Cycle paths adjacent to main roads

[matticus]

Government Chief Whip Andrew Mitchell has apologised for disrespectful remarks to police who made him get off his bicycle as he left Downing Street.

And:
Andrew Mitchell was repeatedly denied entry on his bicycle to Downing Street by armed police officers more than a year before the so-called Plebgate incident in September 2012, prompting a formal complaint by No 10 to the Met.

A "restricted" letter from the head of security in the prime minister's office to the Met's diplomatic protection group in June 2011, released by No 10, warned that there was "no just reason" why Mitchell should have been prevented from entering Downing Street on his bike.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/jun/03/letter-andrew-mitchell-police-plebgate

 

[katiewlx]

The "too many cooks" problem of British Cycling (primarily a sports body) and Sustrans (primarily route makers) and their supporters arguing with Cycling UK and the various local cycling campaigns has been a problem, but even if all current cyclists agreed perfectly, that would still only be 15% of the population, according to the last Active Lives Survey. I think it's important to remember that the Dutch revolution kicked off when the shouting spread far beyond just those then cycling.

How do we do that here and now? I don't know. We're living in a country where loads of politicians wibble about "cars are essential" and "a car is a lifeline", where killing someone on a bike in broad daylight only gets a one year driving ban and community service and where babies are run over and killed on cycleways resembling pavements and a grieving parent told that the road doesn't deserve safety improvements and most of those cases only make the local news, not national, because it's so widespread. This awful situation seems to be tolerated, with attempts to improve it banging into the Great British "won't do" attitude.

So we keep on, lobbying politicians and contacting designers. I spoke at a council hearing a few weeks ago. One of my friends is asking questions of a different council meeting this evening. We keep on sending messages to MPs and councillors. I bumped into a councillor at an exhibition yesterday and tried to explain the problems with a recent project (she asked - I went for the exhibition, not in hope of lobbying!). Later today, I'll be formally objecting to a proposed car-brained industrial estate where the developer cheekily claims that it's something like "only 7 minutes cycling" from suburbs, without mentioning that most of that is on a straight National Speed Limit A road along a former airfield perimeter with thousands of motor vehicles a day, which only the brave, foolish or desperate cycle on. Using the nearest cycle route adds 20 minutes to the journey, making it 3½ sides of a square. Anyone know how we could get developers to propose nice things instead of this car-brained junk? Then the politicians wouldn't matter so much. Should cycling campaigns start to call out the likes of PDG Architects and Hudson Architects that are linked to this rubbish? Or restrict our fire to Elm Hall Investments, UBS and Hopkins Homes that own the developments?

without British cycling would Chris Boardman have ended up as such an effective cycling infra campaigner ? the pity is they never got anyone in to replace him when he left, but then my opinion of CyclingUK and Sustrans efforts, Id rather have a know little sporting body as the main mover, at least they recognise where they are lacking, whilst the other bodies think they know best.

now that were allowed elections again in our part of the region, its been interesting getting the candidates/councillors election material, none of them are pro active travel, many of them focus on building new roads, new bypasses instead, a friend was telling me on one of their local councillors leaflets, they took credit for blocking a new cycle lane & a bus lane, because of the amount of disruption to "traffic" it would cause.

how do you reason with attitudes like that ?

Ive seen people cycle on the A140 to get to the logistics places at Eye, Im surprised theres never been a cyclist fatality there.(the road itself has had plenty of fatalities over the years)

 

[mjr]

without British cycling would Chris Boardman have ended up as such an effective cycling infra campaigner ?

As long as there'd still been the sports side of BC for him to compete for and work with, I think he could actually have been a better campaigner sooner without BC's conflicting sponsors and their minority of government-appointed directors.

but then my opinion of CyclingUK and Sustrans efforts, Id rather have a know little sporting body as the main mover, at least they recognise where they are lacking, whilst the other bodies think they know best.

Actually, I feel the other bodies also know they're lacking, but each thinks they can outcompete the others and recruit enough volunteers and donors to become good enough alone. That may depend on who you talk to at each one and Sustrans especially hasn't had many people in East Anglia for some years now.

now that were allowed elections again in our part of the region, its been interesting getting the candidates/councillors election material, none of them are pro active travel, many of them focus on building new roads, new bypasses instead, a friend was telling me on one of their local councillors leaflets, they took credit for blocking a new cycle lane & a bus lane, because of the amount of disruption to "traffic" it would cause.

how do you reason with attitudes like that ?

Well, the ones who just aren't pro active travel yet, I challenge them, ask why they're not taking the cheaper and better-value step of helping people to switch from driving to cycling first, freeing up space on existing roads instead of jumping straight to building very expensive new roads... and if they are still determined to build new roads, then at least push them to agree to a cycle/emergency-vehicle lane to reduce the amount of unwilling short-distance drivers on it and ensure that blue-light vehicles can get past the traffic jams (and of course as a side effect, doubling as emergency vehicle access means they can't make it too narrow or corners too tight). Oh and if it's a bypass, then make it a real bypass and disconnect the old road either physically or with camera-enforced resident/visitor-only restrictions. Otherwise it's not a bypass, but just an extra road that will induce more motor traffic.

