Extinction Rebellion builds pop-up cycle lane in Manchester
Fed up of council 'inaction', Extinction Rebellion has built a pop-up cycle lane in Manchester.
Cordoning off a part of the A56 Chester Road, activists within the global environmental movement used cones, signage and spray paint to create a separate cycling lane on the main road.
The temporary lane system is the product of frustration toward government failure to provide sufficient cycle infrastructure to help keep Mancunians safe and healthy during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to activists, Manchester City Council has continued to refuse to provide this kind of infrastructure despite millions of pounds being put on the table from the central government to enable councils to fund it.
One Extinction Rebellion campaigner, Jo, said: "I am appalled at Manchester City Council's inaction. This is a public health, social justice and an environmental issue".
Other activists feel that the pandemic has created a unique opportunity to create the kind of safer, cleaner streets that Mancunians are desperate to see, as well as reduce carbon emissions.
Commenting on the matter, Executive Member for the Environment, Planning and Transport, Councillor Angeliki Stogia, said: "We've already taken urgent steps to create more road space for people to travel on foot and bike, not least by creating a new temporary pedestrian and cycle zone on Deansgate".
While the local government are awaiting a decision on a £600,000 government-aid package to allow a quicker delivery of these eco-friendly schemes across Manchester, the unplanned interventions designed by environmental groups such as Extinction Rebellion will not be accepted, and cones have been removed from the roads.