Cycle Paths

I rather fancy that the cycle paths are the result of a government ‘green’ incentive. I think councils may be scoring points for each mile of cycle patch they create. There seems to be a lot of paths that are impractical to use as they are not continuous. The only explanation I could think of was that it’s to satisfy some kind of requirement.

Try cycling round the southern Yorkshire dales area, not wise, Quarry waggons driven by ex formula one drivers and roads so narrow it's a life risking pastime. On the other side, do cycling clubs have to bunch up and take the whole road up?

To sum it up, why is it a pleasure to ride anywhere in Europe and so difficult in Britain?

rogher is correct, a few years ago the then Govt office suggested to local authorities that they would be watching closely to see that the  LA's included cycle paths in their roads networks.  Many LA's then responded with token paths that were narrow and ended suddenly when road narrowings were encountered. Not surprisingly they were shunned by most cyclists who were concerned quite rightly for their own safety.

The change for us here in the Bristol region was winning that very large sum of money to be spend purely on encouraging greater cycling use and of course safety.  That encouraged us to introduce these cycling corridors which provided long distance dedicated cycling routes all over the city.  In many areas the routes were not part of the roads network and provided rapid safe transit away from the roads for cyclists to and fro from emloyment centres.

We now have a significant increase in the amount of cycling and a corresponding reduction in car use.

TF

Bristol is a really good example TF, if we stay on Baltic Wharf or visit relatives the number of Bristolians and visitors out walking and on bikes is quite impressive. (The bus services are good too.)

Try cycling round the southern Yorkshire dales area, not wise, Quarry waggons driven by ex formula one drivers and roads so narrow it's a life risking pastime. On the other side, do cycling clubs have to bunch up and take the whole road up?

To sum it up, why is it a pleasure to ride anywhere in Europe and so difficult in Britain?

Write your comments here...population density and the ever increasing number of cars on our roads,I think.I used to cycle all around where I live from my twenties until about five years ago,now in my sixties.In the last ten years there has been a boom in commuter housing in our area and now the roads are just too busy and the new breed of motorists seem unused to driving safely on rural roads-they just do not anticipate hazards any more in their headlong rush to the M1 and work.I go running over the fields these days instead.

Whilst walking today on the footpath / cycle path, two cyclists past me. Guess where ,on the road obviously. Baaaaaaaa

HH, -  I appreciate your frustration. The only thing I would say, & it took a long time for us to realise it, is that most local authorities do not consult enough with the cycling lobby.  And as a result of that lack of consultation, tend to put cycle paths or lanes where they think they are needed and not where the cyclists actually want them.

As I said before I am certainly not a lobbyist for the cycling fraternity but I do hate to see LA's putting in new road layouts without consultation with the Cycling groups. That tendency has wasted millions of pounds sterling, but more criticly has cost lives!

TF

HH, -  I appreciate your frustration. The only thing I would say, & it took a long time for us to realise it, is that most local authorities do not consult enough with the cycling lobby.  And as a result of that lack of consultation, tend to put cycle paths or lanes where they think they are needed and not where the cyclists actually want them.

As I said before I am certainly not a lobbyist for the cycling fraternity but I do hate to see LA's putting in new road layouts without consultation with the Cycling groups. That tendency has wasted millions of pounds sterling, but more criticly has cost lives!

TF

    I tend to agree with what you say Tiger, But when a joint footpath / cycle path has large signs stating this, and the cyclists refuse to use them, it makes my blood boil . I feel the monies spent could be used elsewhere especially on the poor state of our local roads.

HH  Totally Agree!

TF

Surely if a number of regular commuters decide to leave their cars in the drive and commute to work by bike, that can only be to the advantage of society at large. Those people have already paid their road tax on their cars so they are contributing to general taxation. 

Cycle lanes on urban roads are a good investment, but they can be spoiled by drivers of vehicles using them for parking so causing the cyclist to move into the general stream of traffic. 

I rather think that this hatred of cycling we are seeing on this forum is more down to cyclists being more mobile and having a faster commute time than drivers sitting fuming in traffic jams. 

Why shouldnt drivers leave their cars at home and use their bikes ?. Much healthier, no parking problems when arriving at work and in cities and busy towns a much quicker commute.

Cycle paths are often disjointed, having been the subject of poor planning, they are put where the council has spare land, not where commuters need to go.  Hence the need for cyclists to use the normal carriageway to arrive at their destination.

K