Business closures after controversial cycle lane installation just “a coincidence”

Business closures and a fall in trade in Rochdale after locals claimed a new cycle lane had ‘killed their village’ are ‘a coincidence’.

That’s according to ‘active transport representative’ and paralympian Dame Sarah Storey, who passionately defended the controversial new route in Castleton as she joined Andy Burnham in Radio Manchester’s hotseat this week (10 October).

Locals have slammed the lanes, completed earlier this year, for ‘ruining business’ in the area after delays in construction works and a loss of on-street parking.

Gary, a caller and Castleton resident, told both guests that the building process had all but ‘closed off the road for two years’.

He told Mr Burnham: “When it was being built it was just chaos. And since it was completed I’ve seen two people on that bike lane since it’s been there and you were one of them.”

 

 

But Dame Storey argued that other factors had caused the village’s recent economic dip.

“It’s a coincidence, not an unexpected consequence,” she said. “The timing in Castleton was really challenging, with the cost of living crisis and coming out of the pandemic.

“When you’ve two things like that colliding, they’ve had to take it to experts to discuss how they can sort the economic side out.

“A bike lane doesn’t close a village. It opens it up and enables more people to choose to move. Not everybody can drive, not everybody owns a car and they’re now connected to a train station and soon to the town centre through the extension.”

The cycle lane is due to be extended, despite 70 percent of respondents to a public consultation opposing the decision. The latest stretch of the route – running from The Royal Toby Hotel to Rochdale town centre – will run parallel to Old Manchester Road to ensure no parking bays or road space is lost.

The idea behind the lanes was to improve road safety for cyclists and pedestrians and encourage residents to use more active transport for short trips.

Mr Burnham said: “I take your point that it may not be being used at the level that we would like, but that will come over time.”

He noted that along with Castleton Station’s move into the Bee Network, as one of eight lines due to come under TfGM’s control by 2030, the area was in a ‘transitional phase’.

“If there is a detriment to the high street, this will more than bring it back,” Mr Burnham said. “In time, [Castleton] will become a really attractive place – it already is, but it will become even better.”

But other Castleton residents like Gary have previously told the LDRS they felt the council ‘wasn’t listening’ to their perspective.

“It’s a choice between a cycle lane on a road where people already cycled for years, or killing businesses,” Castleton resident Gary concluded, unconvinced.

Charlotte Hall, Local Democracy Reporter