Bristol City Centre poor facilities for cyclists!

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runner

Guru
Location
Bristol
For the last 6 months I have been emailing the traffic and highway dept at Bristol re the state of the underpass at Gardner/Haskin and the PipnJay church. This has remained in a poor state of repair since I have been cycling for the last 10 years.( and I am sure many years before) It seems to me that with a little money (and Bristol should have...green city...sustrans...etc) this underpass could be greatly improved. So who should I take this battle to as I am getting no response from the highways, what about George Ferguson? does anyone else find the state of this underpass repulsive (graffiti on walls, water leakage in the centre when it rains, slippery tiles...need I go on!) We in Bristol have a good and improving cycle system on the outskirts but the city centre remains a real problem and in no way can be seen as cycle friendly.
 

the_mikey

Legendary Member
It's dreadful, the underpass is an assault course comprising narrow and difficult to negotiate barriers and the surface is horrifically slippery, and the other side is all cobblestones.
 

BigAl68

Über Member
Location
Bath
I agree that is a dreadful underpass especially when it's raining. I personally don't rate Bristol as a great place to cycle despite the money they have been given to improve infrastructure. Maybe an email or tweet to red trousers would get his attention.
 

BigAl68

Über Member
Location
Bath
Whilst you do also ask him if he can get south Gloucestershire council to give the contractors working on the bridge over the cycle path a royal kick in their rears.
 
OP
OP
runner

runner

Guru
Location
Bristol
I agree that is a dreadful underpass especially when it's raining. I personally don't rate Bristol as a great place to cycle despite the money they have been given to improve infrastructure. Maybe an email or tweet to red trousers would get his attention.
Yes I think red trousers could be my man. This location is so important as it's close to the end of the cycle path and an utter disgrace!
 
OP
OP
runner

runner

Guru
Location
Bristol
just sent the following message....lets see if the wrong trousers can help^_^^_^ and the bit of flattery at the end might feed his ego^_^
Dear Mr Ferguson
As a keen cyclist I am amazed that you have not attempted to have updated/repaired the underpass that is situated close to the Pip n Jay church in the vicinity of Gardiner/Haskin superstore. The walls are all graffitied, when it rains the rain water collects at the bottom (there is a natural decline/incline in and out of the underpass) and in turn makes all the tiles (inappropriate) slippery. The devide and signage seperating both pedestrians and cyclists is non existant and the unfriendly approach and exit (due to the metal fence with peeling paint)is a very difficult barrier to negotiate especially on a bike. It seems to me that with a little thought and a minimum amount of finance this location could be greatly improved and it is surely one of the most important cyclist junctions in the whole of Bristol as it leads directly from the end of the Bath/Bristol cycle path. I have on numerous occasions attempted to contact the traffic/highways at Bristol but for their own reason they either ignore me or choose not to respond. I see you as a man of action and would hope that you could attend in some way to this problem. I look forward to hearing from you.
 
OP
OP
runner

runner

Guru
Location
Bristol
lets hope George is as quick to resolve as his automatic response!

Thank you for your email. Please note this is an automatic initial response to confirm receipt.


Emails are the best means of communication with my office, but you will appreciate that the team receives a considerable number of letters and emails every day. Please accept that correspondence will need to be prioritised and you will be sent a full response as soon as possible.


Yours sincerely


George Ferguson CBE

Mayor of Bristol
 

captain nemo1701

Space cadet. Deck 42 Main Engineering.
Location
Bristol
Yes, I know. But we have the Railway Path and there are some new facilities in the pipeline over the next few years. Doesn't help though when we have that godawful anti-cycling rag the Bristol Post moaning about cyclists all the time. I wish they would put a sock in it. Some of their more intellectually challenged readers keep going on about the cycling city being finished, despite the fact it's a permanent designation with more funding secured. Still, what do you expect from a rag that's a chip off the Daily Mail block?.
 
OP
OP
runner

runner

Guru
Location
Bristol
Finally got an answer from the highways dept today re an earlier contact I made last year....at least they are thinking about my suggestions and hopefully we can look forward to some improvements to the underpass at pip n jay church/Gardeners in the hopefully not too distant future....

Firstly please accept my apologies for not responding earlier. I also apologise that previous enquiries on this subject have gone unanswered.


I myself am a regular user of the underpass and agree that it requires improvement. We have had quite a few requests recently to remove sections of the barriers which we are currently considering.


With regards to drainage I have asked colleagues in Highways Maintenance to investigate the matter.


With regards to graffiti, I have passed this request to the street cleansing team.


However, I am sure you can appreciate that the above is reactive, and that general improvements to the underpass that consider the issues above is required. To that end I have added this issue to the Traffic Choices website which can then be considered by the Neighbourhood Partnership scheme for prioritisation or if funding becomes available via another source. You can track this issue at http://tracker.trafficchoices.co.uk/issue/675/show


If you would like to discuss any of the above please do not hesitate to contact me. Once again please accept my apologies for the lateness of the response.


Your sincerely

Nick


Nick Pates

Senior Officer (Walking and Cycling)

Highways and Traffic

Transport Service

Wilder House

Wilder Street

Bristol
 
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