Doubt has been cast over the Middlesbrough Mayor’s pledge to remove a controversial cycle lane as he maintained his wish to do so.
Conservative Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen claims Labour Mayor Chris Cooke has ditched his promise to remove the controversial scheme on Linthorpe Road.
Cllr Cooke, who made the pledge as part of his election campaign, insists it remains his ambition but they don’t have the finances “at the moment”.
During his May election campaign, Cllr Cooke branded the cycle path an absolute disaster and claimed it had caused nothing but injury and mayhem. He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “I still want to see the cycle lane removed to address the concerns of local people and businesses.
“The cycle lane was built using funding from the Tees Valley Combined Authority, but we would need to spend Middlesbrough Council money to remove it – money that we don’t have at the moment given the financial situation we have inherited.”
As reported, Middlesbrough Council is battling to plug a multi-million pound funding black hole. Licence fees, parking and several service charges will increase from December while assets being sold include TeesAMP business park, the Viewley Centre in Hemlington, Middlesbrough House and Middlesbrough Municipal Golf Centre.
“We must focus on stabilising the Council’s finances and that means prioritising other things over the next year, but I hope that Ben Houchen will join with me in listening to local people and businesses and working to resolve this issue,” said Cllr Cooke. “There has to be a better way of promoting cycling in the town.”
The cycle lane cost £1.7m to install and the funding came from a £310m transport pot distributed by the Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA). The scheme was approved under former Independent mayor Andy Preston and Cllr Cooke later said the fees to get rid of it were a “necessary cost”.
Mr Houchen said: “It is not my responsibility to fund Middlesbrough Council U-turns and, while it’s flattering that Chris Cooke wants me to deliver his election promise that he seems incapable of delivering, he should just be honest with the people of Middlesbrough, come clean and apologise for ditching his promise to remove this cycle lane.
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I’d urge the Middlesbrough Mayor to explain to people what his plans for Middlesbrough are, other than flip-flopping on his very, very simple election pledge.”
Following the installation of the lane in 2022, figures showed there was an increase in cycle journeys along the stretch when comparing figures from the same months the previous year. However the scheme also faced major backlash as there were a number of pedestrian accidents and some businesses reported a loss of custom.
Gareth Stobart from Linthorpe Property Management told the Local Democracy Reporting Service the cycle lane was a “misuse of funds”. He said it had caused two of its leased commercial units to close their businesses due to lack of parking, especially for disabled customers.
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