reporting poor cycle lane condition

[cyberknight]

A long drawn out affair it has turned out to be

The section of cyclepath i have to use to avoid the roundabout of death which is a 3 lane affair where everyone is doing 40 plus and lane hopping is not safe even in a vehicle has been covered in various debris off lorries, bottles of micturate , gravel, overgrown bushes , you name it then its liable at some point to be blocking the path at some point including lorries in lay byes parked up completely blocking the path forcing you into the dual carriageway .
I have reported it to the various council departments who keep passing the buck and fix my street on numerous occasions and you can guess what they do ? thats right sweet fanny adam so in the end i contacted my MP and told them the dangers and within 2 weeks at least half of the path has been cleared .
Not perfect but at least i can get past sections now without fearing that my handlebars will get snagged on a bush and pull me off

 

[All uphill]

Good on you! Bloody-minded persistence often works where patient, polite calls don't.

 

[IaninSheffield]

A long drawn out affair it has turned out to be View attachment 614779

The section of cyclepath i have to use to avoid the roundabout of death which is a 3 lane affair where everyone is doing 40 plus and lane hopping is not safe even in a vehicle has been covered in various debris off lorries, bottles of micturate , gravel, overgrown bushes , you name it then its liable at some point to be blocking the path at some point including lorries in lay byes parked up completely blocking the path forcing you into the dual carriageway .
I have reported it to the various council departments who keep passing the buck and fix my street on numerous occasions and you can guess what they do ? thats right sweet fanny adam so in the end i contacted my MP and told them the dangers and within 2 weeks at least half of the path has been cleared .
Not perfect but at least i can get past sections now without fearing that my handlebars will get snagged on a bush and pull me off

Might you mention the MPs name?
We're often (rightly) quick to criticise them; publicly acknowledging their help, particularly when requested, might encourage more of us to make contact and potentially move forward things that concern us.

 

[Drago]

The Mailanista will love a cyclist who is trying to leep the roads clear for them to drink drive upon, and the fact that the laziness/incompetence of a public department are preventing you from doing so will have them foaming at the mouth with indignation (a bit like the Phantom Zone, but in reverse).

Local journos are all wannabe Mail writers and will leap at the chance to run a story, hopefully with you posing next to an obstruction of some kind, so the local chipwrapper might be worth contacting with this.

 

[cyberknight]

Might you mention the MPs name?
We're often (rightly) quick to criticise them; publicly acknowledging their help, particularly when requested, might encourage more of us to make contact and potentially move forward things that concern us.

Heather Wheeler
TBH most of what i have read about her ( and i didnt vote for her ) i dont agree with some of the policies of things she has voted for but in this she has done good

 

[iluvmybike]

My husband was brought off his bike as we cycled along a shared use path - the cause was overgrown shrubbery amongst which was a massive briar thorn branch. It had snaggged his jersey causing his handlebars to yank to one side. He fell onto my bike and hit his head - luckily I stayed upright. Apart from a few bruises and a bit of lost skin he was ok and the bike suffered bad scratches to his shift lever. The overgrown shrubbery extended to almost half of the shared use path. We contacted the local council to get it attended to so nobody else suffered the same fate - theysaid it wasn't them but weren't sure whose repsonsibility it was but gave us various people to contact. All to no avail - all denied it should be them to sort it. Finally we rang the County Council Cycling Officer who said they would investigate. Two weeks later the shrubbery was cut back. We never got told who eventually sorted it but what a palaver! And we can't find out how to get it regularly maintained - after this summer it is growing back again. It isn't safe to use the road instead as it is a fast very busy route with a lot of big lorries

 

[Drago]

In the late 90's the father of a female bobby I worked with was killed by tree branch on a cycle path in MK (up the back of New Bradwell if anyone knows the area). It was never determined if it had dropped off naturally, or some sheetbag had pulled it off, but had they been keep properly trimmed back it wouldn't have happened.