Warning for Lancaster cyclists

Lancaster City Councillor for Castle Ward, Dave Brookes and County Councillor for Lancaster Central, Gina Dowding, next to the warning posters.

Dynamo, a Lancaster and District Cycle campaign group, is urging the city council to adopt a proactive approach to gritting shared-use paths and pavements.

One member of the group has said Millennium Bridge in particular freezes first and results in a notoriously treacherous stretch.

“One experienced, local cyclist shattered his femur and hip bone by the bridge and required a replacement hip joint,” said a Dynamo spokesman.

“This – personal suffering aside – cost the NHS some £12,500 to treat. For some shovelfuls of grit, such accidents could be prevented.”

Following this city green councillors have taken safety measures into their own hands and have put up posters on the city side approach to the Millennium bridge, warning that in icy weather this area is very slippery for cyclists and pedestrians.

“We know that at least two people have skidded here and come off their bikes, one man suffered broken bones,” said county councillor Gina Dowding.

“Gritting alone here is never going to be the most effective solution as it does not get crushed into the surface by enough passers by.

“I hope these posters will help reduce the risk of falls. In the longer term we need a strip of tarmac or a safer surface to be laid in this area.”

Lancaster City Council say the whole area is gritted when a period of at least three days of sub-zero temperatures is expected; and the bridge itself and the immediate approach is gritted when it gets frosty.