Overgrown and under-maintained: The cycle lane problem
Plus: Andrew Brown's guide to What's On This Week
Hello and welcome to the 60th edition of The Southport Lead.
Today’s edition focuses on an issue which gets a lot of attention and gets people particularly worked up - cycle lanes - but not usually with this focus.
There’s been plenty of discussion about how well the lanes on Hoghton Street and Queens Road were introduced (with few favourable comments from motorists or cyclists) and about future plans for locations such as the Promenade.
The reality that as car numbers continues to rise (there’s almost twice as many on our roads compared to 1990), the roads are becoming less and less safe for those outside of vehicles which incidentally are also getting much bigger.
So where there are cycle lanes already in place, having been installed at great cost and over long periods of time, it’s all the more important to keep them usable. Yet across the town, our cycle lanes lie in poor condition - covered in sand or shrubbery, cracked and uneven. So why isn’t more effort being made to maintain them?
Before that, a note to say it’s been good to see such interest in Dolce Vita’s battle to retain its outdoor service unit after Sefton Council’s decision to refuse planning permission. Paid subscribers to this newsletter were the first to find out about that on Wednesday - if you haven’t already, sign up below to make sure you don’t miss out next time.
Poor maintenance leaving cycle lanes unsafe and unusable
By Jamie Lopez
As plans are considered to add more cycling lanes across Southport, the current ones are deterring potential users due to their overgrown and under-maintained states.
Calls are being made to improve usability of the routes such as those on the Coastal Road, Town Lane and Bentham’s Way as sand and shrubbery progressively take over more of their space.
Sefton Council has long positioned itself as making Southport a cycling-friendly town and recent years have seen it take advantage of government and Liverpool City Region funding to add new lanes - not without opposition - in areas including Queens Road and Hoghton Street.
The loss of on-street parking, which was later rectified on Queens Street, and trip hazard of the half installed bollard on Hoghton Street, caused significant opposition from disgruntled motorists but in the face of climate and health crises the council has continued to work to increase active travel provision.
Plans to add continuous cycle lanes running all the way from Churchtown to Birkdale have seemingly been dropped but the ongoing town centre “Les Transformations de Southport” project and proposals for the redevelopment of Promenade include a segregated cycling track.
Meanwhile, the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (LCRCA) - overseen by Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram - recently announced it would create a “600km network of new and upgraded walking and cycling routes across all six borough of the Liverpool City Region – Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens and Wirral”.
At the same time, the existing provision is becoming increasingly inaccessible and calls are being made to increase maintenance.
Harry Kessler cycles around Southport around three times a week and says maintenance along the Coastal Road is badly lacking. The 94-year-old, who was awarded an BEM in services to Holocaust education and awareness, completed a 90 day, 900 mile charity bike ride challenge in 2021 and remains a regular cyclist to this day.
Speaking to The Southport Lead, he said an ankle problem makes walking too difficult but cycling allows him to travel around freely and keep fit. However, cycling along roads shared by cars feels much more dangerous given many drivers “consider cyclists their enemy” and as such he says cycle tracks are much needed.
He said: “I do get out on the bike if the weather is suitable. I wouldn’t have gone out in very bad wind when there was a storm the other day and I don't go out when it’s raining but that’s it.”
He frequently rides along the Coastal Road from Southport to either Ainsdale or Banks and sees the need for better upkeep. Just this week, he said he had to ask a family to remove a pushchair which was left sideways blocking the cycle lane on the pier, with the apologetic parents unaware it was even a cycle lane due to sand covering all the markings.
“You’ll find that if you take the pier as a starting point, going north towards banks first of all since that storm on Monday there’s quite a lot more sand piling up.
“There hasn’t been any cleaning up out there since. Before that I don’t think it has been nine months since there was an effort. It didn't matter because it wasn’t an impediment to cycling but now there’s a bigger pile up it’s very tricky.”