The ones who take credit for blocking cycle and bus lanes, there's probably no reasoning, so I'd flame them in public, ridiculing how they blocked more efficient traffic lanes with capacities of up to 16'000 people per hour and doomed those using the 2'000-people-per-hour mixed lane to more and longer jams, plus the buses will all now sit in those jams.

 

[Mike_P]

Pretty certain no motorist no matter how short of braincells they are has ever suggested to a cyclist they use this cycle path, yes the far end is where the pole with its sign hidden in the trees is. Exit from a retail park and a few industrial units onto the A59 Skipton Road in Harrogate
View attachment 803421
Its one that could be readilly removed and the signs reused somewhere more useful.

Saw it being used for the first time today. Their is now a cycle path on the other side of the Skipton Road so a cyclist came off that across an uncontrolled pedestrian crossing and round the bend on it joining onto the road to Aldi. Snag is its still signed at ending a few meters before the pedestrian crossing.

 

[Riverman]

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?

I prob shouldn't say this as it's pie in the sky but given cyclists are vulnerable road users, the government should legislate so that councils have a very clear legal obligation to protect them, perhaps on the level that they do in regards to providing reasonable adjustments to those living with disabilities where appropriate.

At least then they would think more carefully about how they design these things as they would risk legal challenges.

 

[N0bodyOfTheGoat]

Since getting my ebike last year, I've noticed that I've used shared paths far more frequently than I used to.

The ones on the north east edge of Southampton seem to be getting better, but you still get some odd design decisions.

For example, a new road called The Avenue was created next to the One Horton Heath housing development being built. It's a lovely meandering ~1 mile road, nice wide road with a wide shared path alongside. Except the path changes sides of the road just off its midpoint...
How is that going to encourage the cycling masses to use the path as the road becomes busier, forcing the cyclists to wait for a safe opportunity to cross the road?

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

Since getting my ebike last year, I've noticed that I've used shared paths far more frequently than I used to.

The ones on the north east edge of Southampton seem to be getting better, but you still get some odd design decisions.

For example, a new road called The Avenue was created next to the One Horton Heath housing development being built. It's a lovely meandering ~1 mile wide road with a wide shared path. Except the path changes sides of the road just off its midpoint...
How is that going to encourage the cycling masses to use the path as the road becomes busier, forcing the cyclists to wait for a safe opportunity to cross the road?

There are some very good ones here

bwell designed and thought out

but you can see where the design project ended and the cycle path sort of might be there or not
and after a while you realise that it is probably NOT a shared path any more
with absolutely no indication of the change

 

[Punkawallah]

Since getting my ebike last year, I've noticed that I've used shared paths far more frequently than I used to.

The ones on the north east edge of Southampton seem to be getting better, but you still get some odd design decisions.

For example, a new road called The Avenue was created next to the One Horton Heath housing development being built. It's a lovely meandering ~1 mile road, nice wide road with a wide shared path alongside. Except the path changes sides of the road just off its midpoint...
How is that going to encourage the cycling masses to use the path as the road becomes busier, forcing the cyclists to wait for a safe opportunity to cross the road?

My local Council put in a bike path that would have cyclists cross a main artery into the town and re-join the cycle path three streets away.

 

[Bristolian]

The West of England Combined Authority (WECA), in conjunction with Bristol City Council (BCC) and South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) are in the process of constructing some amazing segregated cycle and pedestrian pathways that follow alongside major roads. As it stands right now I can cycle from my home in Filton, alongside the A4174 (Avon Ring Road) and onto the Bristol to Bath Path, all the way to the centre of Bath without touching a road (except for crossing them) - some 17 miles.

Construction is also underway creating more of the same stretching from Filton to Thornbury, alongside the A38 for 8 miles. There is also a spur going into and through Bradley Stoke to link the A38 at Almondsbury to the A4174 near Jct 1 of the M32 (about 4 miles) and another spur heading up the A432 from the A4174 to Yate, also about 4 miles.

Needless to say, all this work is being decried by the motoring fraternity as wasted money as no-one uses the new paths. They might have a point but as the works are being done in sections, rather than starting at one end and working their way along the route to the finish, there are gaps and barriers making some sections unrideable. As I said to a guy in the pub the other night I've yet to see a car driver going along an unfinished, unopened motorway either.

The parts I have ridden so far appear well thought out and remarkably well constructed. They are segregated from the adjacent vehicular carriageway by physical barriers (mostly kerb stones) and, in some places, with grass verges as well. Where there is enough width the pedestrian and cycling paths are also segregated reducing conflict to a minimum. Where the paths cross minor roads the vehicular traffic has to give way and new bike traffic lights are being introduced at major junctions. All-in-all I'm pretty impressed with what is going to be a real boon to both commuters and recreational cyclists in the area.

 

[mjr]

the government should legislate so that councils have a very clear legal obligation to protect them, perhaps on the level that they do in regards to providing reasonable adjustments to those living with disabilities where appropriate.

So almost nothing, then? 🙁