Amanda P
Legendary Member
- Location
- York. Well, York-ish...
Hmm. Living in that direction, I have to say that there is no really good route out of the city that way. The Haxby road has some on-road cycle lanes, some of them almost of a sensible width. The Strensall road is just awful - not wide enough for cars to overtake when there's oncoming traffic, but busy enough that they have to wait for gaps. Every time I go that way, at least one driver takes a chance.
The next radial road out of York (working round clockwise) is the A64. You need a strong nerve to use that one. Unfortunately, I'm forced to use it almost every day.
There's a nice footpath up the Foss from Yearsley Grove all the way out to Towthorpe. Much of it is surfaced. It goes under the A64, so no need to cross. If York Counciil had any imagination, they'd upgrade it to bridleway and surface it for its whole length - there are loads of commuters cycle from Strensall to York every day.
Of course, some of them might take the train, if the Council's plan to re-open Strensall Station ever got anywhere...
I found myself in Poppleton a few months ago at about 5.30 pm. Suddenly, the streets there were full of people in office clothes, walking home (the people, not the clothes, although the the two were attached to each other...). There was almost no traffic, though. They'd just got off a train - the Harrogate line runs through Poppleton.
Haxby, Wiggy, Strensall, Flaxton, Barton-le-Willows, Huttons Ambo and loads more villages could be like that, if those stations could be re-opened. Commuter villages, but largely car-free ones, whose inhabitants talk to each other on their way to the station or on the train, rather than sterile dormitories that are evacuated by single-occupant cars every day.
What is the use of a local branch line if you can't actually get on the trains except at one or two points?
<Wipes flecks of spittle from corners of mouth>
Yes. Tea would be nice.
The next radial road out of York (working round clockwise) is the A64. You need a strong nerve to use that one. Unfortunately, I'm forced to use it almost every day.
There's a nice footpath up the Foss from Yearsley Grove all the way out to Towthorpe. Much of it is surfaced. It goes under the A64, so no need to cross. If York Counciil had any imagination, they'd upgrade it to bridleway and surface it for its whole length - there are loads of commuters cycle from Strensall to York every day.
Of course, some of them might take the train, if the Council's plan to re-open Strensall Station ever got anywhere...
I found myself in Poppleton a few months ago at about 5.30 pm. Suddenly, the streets there were full of people in office clothes, walking home (the people, not the clothes, although the the two were attached to each other...). There was almost no traffic, though. They'd just got off a train - the Harrogate line runs through Poppleton.
Haxby, Wiggy, Strensall, Flaxton, Barton-le-Willows, Huttons Ambo and loads more villages could be like that, if those stations could be re-opened. Commuter villages, but largely car-free ones, whose inhabitants talk to each other on their way to the station or on the train, rather than sterile dormitories that are evacuated by single-occupant cars every day.
What is the use of a local branch line if you can't actually get on the trains except at one or two points?
<Wipes flecks of spittle from corners of mouth>
Yes. Tea would be nice.
