A cycle lane upgrade has been pushed back after concerns it could hurt a business on the road over lost parking spaces.
The decision was made to not go ahead with the scheme for the time being on Birkenhead Road in Seacombe at a Wirral Council meeting as those opposed to it moving forward argued the loss of 9.5 parking spaces would harm the area.
Councillors had been recommended to approve the cycle lane upgrade as a report said the current route doesn’t comply with current regulations and would make it safer around a bus stop.
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The £1.3m proposal was controversial as it proposed removing a number of car parking spaces on one side of the road. The council said this was to avoid people crossing the road to get to their parked cars.
A number of petitions both in favour and against the plans were brought to the committee.
The council will now ask for an extension on the scheme, and evaluate all the risks around the scheme including consulting with businesses and people living on the road after criticism over the way it was handled.
Ten councillors voted to delay with one, Cllr Judith Grier, voting against as she was concerned the delay “would kill it stone dead” given tight timescales on funding.
Frank Brennan representing the Soccer Dome, a indoor football business, said he was worried there hadn’t been thought put into the potential loss of customers due to reduced parking spaces on the road.
He said the scheme “threatened the employment opportunities on Birkenhead Road” and with 72,000 cars passing along it every week, he argued it would make congestion worse.
Others raised concerns about the safety of walking from streets further away at night to go to the Soccer Dome if they had to park elsewhere and argued the proposal wasn’t necessary because of the cycle lane already there and another close by.
These concerns were echoed by Seacombe councillor Paul Stuart who said: ”Narrowing the road and reducing the amount of available parking will harm these businesses. Many people are also at a loss that the council is proposing to fell many mature trees.”
Cllr Stuart criticised the consultation over the scheme adding “the council and the Combined Authority need to better understand the needs of residents and businesses.”
However Simon O’Brien, the Liverpool City Region’s cycling and walking commissioner, said: “We have to start doing things differently. The whole of the city region I have seen for myself is falling behind other towns and cities in the North and the whole of the country.
“If good infrastructure is built, people will very quickly start to use it. We have low cycle usage at the moment in the region because we do not have the right infrastructure. I would cite Oxford Road in Manchester.
“When the cycle lane was first put in, very few people used it but now there’s discussion going on is it wide enough. Build it and they will come.”
The cycle lane upgrade was also supported by Wirral Waters developer Peel L&P who said it would feed into their plans for low-traffic neighbourhoods in the area.
Officers also warned that if the council didn’t go ahead with the scheme, it may not be able to bid for active travel funds in the future and could be liable for charges.
Cllr Jean Robinson who put forward the proposal to delay the scheme said “there are loose ends that need to be worked on” including review of the designs and more consultation.
However Cllr Grier said: “This money needs to be spent by June so this delay will kill it. That will be it. The consultation has gone ahead and it was actively engaged with. Active Travel is in our Local Plan which has got cross party support and this will give the message we don’t do that.”
Cllr Grier said this was because there was a high risk the deadline for funding wouldn’t be extended.
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