£200 per metre

[ColinJ]

If it is the Rochdale canal towpath (which looks likely) then I hope that plan includes bike-friendly 'bridges' over the many cobbled overflow spillways which dump surplus water from the canal into the river Calder below. Currently, there is only one wide enough to cycle over. The footbridges are so narrow that they are difficult to walk a bike over.

Riding over the cobbles on a mountain bike is not too bad except after heavy rain when there can be torrents of water pouring down. Narrower tyres can jam in the gaps between the stones. Even my CX bike's 35mm tyres have problems. I have had several near misses recently.

The original resurfacing was finished off with gravel which was just horrible to cycle on, especially so close to deep(ish) water! It didn't last long though before most of it had ended up at the side of the path or in the canal.

I am sure that the gravel had been intended to slow cyclists down. The path is narrow in many places so if the surface is to be improved then there needs to be more room for faster cyclists to pass pedestrians and anglers.

I can foresee clashes in the future between dog walkers and fast-moving cyclists though!

 

[ColinJ]

Last time I was on the Rochdale canal, the towpath was in fairly poor condition. They'll not only have to addresses the bits you've flagged but, I would think, do quite a bit of remediation work.

Yes - bits of it were washed away by floods and have already been repaired but there are other bits where mooring pegs have pulled away large chunks of soil, that kind of thing.

It could be a very nice way to get up and down the Calder Valley once it is done. It is part of the Calder Valley Greenway.

 

[srw]

Has @classic33 been back, or has he done his usual vanishing trick when challenged?

Certainly a need to make bridges safe and repair flood damage would make the cost look even more modest.