The Stirling Council Sustainable Transport team is developing proposals for the Dunblane to Causewayhead active travel route.
Flora Chirnside, Senior Active Travel Project Manager will attend the April CC Meeting (7.30pm Allan Centre)
A consultation survey on the concept design for the Bridge of Allan to Causewayhead section is now open, until 31 May 2025.
The survey is on the engage stirling website : https://engage.stirling.gov.uk/en-GB/projects/causewayhead-to-bridge-of-allan
The North Active Travel website page includes ideas for the Bridge of Allan to Dunblane section. The community may submit ideas/thoughts by adding a comment on their map: https://engage.stirling.gov.uk/en-GB/projects/bridge-of-allan-to-dunblane
As a local parent with kids at BofA primary it would be great if we could look at options to improve the safety of cycling, wheeling and walking from down Forglen Road and Pullar Ave to maximise the benefits of the proposals for Kier Street.
It would make cycling to the primary school much easier.
I agree! One thing that would help I think would be preventing drivers from parking in ways (such as on corners) that block lines of sight for walkers and cyclists.
My biggest concern is the lack of cycle access from Causewayhead to the manor loan roundabout – that to me is the priority because once you get there then you have fantastic access to the Clackmannan cycle routes which are brilliant for a cautious cyclist but getting to them form Stirling is scary, problematic and dangerous
Keir Street plans should be less about cycling provision and more about reducing the speed and volume of traffic. The result of this would mean pedestrians (especially those to and from schools) and cyclists would be safer. It was interesting to hear direct from the Primary school parent council at the last Community Council meeting who were campaigning for the retention of the lollipop man over safety concerns for their children due to speeding traffic. I fear the irony was completely lost however, as so many of the speeding cars are large, Range Rover type vehicles driven by the very people who would endorse and tout the primary school’s ‘walk to school policy’. As such, the 20mph limit is blatantly ignored all the time, but much more so at either end of the school day. Because of this, the traffic calming and restrictions along Keir Street are desperately needed to dissuade driving and encourage walking/cycling.
Speeding and the huge number of cars using Keir Street as a through road means that the traffic calming measures are really needed in an effort to make things safer for both pedestrians and cyclists. I think the preconceptions of ‘cycle lane’ mean people automatically think of the big changes on Causewayhead road. From the plans, it seems Keir Street will not be reduced in width with a dedicated cycleway, just designated as such with traffic calming measures to reduce speeding. As drivers do not seem able to adhere to the 20mph limit at the moment, this seems like a step in the right direction to ensure safety of all road users.
The main objective appears to be providing a safe route for all road users including cyclists, pedestrians and vehicular traffic and, as such, should be supported.
Routing cyclists along Keir Street makes much more sense than trying to make provision on Henderson Street where width is restricted and there is more commercial traffic, buses and trucks. Narrowing the carriageway at the entrance to Keir Street, incorporating speed bumps plus raised junctions as far along as Fountain Road is a sensible solution. This will reduce the speed and volume of traffic, encouraging safer walking and cycling.
Keir Street is a main access route for school children going to and coming from both Bridge of Allan Primary and Wallace High Schools and safety should be a priority.
The article in the Stirling Observer is a bit misleading. Councillor Heald appears to be misinterpreting the proposals for the Active Travel route through Bridge of Allan. He cites the potential negative impact on retailers in the village by using Keir Street rather than Henderson Street.
Had he looked more closely at the proposals, he would see that the marked route stops at Fountain Road so cyclists would then re-join Henderson Street. The only commercial premises they would have missed would be Dominos Pizza – all other shops and cafes would still be on their route (plus The Hideaway on Fountain Road which they would normally not pass), so there should be no negative impact on retailers.
Surely safety should be more important and traffic calming along Keir Street makes this safer for all road users, especially children, encouraging them to walk or cycle to school. Currently, Keir Street is plagued by speeding traffic which must be controlled. The 20 limit is not observed, so using speed humps and raised junctions appears to be an elegant solution, making everything safer without impacting parking provision or access