Cycle Paths

[Rickshaw Phil]

Mmm ? Im not sure as the picture don't show the whole road infrastructure. Does that part of the road bottle neck ? . It could have been put in place as a warning to motorist to KEEP CLEAR if it is the case ?

It looks to me like it's meant to be the entrance to an on pavement cycle lane. Markings could do with a lot of improvement if that is the case.

Here is a local example of a useless cycle lane. Having come out of town on the road you are diverted on to the pavement on the right of the picture for approx 100 yards (from where the bus is) then back onto a side road. The pavement is always busy and joining the path takes longer than staying on the road for no benefit that I can see.

Obviously I have never used it and I've never seen anyone else use it either.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

Drat! Didn't mean to double post. Can I remove one?

 

[YahudaMoon]

I can see why the green cycle path drops on to the road I think.

The cycle path starts from just after the lamppost, though between the lamppost and the dropped kerb we have a grid, it needs a kerb so the footpath don't flood . So other than cutting the cycle-path short, part runs on the road. A very good example of kerb issue.

 

[Bman]

I use a mix of road / cycle lane and the mix varies almost on a daily basis. It's not just the quality of the cycle lane, but the time of day, volume of traffic and even the weather that influence my decision which to use. There are some parts of my route where, even as a reasonably experienced and confident rider, I feel very vulnerable on the road, especially when traffic volumes are high. Other parts I feel safer on the road due to, as said above, pedestrians and driveway entrances.

I do get slightly irritated by cyclists who insist on always using the road even when there is a very good cycle lane available.

Yeah, me too... Except, Ive never seen a decent cycle lane!

 

[growingvegetables]

You'd be surprised at how much is involved in the infrastructure of cycle paths in the UK with cyclist.

+1 on getting involved.

Point taken (similar meetings in Leeds ) - just a bit of added perspective (and venom ).

- These meetings take place AFTER the event; cycle and pedestrian provision is an afterthought.

- More important, after spending £billions to speed motor vehicle flow, the council use the excuse that they're putting in facilities "really" only for learner and unconfident cyclists to justify spending petty cash pennies on grossly substandard facilities. It's a convenient piece of whitewash for incompetent planning in the first place, a continuing refusal to place any value on pedestrians or cyclists, and "consultation" that the council can safely ignore while peddling their cycling credentials.

Ooops - my rant over!

Hey - come on guys, I deserve a pat on the back for refusing to mention Leeds City Council's bid to host the start of the TdF.

 

[Hebe]

A good start would be your local Sustrans rather than the council about improvements in cycle facilities for your area. The'll be more than happy to have you along. Sustrans will then advise on local meetings. That's how I found out. The more input at meetings the better

John

Thank you. I know at least one of the local Sustrans people who already attend, I think I may just attend as a member of the public to begin with. It might be a little way off yet due to childcare issues with early evening meetings, in the meantime I'm making sure to raise my concerns.

 

[MrJamie]

Most of what people call 'Stupid cycle paths' ain't put in place for the seasoned cyclist who's been cycling 30 years and commutes every day and is confident on the road. These are put in place for families with children, people that want to take there kids to school using bikes, people that are not confident on the road ect ... It really annoys me when people start banging on about how crap a cycle lane is !

That's true and i meant to mention it.. there are quite a few inefficient cycle paths but being new to cycling on roads Im always appreciative of those that offer an alternative route around roundabouts and junctions or around busy roads. A lot of those paths with people walking on arent so bad either if youre cycling casually at 10mph and dont mind slowing for a few seconds for an overtake (sounds familiar :P). Its similar to some of the "rougher" sustrans traffic free routes, which are pretty good for a leisurely ride, but no so good for fast cyclists with road bikes.

 

[simon.r]

Yeah, me too... Except, Ive never seen a decent cycle lane!

There aren't many I'll grant you, but here's one that's close to me. That's a fairly busy (though obviously not when Google were mapping it) 60mph limit road with a joint use path that is rarely used by pedestrians.

 

[Bigsharn]

I agree with the general consensus. Usually I stick to the road, but there are rare occasions where the cycle path is safer, and faster. Unfortunately more often than not, the opposite is true

 

[Hebe]

Thinking about it, the one I use most often is a shared pavement that has a series of streetlights placed down the middle of it. Fortunately it's wide enough to take the trailer too. Small girl used to love going round them slalom style in her buggy.

http://g.co/maps/4k6rn

 

[youngoldbloke]

The answer is yes. You'd be surprised at how much is involved in the infrastructure of cycle paths in the UK with cyclist.

I go to many a meet with Salford council at Swinton town hall to talk about the latest developments in cycle facilities for Salford and Manchester. We are all cyclist, every single one of us. The meeting consist of allsorts of people from the council, Sustrans, local bike shop owners, big retail bike shop management and the general public to have our say and come up with the best solution for what we have available

Most of what people call 'Stupid cycle paths' ain't put in place for the seasoned cyclist who's been cycling 30 years and commutes every day and is confident on the road. These are put in place for families with children, people that want to take there kids to school using bikes, people that are not confident on the road ect ... It really annoys me when people start banging on about how crap a cycle lane is !

The other things to take into account with cycle paths is money and the infrastructure thats all ready in place. Britain's roads were built for horse n carts, I mean, we still have kerbs, and for what ? ! and we still put them in place as it's cost effective.

There is only so much we can do with cycle paths in this country, until the cyclist starts taking over the car then nothing much will change, and for those moaning about the local crap cycle paths, get down to the council meetings and do something about it. Its your council, your community and your crap cycle path.

Rant over

Edit: This ain't a personal attack at youngoldbloke

Frankly - you amaze me. No offence taken (or intended). It is unfortunate that most drivers (and the general public) do not seem to appreciate that cycle paths are not necessarily "for the seasoned cyclist who's been cycling 30 years and commutes every day and is confident on the road", it might avoid a lot of unpleasantness if they were made aware of this.
"We are all cyclist, every single one of us" - so is any provision for the "seasoned cyclist" proposed in these meetings? What is the view on those "cyclists dismount" signs? What about those lamp posts/bollards/bus shelters inconveniently located in the middle of the cycling facility? (Maybe not in the Salford council area, of course ).

 

[Ron-da-Valli]

Prestatyn for me.

Abergele for me.
I have the same problems on the path through Rhyl Matt!! Good vids though, what camera do you use?

 

[Matthew_T]

Abergele for me.
I have the same problems on the path through Rhyl Matt!! Good vids though, what camera do you use?

Contour HD. Some nice guy on here was selling it for £100!!

 

[fossyant]

We love riding down to Rhyl from Gronnant, the kids can stop off at the play area, or we can play on the crazy golf, before grabbing a cuppa. Just about no-one takes any notice of the path, including cyclists. Seems to work fine thugh.

The kids love the paddling pool also - great when the weather is good.

 

[Wobblers]

The cycle paths may not be put there for me but the highway code suggests that I should use them anyway. It all serves to de-legitimise my use of the road in the eyes of motorists and insurance companies who will be only too keen to point to the usually much more dangerous alternative I chose not to take.

There. Fixed that for you.