Manchester City Council has addressed concerns about new cycle lanes that have been installed through the Northern Quarter.
New road markings and concrete bollards have been installed along the newly-pedestrianised Thomas Street and already, cyclists are making use of the new road layout.
But in the first few days of the cycle lane provision being operational, people were sharing videos of a few teething issues, including cars driving down the road, people blocking the lanes, and broken glass littering the street.
Others have said that the road markings at the end of John Street, which are one-way markings despite it leading onto a pedestrian and cycle zone, are confusing.
The junction of John StreetThe flat-topped bollards that people are using as benches
The council has said that they are ‘pleased with how new cycle schemes are being implemented’ but stressed that people need to ‘use their common sense’ for pedestrians, cyclists and cars to integrate seamlessly.
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In one video viewed tens of thousands of times on Twitter, Harry Gray shared a live tour of cycling along the new route, which featured a taxi trying to reverse back from Thomas Street on to John Street after taking a wrong turn.
Absolutely no enforcement of pedestrian and cycle zone with cars backing up to reverse out pic.twitter.com/gPbUjGTOUQ
He also posted a row of cars mistakenly driving into the pedestrian and cycle zone and having to reverse back out.
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Temporary signage has since been installed on Back Turner Street and John Street to tackle the issue of cars entering the area.
A spokesperson for the council said: “It is clearly signposted that this road is no entry and drivers who enter it are committing a traffic offence. It would be unfair to lay the blame of poor driving towards the Council. However, temporary signage has been installed this week to help this bedding in process.”
While the new cycle lanes are of a standard width, the busy nature of Thomas Street means that pedestrians are often sharing the space too.
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I want to say a few things about the new cycle paths in Manchester's Northern Quarter, primarily along Thomas Street. I've heard few negative comments, so let’s take a look. [1/10] pic.twitter.com/RONW6icfau
The council said: “There are pavements on both sides of Thomas Street, however as it is a busy public space we would expect all road users, including cyclists to be respectful of people’s space and travel through the area slowly and carefully.
“The Council has done everything in its power to clearly demarcate where cycle lanes are, but only so much can be done and we are not able to prevent people walking where they please.”
Councillor Tracey Rawlins, Executive Member for Environment and Transport, said: “We’re pleased with how new cycle schemes across the city are being implemented. This is part of a wider drive by the Council to put walking and cycling at the heart of future transport policy.
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“As part of our city centre transport strategy we want 90% of journeys carried out via walking, cycling or public transport by 2040, so schemes like this are playing a vital part of achieving that goal.
“But, for it to work we need people to adapt to changes when they occur, follow the rules of the road and above all use their common sense to prevent the system being blocked up. We’ll be working with all concerned parties going forward to make sure that pedestrians, cyclists and cars can integrate seamlessly into our travel network.”
Featured image: The Manc Group
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Luxury Manchester gym Blok confirms permanent closure after weeks of uncertainty
Daisy Jackson
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Blok Manchester has announced its permanent closure, weeks after the doors to the premium fitness facility mysteriously closed.
Around a fortnight ago, members began to arrive to their classes to find the gym on Ducie Street locked up and a forfeiture notice on the door – but at the time, Blok said that it was fighting to reopen.
Sadly, in an email sent to members today, its founder has confirmed that the studio is now permanently closed.
Blok – which has several very successful sites down in London – said that its relationship with its landlord has ‘broken down to a point where trust has been lost’.
The gym wrote that it’s been left with ‘no workable way forward’.
They said: “BLOK Manchester was a space built by our loyal and dedicated community. Whether you joined us for one class or one hundred, we are deeply grateful. You helped create something genuinely special in an incredible city.”
In the immediate future, they said they’ll be supporting the team of fantastic trainers who worked here, as well as looking after members.
Members will be contacted within a few hours with options and refunds owed.
Blok Manchester has announced its permanent closure. Credit: The Manc Group
CEO and founder Ed Stanbury said: “While this marks the end of a chapter, we don’t see it as the end of our story in Manchester. We’re already speaking with developers about potential future sites and remain committed to returning to the city when the time is right.
“Thank you for being part of our story so far. Let’s shape the future of wellness. The mission continues.”
Commenting on Blok’s Instagram post – its first in almost a fortnight – people have been sharing their sadness at the closure of its Manchester site.
One person wrote: “beautiful space, beautiful staff and beautiful community.”
Another said: “Sending love to all the instructors !! :(((( gutted”
Someone else commented: “THE BEST CLASSES. I’m gutted.”
‘The average cost of a pint’ in the UK by region, according to the latest data
Danny Jones
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Does it feel like pints keep getting more and more expensive almost every week at this point? Yes. Yes, it does, and while you can’t expect a city as big as Manchester to be one of the cheapest places to get one in the UK, we do often wonder how it compares to other parts of the country.
Well, as it happens, someone has recently crunched the numbers for us across the nation, breaking down which regions pay the most and the least for their pints.
The data has been examined by business management consultancy firm, CGA Strategy, using artificial intelligence and information from the latest Retail Price Index figures to find out what the ‘average cost of a pint’ is down south, up North and everywhere in between.
While the latest statistics provided by the group aren’t granular enough to educate us on Greater Manchester’s pint game exactly, we can show you how our particular geographic region is looking on the leaderboard at the moment.
That’s right, we Mancunians and the rest of the North West are technically joint mid-table when it comes to the lowest average cost of a pint, sharing the places from 3rd to 8th – according to CGA, anyway.
Powered by consumer intelligence company, NIQ (NielsenIQ) – who also use AI and the latest technology to deliver their insights – we can accept it might seem like it’s been a while since you’ve paid that little for a pint, especially in the city centre, but these are the stats they have published.
Don’t shoot the messenger, as they say; unless, of course, they’re trying to rob you blind for a bev. Fortunately, we’ve turned bargain hunting at Manchester bars into a sport at this point.
We might not boast the lowest ‘average’ pint cost in the UK, but we still have some bloody good places to keep drinking affordable.
London tops the charts (pretends to be shocked)
While some of you may have scratched your eyes at the supposed average pint prices here in the North West, it won’t surprise any of you to see that London leads the way when it came to the most expensive pint when it came to average cost in the UK.
To be honest, £5.44 doesn’t just sound cheap but virtually unheard of these days.
CGA has it that the average cost of a beer in the British capital is actually down 15p from its price last September, but as we all know, paying upwards of £7 for a pint down that end of the country is pretty much par for the course the closer you get to London.
Yet more reason you can be glad you live around here, eh? And in case you thought you were leaving this article with very little, think again…
Daisy Jackson -
31st July 2022 
