Stirling’s excellent cycle lanes

Stirling has been putting this infrastructure in place for the last few years.
In this video I check out the centre to Forth valley college route that passes by the very picturesque Stirling castle.
Then I check out the train station to Stirling university route. This one goes over the old Stirling bridge and passes the Wallace monument as well as Wallace high school on it’s way to the university.
I’ve been wanting to make a video here from when the infrastructure at the train station was completed in 2023 and every time I’ve visited there has been even more added on.
Shoutout to @andrewjambo1 for reminding/prompting me to get on this.

Had a great time in Stirling filming this one and I will go back up as there was some older shared use cycle path that I filmed that didn’t make this video. Also want to look at the areas to the south of the city as these areas are possibly in more need of cycling infrastructure.

Hope you guys enjoy this as much as I did making it.

some info on this project

Walk, Cycle, Live Stirling

Wallace monument page
https://www.nationalwallacemonument.com/

Stirling Castle
https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/stirling-castle/

bit heavy breathing cuz I had declined my hope to get here. And hello, I’m in Sterling today and I’m going to explore some of the new and old cycle lanes that are in and around this city. It’s a city now, isn’t it? Pretty sure it is. I’ve just in this graveyard cemetery just across the road from the castle looking glorious and Sterling has actually invested a lot a lot has been invested into the cycle lanes in Sterling over the last few years. So quite excited to try out these weirits and get some good shots, show you guys what it’s like to cycle here. And without further ado, let’s get moving. I head downhill through this old part of the city that seeped in history over cobbled roads and passing ancient buildings. So, this is where the time trials took place for the UCI World Cycling Championships 2023. And that hill I just cycled down was part of it to get to the finish line. I’m pretty sure could be corrected on that one. Thank you for cycling. From here I cycle along to my starting point for today just along Dumbartan Road and down Upper Craigs to the Craigs roundabout. I am just here to check out two cycling routes that have been that are relatively new. Been here for a while. Um, and I’m just I’m in the middle of a roundabout just now. This is a sort of roundabout you would see in a place like East Coal, Dervin. I just find this roundabout fascinating. I love it when there’s really well landscaped and cycle paths going through for walking and cycling right through the middle. And it mean these underpasses, it’s actually quite good for cycling. And I’m glad that places like this are using these facilities and turning it into a cycle way. So, we’re going to head on one of the cycle routes and check that out. So, I’m going to start here at Craig’s roundabout, head upper Craigs onto Dumbartan Road, and then Albert Place. The first route that I’m trying out today is the Fourth Valley College route. And this one goes from the center of the city to Fourth Valley College. Oh, one gear. I definitely wasn’t ready for the steepness of this ramp going up from the underpass. That’s a leg workout. From here, I head up Well Green Road and onto Upper Craigs with excellent counterflow cycle lane. This takes me to the lights. And when through the lights we are on Dumbartan Road that book ends Albert Place. Albert Place has 20 mph restrictions as well as a cobble design and bikes painted on the road that for the most part seems to keep traffic slow. Once you get to the end of Albert Place, you join a birectional cycle lane that gives an opportunity to cycle separated from traffic and enjoy the great view of the very impressive Sterling Castle. As we travel along the side of Dumbartan Road and then Replo [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] [Music] I’m just Well, there’s a tin foil ballards here, but I’m I’m just admiring the way that they’re set up. To give you an example, if you’re coming off the road here, you’ve got this gap that let you get through on your bike quite like that. And then when you’re joining the road, you’ve got to be a we bit more careful cuz you’re merging with traffic. That’s pretty cool. I like that. [Music] and you got this we bit to help you marge merge back onto the road. Also safe in my opinion for coming off the road if you’re traveling up this way. Even with those twists and turns, we are still on RapLock Road. And this traffic cam section could have had cycle lanes on both sides. There’s plenty of room. Further along, we turn on to Drip Road and this takes us to our destination. This takes you to Fourth Valley College, which is great cuz it helps people that are studying here travel cheaper. Although I’m going to have a we look to see if I can find bicycle parking facilities here. The cycle racks are just at the other side of this white fence. Not only do they have cycle racks, they also have secure cycle lockers. Even better, the college also has changing facilities, shower facilities, and haird dryers. There are also lead rides as well as bike maintenance days with Dr. Bike and emergency maintenance kits available at reception. The college applied to Cycling UK’s Cycle Access Fund and were awarded £18,768 [Music] to purchase cycles and equipment. This has enabled the college to have cycle sharing schemes such as bike libraries, pool cycles, bike subscription