Little London Road: Garage boss slams new bike route as 'overkill for half-a-dozen cyclists'
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Peter Lindley, director of PLM Autocentre on Rydal Road, criticised the new Sheaf Valley Cycle Route after concrete blocks were installed outside his garage, and on Little London Road.
He said it had led to road rage as cars from Langdale Road found their way blocked. And some drivers were ignoring a one-way system and doing a U-turn.
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Hide AdA longstanding blockade further up Rydal Road has been removed to allow vehicles to return to Abbeydale Road, but few realised, he added.
But the new restrictions had made his land more valuable for housing.
He said: “On a personal level this has done me good. But as a bigger project to get people from A to B it doesn’t work.
“Cars make the world go round and to do it for half-a-dozen cyclists in the morning is overkill.”
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Hide AdLittle London Road was closed to vehicles at the railway bridge to make it more attractive to cyclists. Concrete blocks were installed after metal bollards were sawn off. More concrete blocks were installed on Rydal Road to stop drivers illegally driving down Langdale Road.
Maroof Raouf, Green councillor for Nether Edge and Sharrow, tweeted details of two surveys and said: “Some constituents have done counts of vehicles, cyclists, and pedestrians at the new filter on Little London Road. Unsurprisingly, the evidence so far shows more of the public using it to travel actively than many originally thought.”
AdamW said he conducted a count on Thursday August 11 for one hour between 7.55am and 8.55am which logged 60 cyclists and 74 pedestrians on Little London Road.
He added: "I missed the first 30-45 mins of commuting, the filters had only just gone in, it's the summer holiday, and the rest of the route remains unimproved."
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Hide AdA second survey by David Glass on Friday, August 12 for 25 minutes from 4.35pm logged 10 cyclists and 15 pedestrians.
Last week plans for 14 apartments and two business units on Little London Road were approved.
