A cycle campaign group has welcomed plans to replace biking lanes in Perth city centre.
Council chiefs removed a designated cycle route on Tay Street as part of a major parking shake-up aimed at luring more shoppers into the area.
The move, which saw the creation of 26 new parking bays at the riverside, was a direct response to complaints by worried shopkeepers in the wake of department store McEwens’ collapse.
Earlier this year, local protest group ByCycle criticised the council move and threatened to stage a protest ride through Perth.
Next week, councillors will be asked to approve a possible compromise, which would see a footpath on the river side of Tay Street to be opened for both pedestrians and cyclists.
In a report to the enterprise and infrastructure committee, traffic and network manager Charles Haggart said: “The council has received a number of concerns from both cyclists and cycling groups regarding road safety for cyclists using Tay Street following removal of the designated cycle lane.
“In order to improve road safety for cyclists in Tay Street, the council has considered the use of an adjacent footpath as a shared-use facility.”
However, Mr Haggart will advise councillors not to raise the height of the bridge parapet along the cycle route even though it falls short of the recommended height as stated in Transport Scotland’s official guidance, known as Cycling By Design.
There are parts of the wall taller than the desired 1.4 metres but there are other sections just under one metre.
Mr Haggart said: “The guidance allows a departure from standards where there is existing informal use, where the path is segregated or where future use of the path will be monitored for a period of 12 months.”
He also points out that a wall at a cycle route in Riverside Drive, Dundee, is as low as 0.7m in some sections.
He said there was already an “informal shared use” of the route and that the changes would be monitored.
“It would not be cost effective to increase the height of the wall,” he said.
ByCycle secretary Katharine Melville said: “The solution of a shared path would satisfy us and obviate the need for a demonstration.
“My only concern is when this would happen. This proposal was mooted at the previous meeting when the vote for increased parking provision took place.”