“If you go south of the pier and past the Lifeboat Station, from there and carrying as far as the Weld Road roundabout, it’s fine, it’s pleasant to ride there.
“But if you go beyond that, from there to Pontins during Covid they doubled its width but since then there’s been no maintenance on that path. The vegetation on the left hand side is creeping further and further.
“It has now swallowed half and sometimes more of the old cycle path. In between the old path and the new one, there’s vegetation growing in the middle and a fair bit growing out of the new cycle path. If it goes on like this it’s going to completely swallow the old cycle track and some of what they put down three years ago.
This section was the result of long-running works four years ago but is already showing signs of wear and tear with weeds growing through and around the track.
“If they did a little maintenance, it would help but the material they used wasn’t the best,” Harry explained. “If the council really wanted to do some good, they’d put road quality tarmac down and lose the gap in the middle. Even just a little maintenance every few months to cut back, they’d have a very good cycle track.”
Cllr Mike Sammon has challenged Sefton Council on various under-maintained locations including parks and roads since being elected as the Liberal Democrat representative on Cambridge Ward last year.
He raised the issue of cycle lanes on the Coastal Road, Town Lane and Benthams Way at the last full council meeting and asked for an update on when the overgrowth would be dealt with.
Along Benthams Way, near to Dobbies and the Kew Woods nature reserve, the shrubbery has overgrown to such an extent is has swallowed almost all of the cycle lane and pavement as well as extending well beyond lamposts which should stand freely.
A route across Meols Cop Park lies in similar condition, with a space that should fit three lanes for walking and cycling offering nowhere near that amount.
In response to Cllr Sammon’s question, Sefton’s cabinet member for Housing and Highways Darren Veidman said the overgrowth was not from council-owned or managed land and that enforcement action was being investigated.
In relation to the Coastal Road, Cllr Veidman cited the Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) as meaning it was “not possible to include this location within the corporate weed control programme as the application of chemical is unsuitable at this location.”
He added: “Therefore, a manual weed removal process has been programmed, and this will commence in the coming weeks.”
A council spokesperson reiterated this when approached by The Southport Lead this week.
Cllr Sammon told The Southport Lead: “Concerns about the condition of Southport’s cycle lanes, particularly along the Coastal Road and Town Lane, are regularly raised by residents. These routes are often obstructed by overgrowth and debris, making them feel unsafe.
“While the council is consulting on a new walking and cycling infrastructure plan, residents have quite reasonably asked why new lanes are being proposed when existing ones are not being well maintained.
“We do need better walking and cycling infrastructure, but it must be well planned. That was not the case with cycle lane extensions a few years ago, which felt rushed and poorly thought out.”
“We need a balanced approach of looking after our existing cycle lanes, as well as making sensible additions. That will give more people the confidence to choose to cycle rather than drive, if they are able to.”
Southport resident and cycling advocate Danny Howard has been pressing Sefton Council to make improvements to make the town more friendly and welcoming to young people and believes improving cycling provision and public transport options are vital for both residents and businesses.
He was living on Queens Road when those lanes were installed and says that while people were quick and vocal in their criticisms, they have been far more used than critics on Facebook would suggest and that attitudes towards them have improved over time.
While he accepts the lanes aren’t without fault, he believes they can be improved and that offerings such as these can offer vitally needed benefits. Working in the town centre, he regularly sees groups of cyclists taking breaks together at independent cafes and says these visits should be encouraged.
He said: “I know there’s difficulties for the businesses like the Little Theatre, and access for older people. There’s little things we can tweak by feeding things back to the council and saying ‘maybe this would work better”.
Danny is planning to stand as an independent council candidate at next year’s election and says his interests are not political but instead about improving life for the community. He has previously spoken with former MP Damien Moore and then-Transport Secretary Chris Grayling about rail links and is now talking with current MP Patrick Hurley about cleaning up Southport and making it better for young people.
According to Danny, those who dismiss cycling and public transport are missing out on benefits they don’t realise.
