Message for them wot make them cycling signs
- Thread starter bluezelos
- Start date
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DCBassman
Guru
- Location
- The lumpy far South West
There are two bits of NCN27 near me that you either have to walk with or carry a road bike over. Not doing so is bike abuse, pure and simple. And other bits in mid-Devon are pretty poor. I also see no reason why Sustrans can't be more specific, or make it assumed that skinny tyres aren't a good idea on their poor infrastructure.
mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
They published an audit pretty much saying that earlier this year. So no new routes for some time while they try to fix up what's gone wrong.
As for barriers and crap surfaces, some are recorded in osm.org but not all routing sites show them easily yet.
"No carbon - steel is real * "
* or titanium
Steel contains carbon though.
Touche
Aravis
Putrid Donut
- Location
- Gloucester
It was apparent from that report that the fact you might be passed by a vehicle once in a while is a far bigger issue for Sustrans than sinking into knee-deep mud would be.
The report concluded that 92% of Sustrans' off-road routes are either Good or Very Good, 8% being Poor and none Very Poor, indicating a generally high-quality and reliable traffic-free network. But 69% of the on-road network is deemed to be Very Poor.
Of the 8%, inadequate surface accounts for 28% of the issues. So by Sustrans's standards, 98% of their off-road network is satisfactorily surfaced.
OP
OP
bluezelos
Active Member
- Location
- North West
It's simple really, red Cycle sign - mountain bikes, any other bike ok, as it is unpaved, rough, gravelly. blue Cycle sign - smooth tarmac, paved road ok for road bikes
Richard Fairhurst
Guru
- Location
- Charlbury, the Cotswolds
Sustrans does recognise that's an issue and that off-road surfaces need looking at more than the headline figure suggests - I've been in meetings where this has been expressly raised by Sustrans staff. I think it's more an artefact of the methodology used rather than a final decision that actually the surface on, say, NCN 1 south of Berwick-on-Tweed or on NCN 45 north of Swindon is brilliant (because it clearly isn't).
Richard Fairhurst
Guru
- Location
- Charlbury, the Cotswolds
It might well be simple but you'd still need to get DfT to agree to that! The regulations are pretty explicit that signs can only be in blue, or for tourist routes, brown.
classic33
Leg End Member
There's blue, green(light & dark), black & plain wooden that can be used.
Floating Bombus
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Neither here nor there
Red already has the general meaning of "banned" so a red bike sign would imply cycling was banned.
mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
I'd be fine with brown for gravel/unpaved routes and keeping blue for all-weather hard surface ones.
There must be some other regulations besides TSRGD in play too, though, because there are currently other coloured arrow signs in use where other highways (red IIRC), byways (purple IIRC), bridleways (blue definitely) and footpaths (yellow definitely) leave public roads and I believe they're legal.
dutchguylivingintheuk
Über Member
I can name one cycle route in the area which is good and that is about 800 meters long, after which you have to merge on a busy roundabout and continue on a 2 lane road. All other roads are moderate at best so hard or un-driveable on bad weather/just after heavy rain or just such terrible surface that you can't safely ride it.
And i know i'm spoiled compared to the roads i'm used to in the Netherlands but still, if the goverment wants to promote cycling much more needs to be done.
And i know i'm spoiled compared to the roads i'm used to in the Netherlands but still, if the goverment wants to promote cycling much more needs to be done.
