Cycle paths adjacent to main roads

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

Ming the Merciless

There is no mercy
Location
Inside my skull
Pottyboro has/had a similar approach but the network is more broken up

I have used that a couple of times this year. Surface is rough as fark and signage poor to none existant. At least signage for railway station sadly lacking. Then you have the national cycle route that takes you through a pedestrian zone, no cycling 9am to 6pm!
 

blackrat

Senior Member
Maybe when cycling it would be as well to assume you have been called up to fight in a war and your job is to negotiate a minefield - with the expectation you may or not make it to the far side, and if you do, and you sigh with great relief but then you are dismayed when the platoon sergeant calls out you have to make it back.
 
Location
Widnes
One of the problems in many areas is that they try to treat cyclists as pedestrians+

So when you get to a road joining - then you are expected to stop, get off and check for traffic - then walk acros and get on again
OK - not alwasy get off - because who would - but I have seen several places were there is actually a sign saying "cyclists dismount"

Just down the road from here there is a shared path - joint cycle path, pavement

then there is a zebra crossing
Just before it is a "No cycling" sign - and after it a "shared path" sign

so you are expected to get off your bike
walk a few yards
then get back on again

Crazy

evidence

1772133671628.png
 
I have used that a couple of times this year. Surface is rough as fark and signage poor to none existant. At least signage for railway station sadly lacking. Then you have the national cycle route that takes you through a pedestrian zone, no cycling 9am to 6pm!

Yip that about sums it up. I commute through the pedestrians only Bridge Street mostly either side of the 9am-6pm ban. Somedays, I'm back just before 6pm however and I get off and walk but a lot of folk dont and some probably can't. It just punishes the old and slow :-/
 

Pat "5mph"

A kilogrammicaly challenged woman
Moderator
Location
Glasgow
Do you have cycle/multiuser paths near you and do you use them?
Yes, plenty of them.
Most are a dog's dinner, the better ones are full of dog walkers :laugh: and now Deliveroo riders too.
I use them because I'm slow, also I would like to stay alive.
Sometimes you get shouted at by pedestrians, they tell you to ride on the road.
If you ride on the road, drivers will shout to get on the cycle path.
But you will never change motorists views.
I agree on this.
I just cycle along the tow path and thankfully it goes all the way upto Glasgow.
I rode Glasgow to Embra along the canal twice, the opposite way once.
I don't like the route, it's nice to look at the scenery but the actual riding is slow, sometimes dangerous (slimy cobbles under bridges, aqueducts), pedestrians and dog walkers don't like us cycling there.
either provide an ASL for cyclists to join and wait in
There's a good chance that a car will already be in it!
On the path over the Pass of Drumochter that runs alongside the A9 the main hazard tends to be dodging the plastic bottles full of piss that the HGV drivers throw out of their wagons.
Oh, I rode this, never knew of this disgusting habit!
Maybe when cycling it would be as well to assume you have been called up to fight in a war and your job is to negotiate a minefield - with the expectation you may or not make it to the far side, and if you do, and you sigh with great relief but then you are dismayed when the platoon sergeant calls out you have to make it back.
Yes indeed.
Before I set out on my commute, I give myself a wee prep talk: "you can do this, you can do this"
It has worked for 15 years ^_^
 

PaulSB

Squire
Local town to me (where I shop so notice the cycle lanes) the design is mainly shared use but with a major issue that cycle "paths" are frequently joining and leaving the road. Plus if on a cycle path you have to cross any joining roads (where you have to stop and wait for any cars) whereas if cycling on the larger road you just keep going on the road no joining, leaving, crossing, etc.

When I cycle to/through that particular town I just ride on the road and ignore the cycle "infrastructure".

A very accurate description of why we rarely use cycle paths on road rides other than alongside busy A roads. I'd guess on mileage basis at least 95% of all urban cycle paths are a complete waste of money and not worth using.

Converted railway lines and the like don't count. These are usually great rides. What is important is cycle paths which offer a real alternative to road riding. These simply don't exist. If I want to ride at 15 - 20mph, our usual pace range, the only place it's possible is on a road.
 

steveindenmark

Legendary Member
s

Wilkinson & Pickett already have.

How do they fit a cycle path into an existing street that doesn't have room for one?

We need policies to deter driving, not policies to encourage cycling:
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/sep/19/britains-1960s-cycling-revolution-flopped-stevenage

Tissington Trail, High Peak Trail, Monsal Trail, Manifold Way.

I did them on foot, then again after I switched to cycle touring.

How do they fit a bike path into a street where there is not room?

There are lots of variables. If its that small, they probably don't. They would work round it.

But if they are building new roads, industrial or housing estates. The cycle path is one of the first things to be put in.

Out in the countryside they are often aquiring the first few metres of farmers fields to turn into cycle tracks.
 
Top Bottom