“When I was growing up, it was either public transport or cycling. I would get the bus into town and my mum would get me to help carry the shopping for someone and give me 20p. That’s community and you lose that when you’re in a car.”
“I feel very strongly that our community is going. If you use public transport or you cycle, it improves not only your mental health but also contributes to fighting obesity as well. If you go from the house to the car to the shop, that does no favours for your mental health.”
He believes misinformation has been critical in building opposition to greater cycling provision and it critical of councillors who focus on fighting these schemes rather than trying to address other issues, suggesting it is done as a cheap way to gain popularity.
“I’m from Crossens and I’ve seen what Churchtown is like at 3pm with all the 4x4s. They’ve got to live within a certain mileage but they’re straight in the car then straight on the phone and straight on the Xboxes at home. If you let you children cycle, you have that conversation about how your day is and it’s so much better for you.
“When I’m walking around town and see someone, I’ll purposefully say hello to people. You don’t know if that’s the only conversation they’ll have all day. That’s what I’m talking about when I say community and if you’re only in a car you won’t have that.”
For cycling to remain viable though, the existing lanes must be prioritised as well as new ones.
“There’s got to be some sort of maintenance. There was recently work on the cycle lanes on the Formby Bypass and a lot was said about how much was spent on them. What’s interesting there and on the Tarleton Bypass is most people will say it’s not the tarmac, it’s the leaves and twigs and everything else blowing onto it that’s the problem.”
A Sefton Council spokesperson said: “We recognise the difficulty in keeping Coastal Cycle Paths clear of windblown sand and do routinely remove sand from them. It requires significant staff, machinery, and funding and continual effort to keep paths sand free. Following high winds during Storm Floris, many thousands of tonnes of soft sand has been blown up the coastline, and we have been working to clear what we can.
“We also have a routine weed spraying programme to help control weeds on the highway, including cycle paths. But, as the path along the Coast Road is close to the Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), weed spraying is not appropriate here. A manual weed removal process has been programmed, and this will commence in the coming weeks.
“The encroaching shrubbery on Town Lane is from private land and we are currently looking into enforcement powers to deal with this.
“Government funding for new cycle lanes is ringfenced and cannot be used for maintenance of existing cycle lanes. Our separate maintenance budget is used to maintain the whole highway network, including roads, footpaths and public rights of way. We have increased how much we spend on cycle lane maintenance this year to focus on sweeping and cutting back vegetation across Sefton for Cycling and Walking routes, and we will continue to review this as the network grows.
“Sefton Council is committed to make Sefton safe, friendly and inviting for cyclists, and are improving walking and cycling facilities across the borough, from improved junctions in Southport as part of the Southport Eastern Access scheme, and segregated cycle paths as part of the Maritime Corridor scheme. As well as this, Sefton Council will be consulting on their Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan, asking for views on improving walking and cycling routes across the borough.
A spokesperson for the LCRCA said: "We're working in partnership with local authorities to deliver 600 km of active travel routes across the city region. The Combined Authority has secured funding through CATF 2025/26 and is collaborating with councils, including Sefton, to develop a programme that confirms each authority’s requirements which could include essential maintenance.”
Recommended reading
🔥 Amnesty International has released analysis showing algorithms on X (aka Twitter) contributed to sharing misinformation and fuelling last year’s riots. Read more on The Independent.
🚨 From The Liverpool Echo, four people from Southport - including a well known photographer - have pleaded guilty to crimes relating to fraud and conterfeit goods.
📚 Lord Street’s new bookshop, wine bar and coffee lounge has an opening date. Details from Stand Up For Southport.
What’s On This Week: August 10-17
By Andrew Brown
The biggest independent flower show in the UK arrives in Southport this week!
Southport Flower Show will bring tens of thousands of visitors into town for four days of floral fun.
It’s part of a show-stopping August for the town, which also sees Southport Air Show taking place later this month.
Here’s what’s on in Southport between Sunday 10th August and Sunday 17th August 2025:
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