Could Dundee become a cycling city to rival Paris?

Does Dundee have the ambition to be a cycling city to rival Paris? If you’re a die-hard car driver, you might want to look away now.

“The difference is the attitude of the drivers, never mind the infrastructure,” says Alasdair Chisholm.

Alasdair, 66, is chairman of Dundee Thistle Cycling Club, founded in the city nearly a century ago.

Like many keen cyclists I have spoken to, he cannot wait until Dundee City Council’s plans for six new cycle routes become a reality.

But he says a change in mindset is required if Dundee is to embrace a cycling transformation.

Could Dundee’s cycling transformation rival Paris?

If you want to see how a city can transform its cycling infrastructure, take a look at what’s happening in Paris.

Between 2014 and 2021, Paris authorities created more than 180 miles of new cycle routes.

They plan to add another 112 miles – that’s 180km – by 2026.

Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo has unveiled plans to make the city “100% cyclable”.

But some local cyclists we spoke to feared a lack of ambition could see Dundee’s six new cycle routes take at least a decade to become a reality.

The plans will mean reconfiguring major arteries including the Perth Road, Arbroath Road and Lochee Road.

This will inevitably involve tearing out car parking spaces to make way for those on two wheels.

Alasdair believes there is a perception in Scotland that cyclists are a “nuisance”.

And he said public opinion could be a barrier to progressing the plans.

“I think drivers think roads were built for cars, so they could go places fast.

“They don’t recognise other road users have a right to be on the road.

“In Europe, you probably can say ‘let’s get this done fast’ because there’s already that culture of acceptance in Europe about cyclists.

“You’ll find that in Spain and France, they give you more time, they give you more space.”

When will the work start in Dundee?

At the moment, we can’t say when the work will start on Dundee’s ‘active freeways’ as the council calls them.

Plans are in the early stages.

So far consultants Sweco have drawn up cycling routes along Perth Road, Arbroath Road, Strathmartine Road, Pitkerro Road and Harefield Road.

Jacobs has proposed routes for Coupar Angus Road/Lochee.

Council officials are currently looking through responses to the recent consultation on these routes.

A council spokesperson said the next steps would be designing preferred routes and holding a further consultation in 2023.

Alasdair would like to see the routes built as soon as possible.

But he said the council needs time to plan them properly.

“It’s great and we need it. We need it to make people feel safe cycling.

“It needs to be followed through with not just a well designed route, but it has to be a well maintained route, and well signposted and all those kind of things.”

He added that the council would have to ensure cars could not park on the cycle lanes.

“Down in Broughty Ferry, they put in that nice cycle path at the front, and people were parking on it. There were vans parked on it.

“It needs to be structured in the sense that you can’t actually get access to it unless you’re on a bike.”

‘Brilliant’ but forum calls for a timescale

Donald Baddon from Dundee Cycling Forum described the active freeways plans as “brilliant”.

He added: “The six active freeways are very welcome. It’s all very positive.

“But what we’re saying is in Paris they’re going to do another 180km in four years.

“So it shouldn’t be beyond Dundee to get three routes in something like two or three years, not over a decade.”

Donald does not believe funding will be an issue.

Scottish Government agency Transport Scotland recently unveiled its latest Strategic Transport Projects Review.

Active travel features highly.

The document lists the benefits of investing in safe cycle routes – everything from improving health and tackling inequality to supporting economic growth and addressing climate change.

“The funding should be there to do this. So if you’re going to do it, don’t turn it into a 10 year or 20 year activity.

“The biggest thing missing really, is they don’t have any timetables for anything really.”

Why Dundee is one of the ‘best places’ if you’re cycling

For more than a decade Stephen King, 63, braved commuting by bike in London.

He has now lived in Dundee for 20 years and praises his home city as one of the best places to cycle in Scotland.

You can already get from Invergowrie into Dundee mostly off-road. Heading east, there is now a scenic off-road route all the way to Broughty Ferry, which will soon stretch to Monifieth.

“I think it has got one of the biggest potentials of any Scottish city,” said Stephen.

“The cycling, 20 minutes out of the city, is just phenomenal.

“People come from down south to visit me and I take them for a little bike ride. They’re like, this is your back yard?

“And I say this is the lovely Tay, and it’s beautiful.

“I think it’s one of the best places to cycle.”

Stephen said when people think about cycling cities, Amsterdam always springs to mind.

However, back in the 1960s, things were rather different in the Dutch city.

In fact, cycling was deemed rather radical.

In 1960s Amsterdam, Luud Schimmelpennink came up with the ‘White Bicycle Plan’; the world's first bike-sharing program.

His thoughts inspired programs around the world, but he is seldom credited for his ideas that eventually transformed urban transport.https://t.co/F9E9OZwHaC pic.twitter.com/ZRAKc2jG1f

— Dutch Cycling Embassy (@Cycling_Embassy) July 31, 2020

A group of activists under the name ‘Provo’ launched what was called the White Bicycle Plan, with the aim of leaving free bikes in the street for the public to use.

The idea was rejected by the authorities at the time, but has been credited with inspiring Europe’s cycle-friendly urban infrastructure.

Stephen said: “If you go back, they had a huge push back from their local people.

“They had big arguments and battles with local people about putting all these cycling things into place.

“Of course now, decades later, everybody just accepts it.”

The challenge now is making Dundee’s cycle route plans “exciting to people that don’t cycle”.