Thread by @mark_mcintyre

It's easy to overlook, but new, good quality cycling infrastructure is beginning to stack up in #Glasgow. Some way to go before we're at 🇳🇱 level, but here's a thread showing some of what's been built and what's on the way 🧵🚲🚴

#SouthCityWay. Not 100% finished, but you can get 2.5km from Queen’s Park to the city centre, with minimal time on-road (a temporary #SpacesForPeople lane plugs the last gap between the Gorbals and city centre for now). Will eventually connect directly to Merchant City.

Honestly, I love this so much. SCW is such a great example of 'build it and they will come'. Full on Dutch-style junctions, and plenty of safe spots to park your bike if you want to stop at any of the brilliant shops on Victoria Rd.

Garscube Rd. Just opened, and maybe the best I’ve seen so far. 1.5km segregated path between Firhill & Cowcaddens, part of the #ConnectingWoodside project.
Eventually it’ll connect to two other segregated paths on Woodlands Rd & St George’s Rd, which’ll also link it directly to..

...#SauchiehallStreet 'Avenue', which was looking great today. What used to be 2 lanes of traffic and 2 for parking. Now a bi-directional cycle path, benches, street trees, space for outdoor seating. The first of ~10 similar 'Avenue' projects for streets across the city centre.

Some more recent shots of the #ConnectingWoodside route at Garscube Road from @RiderGlasgow (who's well worth a follow for near daily photos, insights & curiosities from across the city)

In fact while we're at it... here's another nice spot from @RiderGlasgow: What looks to be a new two-way cycle path at the new Barclays campus at Tradeston, running parallel to the river. Probably connecting up with the #SouthWestCityWay?

@RiderGlasgow The #SouthWestCityWay runs from Tradeston to Pollokshields, passing West Street subway. It's quite well done for the most part, but short, ending abruptly at the top of Pollokshields. Heard there are plans to extend it further SW though. (No photos, so nabbing them from Google!)

From the above (hastily drawn) map you can imagine the SCW and SWCW being joined up some time in the future.
There's also this weird high-quality stub that runs for ~300m between Tradeston and the Kingston Bridge, which kind of leads nowhere once you hit Paisley Rd & the Quay.

By the by, pretty much on the other side of the block from this, running parallel, there's meant to be a redevelopment of Windmillcroft Quay coming soon, with suggestions it'll have a segregated cycle path: glasgowlive.co.uk/news/glasgow-n…

I knew I heard something about an extension to the #SouthWestCityWay. Here's a link to the consultation from Feb 2020, suggesting it could continue on SW through Pollokshields to Pollok Park: storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/ca2b07…

#WestCityWay. Maybe the first of Glasgow's "city ways" to be built? Disjointed in places, with lots of stoppages at junctions & missing links. Definitely an important link between City Centre & West End, but looking a bit unloved now, even a bit timid compared to newer projects.

What about the East End you say? Good news is the ~8km long #EastCityWay looks like it's coming on! I meant to grab some pics of the Mount Vernon section when I ended up on it a few weeks back. Here's a nice photo thread from @UrbanistTOC 👇

Looks like this is still a work in progress, with the eastern-most part being built first. What I saw at Mount Vernon looked very promising, with a full side of the A74 being converted to a 2-way segregated cycleway, up to the bend in the road near Carmyle station. #EastCityWay

So, might be a while before this one's complete, but it is ambitious. Here it is next to the SCW and SWCW. (That said, 2020's #SpacesForPeople lanes have filled in a lot of the gaps along the way on the western section of London Road).

While we're in the east, here's a really promising proposal from @_OnBikes @civicengineers & @UM_Streets, for creating an active-travel neighbourhood in Blackhill 🚶🚴‍♀️👇

Great thing about this proposal is it'd link up with the (currently) temporary #SpacesForPeople route that runs along Royston Road.

If that's kept and improved, Blackhill, Germiston & the NE could have a ready-made 3km "city way" into Glasgow city centre.

Just a passing mention for this (since for all intents it's a thread on 'high-quality' routes) but the Clyde Gateway painted lanes are v useful, arcing from riverside to the nascent #EastCityWay. Mostly does the trick but junctions are a bit hairy. Room for improvement I suppose.

Have a lot more to add, but that's probably enough for now.

Basically though, when you look around, we're getting close to the hub-spoke network that's been talked about for years. Noticeable how things are improving with every new piece of infrastructure too. #cycling #glasgow

Another one to add🙂 with video from @langoo: The first of the main cycleways for "Sighthill Cycling Village", running along the top end of the huge #Sighthill redevelopment site (St Rollox Drive).

More info on #SighthillCyclingVillage here: glasgow.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.a…

The access path to the new Claypits Local Nature Reserve @ClaypitsLnr has opened up and it looks great!

This connects directly to the end of the new Garscube Rd cycleway (near top of the thread☝️) giving bike access to the LNR & the @forthnclydecanl path

Looks like there's another way down though if you don't have your 🚲

@ClaypitsLnr #glasgow #hamiltonhill #maryhill

New bike counters have been switched on at the #SouthCityWay. As I was saying at the top of the thread, such a clear example of 'build it and they will come' when it comes to good 🚲 infrastructure.

Picking up this thread again🧵
A temporary fix for now, but I don't think there's a better before/after than #CambridgeStreet. Was absolutely *the* most intimidating cycle route in #Glasgow until recently. Now: soft segregation, planters 🌳 & space for outdoor hospitality 🍽️.

It’s only ~150m long, but it serves a really valuable purpose: it’s essentially the main gateway for any cyclists coming into the city centre from the north (it leads to one of the few crossing points past the M8, which wraps around this side of the city centre).

Round the corner from here, the #SauchiehallStreet #glasgowavenue cycleway hits a dead end for now at Charing Cross and the motorway.

Soon though, it’ll extend over this junction, connecting directly with new fully segregated cycleways on Woodlands Road and St George’s Road. #cycling #glasgow #activetravel

Here’s a map of the full planned #ConnectingWoodside network, including the recently finished Garscube Rd route from the top of the thread ☝️
glasgow.gov.uk/article/21802/…

Also part of this is the #Underline, a cycle/pedestrian boulevard planned for underneath the #M8, following the old lost axis of New City Road, once one of the main avenues in the city. More info and pics here: nickwrightplanning.co.uk/glasgow-city-c…

Down the Clyde, plans are out for a new fully segregated cycle path between #Garelochhead and #Helensburgh. Looks ambitious, with plans for added 'placemaking' along the route. (Think I spot one of the new @MyShawlands parklets in the design specs!) helensburgh-garelochhead.info/view-designs