schemes, loan cycles, and bike share schemes. I’ve headed back into the town center and after going through the precinct, I then try to use this counterflow cycle lane that a van is parked on. This creates a dangerous situation as it’s impossible to see around it. Halfway down the street and this counter lane just stops. I probably should have jumped onto the pavement here as this person just drives towards me. The signs and markings for cyclists don’t seem clear here and these situations pose a real threat to vulnerable Euro users. After what can be best described as a scrimmage, I finally make it to the start of the next route. Sterling train station was constructed in 1915 by James Miller. It’s a category A-listed building that uses circular spaces and flowing curves. Similar to Miller’s much celebrated Williams Bay station with connections to Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, Aberdeen, and Inesse, the station sees around 235 trains a day passing through. With so many direct connections to other cities in Scotland, Sterling Station is in an ideal situation to have good cycling links. Also, as well as having great infrastructure to get to the station, there is really good bicycle parking for when you get there. Yeah. So, this is pretty cool. Cycle racks are pretty full and it’s always good to see um cycling infrastructure like this get put in place. This means it’s successful because people are cycling to the train station and then getting the train to wherever they need to go. This is a model that works in the Netherlands and it’s great that Strands and Sterling Council have put this in place because it works. It’s as simple as that. There is a few bikes here that look like they’ve maybe been dumped, but you can’t tell. Um, and there’s signs there, so they must actually monitor. There’s helmets attached to everything. This is just great. This is what I like to see. Uh more of this in places, other towns and cities in Scotland, please. And the public realm in front of the station is top notch. There’s even space over here for cargo bikes. We’ll have a quick look at them. How good is that? And I believe there’s other space around here for cargo bikes as well. Superb. I would say going through the town center there was a bit sketchy. Didn’t know where I was supposed to be, but I’ll go back through that way on the way home all the way back to where I started to see how I got on there. So, let’s follow this path and see where it takes us. This route is a station to university route and it goes from Sterling Train Station over the old bridge to Wallace High School and Sterling University. From the train station, we head along Goosecraftoft Road. Here we have excellent segregation with well marked space for cyclists crossing junctions. At this point, it becomes Kuan Street. And on this stretch, we have a floating bus stop as well as one setback from the road further along. I think both work well. [Music] The road then becomes Lower Bridge Street and a bit further along Baka Hill Road. We then reach this roundabout going right to the Pelican Crossing. At the roundabout, we cross over Drip Road. From here, the cycle lane meanders down towards and then over the historic Sterling Bridge. [Music] Sterling old bridge in its present form was built either in the 1400s or 1500s. It replaced a succession of timber bridges, one of which was the site of the battle of Sterling Bridge in 1297 when Sir William Wallace and Sir Andrew Murray defeated Edward the first forces. Today, the bridge is one of the best examples of a medieval masonry arch bridge in Scotland. This surface is definitely more suited to a gravel or mountain bike. Take a right just as you get off the bridge to join the cycle path that will carry on over the lights onto Cosway Head Road. The birectional lane is quite wide for a good stretch of this road. There is a pinch point further along that has no markings as well as a bus stop. Although the path tightens here, I think the space is well marked out with enough room for all users to work it out amongst themselves. Further along, the route turns off Cosway Head Road onto Dumyat Road. The segregated cycle lane stops about 100 yards along. Here we cross over and onto Dunster Road. This is a nice residential street that seems to be a quiet way that has traffic cam measures in place. The National Wallace Monument was built in 1869. It took 8 years to build at a cost of £18,000. That would be around 1.8 million today. The tower is 67 m high, sits on top of Abby Craig, and has excellent views across the city. The tower commemorates William Wallace and is open to the public for an admission fee. There are three exhibition rooms within the tower containing artifacts that are believed to have belonged to Wallace. One of these is a 5ft long sword weighing almost 3 kg. There are 246 steps to the viewing tower platform. [Music] Before you get to the end of Dunster Road, we turn left onto avenue and right further along and this segregated cycle lanes takes us past Wallace High School. The lane then follows Afrey Road eventually phasing back to painted bike lanes just as you reach Sterling University and the end of this route. And the good thing about this is they’ve got the Santan terikes outside, rental bikes. And I think that’s it for just now for me to say is thanks for watching. Remember to like and subscribe. That helps me honor and see you next time. Cool sculpture made of records. Shady wy [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Why [Music] heat? Heat. Heat. [Music]