Oh My God

[Wankelschrauben]

I just phoned Kent County Council asking about cycle lanes and if there were any plans to put in new cycle lanes and make the town of Maidstone a safer place to ride.

The operators reply was "Why?...Why would we need cycle lanes?, There aren't any plans for them"

 

[Alien8]

Magic - the message is getting through at last.

 

[ianrauk]

Magic - the message is getting through at last.

Indeed... good on the council.

 

[Goldie]

That's the kind of high quality, forward thinking and responsive local government that really needs to be brought to a wider audience. It might be worth sending a short e-mail to the chaps at Cycling Plus and Cycling Active magazine...

 

[GrumpyGregry]

West Sussex have laid off their excellent cycling officer as part of the cuts..... Highways Department now reply to all cycling related issues with

Yaddah, yaddah, yaddah,
Blah, blah, blah,
It's all very difficult, times are hard, our priorities have changed
The thing, the thing, the thing,
Waffle
Piffle
Bull
Wibble

whilst not answering the question in a manner beloved of LA bureaucrats everywhere.

So hats off to Kent for a straight answer.

 

[Panter]

I'm more impressed that you actually got through to someone!

 

[Globalti]

I posted in P&L last month suggesting that local councils were the last refuge of the incompetent and got flamed for it by regular P&Lers. I still hold that belief and this post vindicates me.

 

[asterix]

I hate, loathe and detest cycle lanes.

They are an excuse not to tackle bad driving. And they don't make it safer to cycle.

 

[fossyant]

The green paint manufacturer will be out of business, thank goodness.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

I posted in P&L last month suggesting that local councils were the last refuge of the incompetent and got flamed for it by regular P&Lers. I still hold that belief and this post vindicates me.

How so?

 

[Globalti]

How so? The moronic replies of the local council staff, that's how.

Maybe I should add: my best mate of 23 years sells professional indemnity insurance to a wide range of professionals in private practice and public service and he has the lowest possible opinion of public employees. As a member of a residents' action group on speeding in our street I often have reason to speak with our local Highways engineers and their dithering and fecklessness amazes me, I really can't understand how they actually retain their jobs.

 

[ianrauk]

I hate, loathe and detest cycle lanes.

They are an excuse not to tackle bad driving. And they don't make it safer to cycle.

Indeed.. don't forget full of glass, debris and crap. Usually pot holed to fek. Gives motor vehicle drivers an excuse to push cyclists into the gutter & drains. Peds not knowing that some cycle lanes are usually shared paths, which also usually have random street furniture plonked in them. Trees, signs, gates etc..

The work of the devil they are.
Begone with cycle lanes I say. Share the road not segregate.

 

[al-fresco]

We just have the one cycle lane in my area - I think it's been put there to cull cyclists.

Shrewsbury, on the other hand, seems to have got their act together with numerous pleasant cycle paths and routes. Makes it a nice place for a quiet bimble I think.

 

[Globalti]

Cycle lanes get created in all kinds of stupid places just so that local authorities can boast they they've met their target and instated X miles of cycle lanes this year.

 

[Jezston]

How so? The moronic replies of the local council staff, that's how.

Maybe I should add: my best mate of 23 years sells professional indemnity insurance to a wide range of professionals in private practice and public service and he has the lowest possible opinion of public employees. As a member of a residents' action group on speeding in our street I often have reason to speak with our local Highways engineers and their dithering and fecklessness amazes me, I really can't understand how they actually retain their jobs.

My experience would suggest the last refuge of the incompetent would be either:

a - if from a less affluent background - call centre.
b - if from an affluent background and went to the right school - board of directors.