Cycul

Sir Ian McKellen performing a monologue from Shakespeare’s Sir Thomas More on the Stephen Colbert show. Never have I heard this monologue performed with such a keen sense of prescience. Nor have I ever been in this exact historical moment.TY Sir Ian, for reaching us once again.
#Pinks #ProudBlue

DFI punched in the face over its active travel strategy… For two decades, the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) published unchallenged plans regarding its Active Travel strategies. Like Tyrell Biggs’ pre-fight plan to defeat Mike Tyson, their plans eventu...

“@niauditoffice.bsky.social did in 40 pages what MLAs failed to for 20 years – check whether @infrastructure-ni.gov.uk plans were anything other than wood pulp”
sluggerotoole.com/2026/01/31/d...

@otoolematthew.bsky.social @seamasbelfast.bsky.social @briansmyth99.bsky.social @erichanvey.bsky.social

Here's a summary…

bsky.app/profile/cycu...

A member of the public gallery speaks for all NI’s active travel stakeholders during @infrastructure-ni.gov.uk’s evidence session yesterday, on the damning Active Travel report by @niauditoffice.bsky.social

It was one #FacePalm after another for over an hour.

The @infrastructure-ni.gov.uk were at the @NIAInfra
committee today answering questions on the @niauditoffice.bsky.social recent report on Active Travel.
#ActiveTravelAuditNI

You can watch here: t.co/gPasFnfvEQ

Great line on #InducedDemand from @trafficintowns.bsky.social

“…any new road cut through a densely developed area will, as a drain cut across a sodden field fills with water, attract enough vehicles to justify its existence in terms of flow.”

#TrafficInTowns
trafficintowns.uk/index.php/bo...

Pantin in Paris already looks like this.
www.google.com/local/place/...

Pavement parking is ubiquitous in #Belfast (👏 city planners) but the utter selfishness of some drivers still manages to shock me.

My 6 year old just about managed to squeeze past this one but if I had a pram? Or a wheelchair? I’d be on the road at rush hour, put in danger so someone can park 😒

By 2030 Paris will have removed 70,000 parking spaces and replaced them with this…

The car centric nature really hobbled what could have been a transport hub – connected to Glider, cycle lanes etc.

Anyhow – DFI seem to be banking everything on a poster about yellow boxes and a podcast with 161 downloads. If we get another year like last year, it's going to be a rougher ride.

Without a footbridge/underpass to carry pedestrians and cyclists over/under Durham St. to the entrance/exit – how will the pedestrian crossing affect the traffic flow? It could possibly be the busiest crossing in Belfast.

“…a drain cut across a sodden field…”

bsky.app/profile/traf...

“Google is a highly promising newcomer, with a large database, an intelligent system of ranking hits by relevancy (popularity), and local cache access to pages that have disappeared since it's crawl or are otherwise unavailable. Check it out, as it looks set to become a future champ.”

@droghedacycling.bsky.social

@droghedacycling.bsky.social

Good to meet up with other cycle campaigners from across Ireland at the @irishcyclingcmpn.bsky.social “Crossing Borders Conference”in Drogheda - and thanks to Quay Cycles in Drogheda for the bike hire.

Great spin along the Boyne river in Drogheda with @irishcyclingcmpn.bsky.social
at the Cycling Across Borders: All Ireland Cycle Campaigners Conference.

Down at the “Cycling Across Borders: All Ireland Cycle Campaigners Conference” in Drogheda, organised by @IrishCycle

Hearing about all the new infrastructure projects underway in ROI is going to be a tough listen!

Great news - looks like something has shifted.

A beagle on a beach. The tide is out, the sun is shining, and the sky is a beautiful blue. Where would you rather be? #ShareTheShore is a hashtag adopted by local residents of Greenisland near Carrickfergus to campaign for access to our (i.e. owned by the Council) beach, that is currently closed off and inaccessible to residents who live a matter of metres away. We have to trespass or climb high forbidding fences just to access what is on our doorstep. We want residents and visitors to be able to experience the beauty of our shoreline, to be able to enjoy and care for our environment and neighbourhood. The benefits to physical and mental health, as well as a sense of community, are self-evident. Please visit the consultation, fill out the form, and say YES! Thank you! Oh, and share the heck out of this - we want as many people as possible to see this and #ShareTheShore https://www.midandeastantrim.gov.uk/things-to-do/parks/countryside-access/public-right-of-way

#ShareTheShore just got real! @meabc.bsky.social Mid&East Antrim Council have launched a consultation on opening up long-denied pedestrian access to our beautiful forbidden beach.
www.midandeastantrim.gov.uk/things-to-do... - please give your views (i.e. YES!!!).
Thanks, and please REPOST!

The Shipping Forecast

The Shipping Forecast

📷 Sally Castle (linocut)

#ott #offtopictuesday

I've been up to something. For many, it's not worth making a big deal of it. But for me, it's been a goal for a long time. I started commuter cycling from #collegeward. I think it makes sense to share this as my entry into the #weekwithoutdriving challenge.

cont… “could not be reasonably expected to deliver improved outcomes and may further damage stakeholder confidence in the Department’s ability to deliver modal shift.”

cont… “but not truly delivering increases in expenditure on the scale intended by the Act and expected by stakeholders. In our view, such an approach would be self-defeating in that simply reclassifying existing and ongoing expenditure lines…

cont… “There is a key risk that these revisions could create an impression of the Department’s actions not being within the spirit of the Act, and instead applying a window-dressing approach to comply with the Act…

cont… “These revised estimates have been developed internally by the Department, and were not subject to consultation or formal engagement with external stakeholders…

3.34 “The impact of including these new costs within the estimates of baseline active travel expenditure significantly decreases the additional investment needed to meet the Climate Change Act target compared to 2024 baseline estimates…

3.31 “Recent Departmental analysis indicates baseline annual annual expenditure on active travel has been £50 million.”

While not at the level originally intended, the projects which have been delivered to date have still required substantial investment... The evidence available does not demonstrate that the investment made has materially improved cycling rates.” Northern Ireland Audit Office