Sheffield Council have now approved a Tram Cycle Safety Action Plan which CycleSheffield agreed with them in July 2016.
What is the problem?
The tram tracks are the biggest cause of accidents and injuries to people on bikes in Sheffield and they also deter people from making journeys by bike
Over 380 crashes reported
CycleSheffield has received over 380 accident reports since January 2015 which we have mapped. Gathering this data was vital in demonstrating the scale of the problem and persuading the council that they needed to act.
We have shared the data with Sheffield City Council and identified the worst locations for accidents. The top 5 worst locations are:
- Langsett Road at Primrose Hill tram stop.
- Holme Lane / Loxley New Road / Ball Road junction.
- White Lane at White Lane tram stop.
- Glossop Road at junction with Upper Hanover St.
- Hillsborough Corner.
What is the council planning to do?
Firstly, to implement:
“a series of warning signs … in the current financial year and preferably before the onset of winter [2016], at the top 20 locations now identified.”
This is only the first step and as the report accepts “warning signs will not in themselves resolve the problems created by the infrastructure.”
The council has then committed to:
- By March 2017: design solutions at the top five worst accident sites
- By June 2017: design solutions for the remaining top 20 sites.
- Agree a schedule of work for these solutions to be implemented in financial years 2017/18 and 2018/19
- By September 2017: Complete implementation of the top 5 sites
- Develop in 2016/17 and pilot 2017/18 a cyclist/ tram-track solution for each type of tram/ carriageway interface (e.g. tram stops, tram track leaving road to left, to right etc). Develop a plan for the deployment of these solutions and an ongoing programme of works and ensure that these solutions are incorporated in all future Supertram infrastructure schemes.
- During financial years 2017/ 18 and 2018/ 19 implement solutions for the top 20 accident sites.
Will this solve the problem?
If these solutions are designed to best practice standards and delivered on time then they will make a big and very welcome improvement. We will work as closely as possible to contribute to, and review, the solution designs.
We are concerned that the council will not get further than the signage, so CycleSheffield will:
- request updates on their progress on the action points
- encourage them to prioritise the design of convenient alternative routes rather than piecemeal improvements along the roads with tracks
- push them to make money available and bid for new funding to make larger infrastructure improvements
We are hopeful since this report and investment has the backing of cabinet member Cllr Iqbal:
@CycleSheffield @andyc89 @SheffCouncil we will do and will put the investment in
— Mazher Iqbal (@iqbal_mazher) July 27, 2016
There are basically 5 ways that tram tracks bring you down Have you analysed which detail applies to each location? This may inform the options to deliver suitable solutions.
Hi Dave, the accident report data has been passed to SCC transport engineers who are working on designing solutions to the problem.
Rather than a lot of piecemeal improvements along the roads with tracks the preference is to identify potential alternative routes, build these and then direct people on bikes on to those instead.
It’s Manor Top for me, but my offs didn’t occur during the period that data was being collected. I avoid it now.
Hi Karl, you can still report your accident if you like at http://www.tramcrash.co.uk. The roads with tram tracks are best avoided, we need the council to provide safe, alternative routes.