudagain ‘bypass’. This note of the meeting was written by the consulatants and is open for comment before we respond.
The note of the meeting is available here and we welcome your feedback and any comments.
Aberdeen Cycle Forum 