Bromley Heath Viaduct Contraflow - "Deathtrap"

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

mjr

Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
...and at ~1m wide is far too thin for the bi-directional cycling and pedestrian traffic (how there haven't been accidents I don't know).
Because most people walking and cycling are basically lovely and make do and avoid crashing into each other unless the design is really shoot. It doesn't make it good, though, so I hope you're correct that it'll be widened to 2m - still not enough, but much better than 1m.
 

Spartak

Powered by M&M's
Location
Bristolian
Thanks for the link @mgarl10024

Looks good & possibly a reason why the composite bridge never took off.
 
OP
OP
mgarl10024

mgarl10024

Über Member
Location
Bristol
On Facebook today, the following post (not by me), with several comments from the Community tearing itself in two with "rules are rules and the signs should be followed" on one side and those pointing out that the signs make things worse on the other.

Ugly scene this morning on the Bromley Heath Viaduct.

It was only a matter of time before pedestrians & cyclists would clash (not literally) thankfully, but metaphorically and verbally as a gentlemen walking his two dogs, deliberately taking up the complete width of the pavement with one dog either side of him and refusing to allow a cyclist to pass on the grounds that the cyclist would not "dismount" as per the sign saying "cyclists dismount".

The gentleman dog walker was being a stickler for the rules but the cyclist did not want to dismount (in my experience of cycling that route I see 90% cyclists do NOT dismount and 10% do).

Once the narrow bypass section of the pavement had been cleared and we were back on the wider cycle path, the cyclist rode past the man and he said "I hope you get knocked off your bike!"

:sad:
 

Lonestar

Veteran
That was slightly different though. The carriageway was closed to all vehicles leaving just pavement open, and they employed people to encourage compliance with the request to walk.

People still cycled,though.IIRC.

Well the press went mad about it,anyway.
 

Arjimlad

Tights of Cydonia
Location
South Glos
We had a similar kerfuffle in Bristol with a particular bridge being closed to cars, with a walkway constructed over the top for pedestrians. Cyclists were requested to dismount ... cue much indignation from the usual quarters at those naughty ones who disobeyed the instruction !
 

mjr

Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
Yes, some people did cycle. The difference is that they were cycling on a pavement open for pedestrians, not a shared path.
If councils in this country didn't so often claim that a pavement with some paint and signs is adequate for cycling, people wouldn't be so used to the idea of cycling on them. They should have seen that coming and provided a good diversion, signposted well ahead, not simply tried to ban it.
 

mjr

Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
It would hardly have been too much to expect people to know that London Bridge is five minutes West.
Yeah, but you need them to know when they're far enough away that changing which bridge they're using adds maybe a couple of minutes for most of them, rather than wait until they're actually at the bridge where they can see the shortest route is something that looks like hundreds of other substandard paint+sign path conversions and try to force their way through on it.

After all, why do we bother to signpost road closures and diversions for motorists well away from the closure? They know where the other roads are!
 
Last edited:

Lonestar

Veteran
I actually didn't really have a clue which roads would be open and shut on yesterday's commute but somehow I fluked it.

Had to use the revolting CS 2 all the way in,though.
 

sleuthey

Legendary Member
Just got back to work from leave and found this in my inbox, don't have any further details:

"Wednesday 13 September 8-10am: As part of National Cycle to Work Day, the Viaduct project team will be outside the site compound on Bromley Heath Road handing out free cyclist goody bags on a first-come, first-served basis. There will be an opportunity to ask any questions of the project team. Dr Bike will also be available to advise on bike maintenance."
 
http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bromley-heath-viaduct-labelled-death-237090.amp

Interesting story, if a little sad.

As background, the Bromley Heath viaduct is made up of two almost parallel bridges, and one has been shut down for work for 33wks with the other being set up as a contraflow. (see http://www.southglos.gov.uk/transpo...adworks/bhviaduct/what-we-are-doing-and-when/).

For as long as I can remember, it has been well used by bikes and pedestrians who have in both directions shared a ~1m track next to a carriage way where lorries are doing 50mph. This has been widely seen as a 'deathtrap'. Part of this 33wk work is to really enhance the cycling / pedestrian facilities and this should improve things greatly.

While the works are ongoing, SGC has set up a contraflow path for the pedestrians and cyclists which seems about the same width as the old path, and is away from the traffic - so if anything, appears safer. However, SGC have felt the need to install "cyclist dismount" signs, and it seems to be these which are causing a lot of concern - including the link at the top.

I don't mean this to be a political post. I'm just more sad that in 'just' 33wks we'll get better facilities, and in the meantime we seem incapable of rubbing along with a situation which isn't ideal for anyone. Surely, the dismount signs are not needed, and as a cyclist you cycle along that path, slowing or stopping should you encounter a pedestrian? Same as most of us have been doing for the last 20+ years?

Seems unnecessary to run to the press and turn pedestrians and cyclists against one another.

Just interested in other thoughts.

(Posting in "commuting" as a popular commuting route)

Penguins dont have knees either, but they get along the best they can.
 
Penguins absolutely do have knees although the relevance escapes me.

Sadly I no longer work in a place where this bridge is part of my commute. I may just have to ride it anyway. Just because.


They dont even have legs! I was just trying to say that signs or no signs, we should just make do the best we can. They could just as easily put signs up saying "do not jump off the bridge". Those without suicidal tendendies wont, those who do feel suicidal will regardless of the sign. Many signs are just pointless.
 
Top Bottom