Cycle paths adjacent to main roads

[travellingwest]

We had a VERY expensive cycle path built out of town last year (or the year before, time flies) but sadly it doesn't go very far. Basically they turned a narrow footpath into a multiuser path which no one in town thought anyone would use. Well, I have twice now, both times to cycle to the beach further up the coastline from ours. In fact, this morning I cycled up there to have my first morning cuppa to watch the sunrise. It was lovely. But this cycle path, whilst protecting cyclists from an extremely busy road which is the only road into/out of our town, sadly stops unceremoniously not much further along than the beach turn off, making the main road more of a death trap for cyclists.

Do you have cycle/multiuser paths near you and do you use them?

 

[Drago]

Yes.

Some, with caution.

 

[fossyant]

We have a new terrible one in the village. It runs less than 200 yards passed a local supermarket, on the pavement. It's totally pointless. Despite cyclists and others saying it's dangerous, the council have done it. You cycle into the village, slalom onto the pavement for 200 yards then get spat out into the traffic. Way safer staying on the road.

The barriers are the grand total of the length. The barriers on the road are just there for the builders as the path is part of the pavement now. £1.8m later...

 

[travellingwest]

Yes, that does seem pointless and actually verging on dangerous as people have pointed out. Was it a tick box exercise by any chance?

 

[travellingwest]

Yes.

Some, with caution.

Why do you say with caution?

 

[Drago]

Because mixing vehicles, including bicycles, with pedestrians is a dicey proposition at the best of times.

Besause theyre often poorly conceived and designed.

Because theyre usually poorly maintained.

The cycling per-mile casualty rate for dedicated infrastructure is higher than for riding on the road for good reason.

 

[All uphill]

The town I live in has a tatty patchwork of footpaths, shared paths and cycle lanes along with the usual bumpy roads.

It all seems to work reasonably well for confident cyclists with the exception of a couple of areas of very narrow cycle lanes in the gutter of roads which encourage close passes.

No points for ambition, no points for vision and 1/10 for quality of execution.

 

[Sharky]

The cycle path that always sticks in my mind, is the one on the Rainford bypass. It is a typical dual carriage way, built in the 1930's, with the cycle paths running either side.

When I used to live on Merseyside in the 60's, the cycle paths were so run down, that the club would never ride on them.

Subsequently the Merseyside authorized deemed that if a cycle path existed, it must be maintained.

When I revisited the area a few years ago, I found them in perfect condition and well used.

 

[HLaB]

If there of decent width, surface, go where I want and if there not too busy with pedestrians I'll sometimes use them if I'm not wanting to get somewhere in a decent time I'll sometimes use them.

 

[Mike_P]

Main problem IME they get opened with big fanfare and then get forgotten about with no regular cleaning of the sut6face meaning they are often full of glass and/or sharp grit.

 

[YMFB]

In S. Wiltshire we barely have them and the few we have are largely poorly conceived. The one between Downton & Salisbury is dangerous, too narrow and extremely bumpy in place, but as the A338 is a death trap there isn’t much choice.

 

[Alex321]

We had a VERY expensive cycle path built out of town last year (or the year before, time flies) but sadly it doesn't go very far. Basically they turned a narrow footpath into a multiuser path which no one in town thought anyone would use. Well, I have twice now, both times to cycle to the beach further up the coastline from ours. In fact, this morning I cycled up there to have my first morning cuppa to watch the sunrise. It was lovely. But this cycle path, whilst protecting cyclists from an extremely busy road which is the only road into/out of our town, sadly stops unceremoniously not much further along than the beach turn off, making the main road more of a death trap for cyclists.

Do you have cycle/multiuser paths near you and do you use them?

Yes.

And some of them.

 

[lazybloke]

This footway (adjacent to the A3 between Guildford and the M25). is a narrow shared-use path, is unguarded from 3 lanes of adjacent motorway traffic, and has all manner of tree roots pushing up the surface. Noisy & fume-filled too, but it serves a purpose of getting out of the north east side of Guildford, and after a couple of miles it heads into a village where smaller quieter roads can be picked up.

On the A3 the other side of Guildford, a pollution threshold was exceeded. I've seen speed limits lowered in other countries to address that issue, here they decided on another option - close the path! So much for active travel.