Solar-powered safety lighting breaks new ground

19 November 2008

Manchester is to trial solar-powered ground lights, designed to demarcate cycling space after dark, on one of its busiest arterial roads.

The trial forms part of the city council’s cycling strategy, which has seen funding for schemes almost double since 2005, to almost £600,000 this year.

Although already in evidence in Peterborough, Manchester will be the first major UK city to introduce the lights, which will be rolled out in two parts on the Wilmslow Road. If the trial proves successful, they will be extended across the city. Raised paths will also be introduced along the road.

The council has also introduced off-road ‘quiet routes’ for cyclists, which run parallel to Wilmslow Road on university land, parks, and residential streets.

So far, results have been encouraging, with cycling casualties in 2007 down 39.5% on the average figures for 1989-1993. Child cycle casualties dropped by 60.5% over the same period.

But Cllr Emily Lomax, Manchester City Council’s lead member on cycling, said one of the main barriers confronting cyclists was perception of safety, but the new measures had increased confidence. ‘We are certainly getting there, in terms of a critical mass of cyclists,’ she said.

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