A good response from First Bus

[wiggydiggy]

Had a look round Youtube and haven't seen any Leeds buses behaving badly round cyclists lately,which is a very good thing i think.

Cycle up Woodhouse Lane past the university and you see some, idiot bus drivers and silly cyclists

 

[Leedsbusdriver]

Cycle up Woodhouse Lane past the university and you see some, idiot bus drivers and silly cyclists

Indeed,but weirdly it seems to work somehow

 

[Chris-H]

That is shocking,absolutely no regard for your safety which as a professional driver she has an obligation under the health and safety at work act to adhere to,you in esence were in her place of work ie: the public highway and as such she would have been trained in that respect before being allowed behind the wheel.Unfortunatly she'll no doubt be behind the wheel after the disciplinary as well.Its bloody handy you had it on film as evidence as no doubt without it the reply might've been different.

 

[davefb]

good GRIEF that first bit is close...

its about 2 years since I last cycled down there,, nice to see they've fixed the manholes... NOT...

Daftly narrow bit of road as well..

 

[Rancid]

Ekkkkkk
i think you remained very composed.
i cant say i would have been so polite to the driver.

 

[dodd82]

I had an unbelievably close pass by a bus last night - didn't scare me as much as I'd have expected, but weirdly as the bus came up alongside me, I made eye contact with the driver. The step was so close I could have stepped onto it with ease.

He moved out a little, but I was shocked at what he'd done.

It was dark and not possible to get his reg plate - but it was a truly awful piece of driving.

 

[pixiepie]

Hey, that's Bolton road at The Height! That's where I live! Anyways, the two closest passes I've experienced on my commute have been from First bus, however, I don't have a camera and am not sure I want to go that far. Both times it's happened to me it has been male drivers so that means there's at least 3 drivers on the 36/37 that aren't giving cyclists enough room (I very much doubt they one one-offs).

 

[MrHappyCyclist]

Hey, that's Bolton road at The Height! That's where I live! Anyways, the two closest passes I've experienced on my commute have been from First bus, however, I don't have a camera and am not sure I want to go that far. Both times it's happened to me it has been male drivers so that means there's at least 3 drivers on the 36/37 that aren't giving cyclists enough room (I very much doubt they one one-offs).

Much more than 3 of them, believe me. Since you live there, I'd like to ask your opinion on something. As you know, Bolton Rd runs parallel to a 50mph dual carriageway, so really should be considered an access road. I have a disproportionate amount of trouble along there on my 25 mile round trip commute. With the shops there, there are quite a few pedestrians, and the school results in many youngsters crossing the road. How would you, and other residents, feel about having the speed limit reduced to 20mph on Bolton Rd?

 

[pixiepie]

Much more than 3 of them, believe me. Since you live there, I'd like to ask your opinion on something. As you know, Bolton Rd runs parallel to a 50mph dual carriageway, so really should be considered an access road. I have a disproportionate amount of trouble along there on my 25 mile round trip commute. With the shops there, there are quite a few pedestrians, and the school results in many youngsters crossing the road. How would you, and other residents, feel about having the speed limit reduced to 20mph on Bolton Rd?

I agree, it's a terrible stretch. In fact, I won't even use it; when I'm commuting to Swinton I go down Elleray which runs parallel and just cross Bolton Road at King Street to go over the A6 and then head down to the subway. I do think the whole stretch needs calming... the parking bays help to some degree as cars have to slow down to anticipate people backing out without looking but at the same time, I worry that someone will back out while someone's overtaking and make a cyclist sandwich of me! So yes, I think a 20mph limit would be a good idea and I'd be surprised if other residents didn't support it.

However, I believe the path on the north side is going to widened and turned into a shared pathway for the whole stretch some time in the near future, which, if done properly should be a really good solution to the problem along there. I'd be interested to know what you think.

 

[Lp4k3]

That's absolutely disgusting!!!

 

[tadpole]

I had two passes today, ok maybe not as close when over taking but as close to my arse before they overtook, then a quick cut into a bus stop to pick up before trying to squeeze past me at a pinch point.
First Bus Bristol not so hot in my Humble opinion.

 

[400bhp]

I agree, it's a terrible stretch. In fact, I won't even use it; when I'm commuting to Swinton I go down Elleray which runs parallel and just cross Bolton Road at King Street to go over the A6 and then head down to the subway. I do think the whole stretch needs calming... the parking bays help to some degree as cars have to slow down to anticipate people backing out without looking but at the same time, I worry that someone will back out while someone's overtaking and make a cyclist sandwich of me! So yes, I think a 20mph limit would be a good idea and I'd be surprised if other residents didn't support it.

However, I believe the path on the north side is going to widened and turned into a shared pathway for the whole stretch some time in the near future, which, if done properly should be a really good solution to the problem along there. I'd be interested to know what you think.

As an aside, I'm originally from Swinton and my dad still lives there. Where do you work? (appreciate you might not want to give that info out on a public forum)

You've probably heard of my extended family too

 

[davefb]

Much more than 3 of them, believe me. Since you live there, I'd like to ask your opinion on something. As you know, Bolton Rd runs parallel to a 50mph dual carriageway, so really should be considered an access road. I have a disproportionate amount of trouble along there on my 25 mile round trip commute. With the shops there, there are quite a few pedestrians, and the school results in many youngsters crossing the road. How would you, and other residents, feel about having the speed limit reduced to 20mph on Bolton Rd?

tbh I think a problem is that bolton rd is a good cut thru, so whilst 20 might help, it's still a rat-run road with that mentality....

When going into manchester, do you go straight on for the mental 'shared use' stuff under the roundabout , past the police station ? or just go right on the roundabout ? I tried both, neither I really liked .. the shared use annoyed me because it proves there's space for a nice cycle lane to avoid some junctions, but that it has barriers at some points .

 

[MrHappyCyclist]

However, I believe the path on the north side is going to widened and turned into a shared pathway for the whole stretch some time in the near future, which, if done properly should be a really good solution to the problem along there. I'd be interested to know what you think.

It's hard to say without seeing the scheme, but my first reaction is one of horror. I tend to average just short of 20mph along there at the moment (riding very wide past the school buses). Trying to do that in a morning along a shared use footpath with hordes of youngsters alighting from the school buses sounds like hell!

 

[MrHappyCyclist]

When going into manchester, do you go straight on for the mental 'shared use' stuff under the roundabout , past the police station ? or just go right on the roundabout ? I tried both, neither I really liked .. the shared use annoyed me because it proves there's space for a nice cycle lane to avoid some junctions, but that it has barriers at some points .

I turn right at the mini-roundabout and then left onto Eccles Old Rd. I find that is by far the best route. I hate the shared use paths under the roundabouts. As you say, the barriers are awful, especially with two large panniers, it's puncture city, and it also feels very unsafe on the dark, winter commutes.