On the borough’s roads these days, cyclists ride a wheel of fortune or misfortune, praised by environmentalists and pilloried by motorists.

But with climate change and the pandemic, there is growing public support for sustainable transport, including walking and cycling. Yet that support can become polarised as measures such as pop-up cycle lanes are implemented, although officially backed by both borough and county councils.

Last year, the pandemic projected cycling into the spotlight. Roads emptied of cars, we were advised not to use public transport and people anxious for exercise got their bikes out of the shed or bought at the local cycle shop.

College link+, the Woodbridge Road crossing

The government provided an emergency active travel fund. The pop-up cycle lanes appeared, and in some cases (as in Reigate) almost as quickly disappeared following “bikelash”.

Both councils implemented the long-planned cycling infrastructure programme, part of the town centre transport package (TCTP). In Guildford, the sustainable movement corridor (SMC) from the hospital to the university and on to the station was significantly improved.

The SMC near the university

The link from the station to Guildford College has nearly been completed, with new crossings for Woodbridge Road and Stoke Road, a widened, shared-use pavement outside the college and a 20mph zone proposed.

Work is about to start on the much-debated replacement of Walnut Bridge with a wider, more cycle-friendly crossing, though not as friendly as G-BUG would have liked.

Perhaps most controversially, the Walnut Tree Close trial, providing cyclists with a much safer corridor to/from the town centre, will last until mid-February. Cyclists should try this and report on its suitability via our website.

Early indications seem to show it works well and should be supported. If we don’t use it, we may lose it.

GBC’s commissioned independent assessment of how cycling in Guildford could be made safer and more attractive was published last May.

The specialist consultancies Transport Initiatives and Urban Movement rode every road and path in the town, using recognised “bikeability” standards to classify all of them.

Their analysis shows Guildford divided into areas inaccessible by bike due to busy roads and major barriers such as the gyratory, the A3 and railway lines.

They concluded “While there are sections of existing cycling infrastructure that are acceptable, these do not form a coherent network.

“Even these do not form consistent routes, and the present level of quality is not suitable for less confident cyclists, let alone encouraging people who do not currently cycle to start.”

Recommendations included improving the gyratory, more and better crossings, signing and cycle parking, but the major items were for a “joined-up” cycle network, and low traffic neighbourhoods where through-traffic is reduced.

Change costs money, although dedicated government funding is available. Already, the county council has an allocation with two projects for Guildford, on London Road and the Dagley Lane greenway to Shalford.

These and future measures will probably be controversial: the challenge will be to find common ground supported by the “silent majority.”

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