Condition of my local cycle path

RecumbentRide
Posts: 234
Joined: 27 Jul 2012, 9:11pm

Re: Condition of my local cycle path

Post by RecumbentRide »

Cyril Haearn wrote:The same here, many cycleways are still covered with grit put down during the snow weeks ago
It would be easy to sweep it up to re-use next winter
Maybe there is no overtime budget left after the snow
The motor roads are perfectly clear of course



Can you imagine the uproar if a car lane was becoming overgrown with grass and weeds!! :shock:
Username
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Re: Condition of my local cycle path

Post by Username »

pwa wrote:
RecumbentRide wrote:Fed up of putting up with the condition of my local cycle path and prompted by the selfless action of a retired railway worked I decided to take action and canvas other cyclists and the local highway authority as well as my local MP.

I've built a free website using Google sites here and am going to put up posters along the cycle path.

Has anyone else out there taken this route or how have you got action taken when local cycle facilities are failing. My communication with the local highways officer left a lot to be desired but it was interesting in that finances was not mentioned as a primary reason for doing nothing. That had more to do with his skills of observation or the fact cyclists come very low in his list of priorities.


Excellent shovel work. I hope I am not making excuses for them, but councils are generally feeling the pinch at the moment and some maintenance jobs will only get done by volunteers who just can't stand waiting any longer. I cut the hedges opposite my house because the council, the owner, doesn't do it and the hedge becomes straggly and the street narrower unless I do it. There is no funding for the Youth Club any more, and loads of other things are now gone, so it's far from being just cyclists feeling neglected.


A good idea would be to get dole people to do it. In return, they do not have to actually look for a job on the basis they are already doing one. So the dolies win by getting the JC off their backs, and the taxpayer wins by getting work done. 1 day per week isnt asking too much is it? Ofcourse as a government, its their job to be as inefficient as possible.
pwa
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Re: Condition of my local cycle path

Post by pwa »

RecumbentRide wrote:
Cyril Haearn wrote:The same here, many cycleways are still covered with grit put down during the snow weeks ago
It would be easy to sweep it up to re-use next winter
Maybe there is no overtime budget left after the snow
The motor roads are perfectly clear of course


Can you imagine the uproar if a car lane was becoming overgrown with grass and weeds!!


It does happen but it is much less common. A few lanes around here are now almost unusable by car or road bike, with a grass strip down the middle and hedges overhanging the tarmac.https://www.google.com/maps/@51.4784451 ... 6?hl=en-GB
RecumbentRide
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Re: Condition of my local cycle path

Post by RecumbentRide »

I've put up A4 posters in various spots along the route but it occurred to me that I might be breaking the law and may need permission. I plan on taking them down in a week or so if they haven't already been removed. Anyone know what the rules are?
pwa
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Re: Condition of my local cycle path

Post by pwa »

RecumbentRide wrote:I've put up A4 posters in various spots along the route but it occurred to me that I might be breaking the law and may need permission. I plan on taking them down in a week or so if they haven't already been removed. Anyone know what the rules are?


I wouldn't worry too much. We have posters about missing cats, etc around here from time to time and nobody minds. Especially if you clear them away after a while.
RecumbentRide
Posts: 234
Joined: 27 Jul 2012, 9:11pm

Re: Condition of my local cycle path

Post by RecumbentRide »

pwa wrote:
RecumbentRide wrote:I've put up A4 posters in various spots along the route but it occurred to me that I might be breaking the law and may need permission. I plan on taking them down in a week or so if they haven't already been removed. Anyone know what the rules are?


I wouldn't worry too much. We have posters about missing cats, etc around here from time to time and nobody minds. Especially if you clear them away after a while.


Yes planning to remove them after a week, certainly don't want them around after that and if people haven't responded by then they never will.
MikeF
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Re: Condition of my local cycle path

Post by MikeF »

Pete Owens wrote:That is not a cycle path it is a narrow pavement - and the council had no business subjecting pedestrians to vehicular traffic in the first place.
Section 2 shows a separated cycle path and pedestrian path separated by a kerb. Did you look?? There's nothing wrong with that design, only with the maintenance; the cycle section looks even worse than pedestrian section.

The problem is WSCC like all other CCs around here has sacked all its cycling officers, so anything other than roads are not considered. Matt Southern "went by" that route. He didn't say he'd cycled it, but he's "happy with that route" :evil:
"It takes a genius to spot the obvious" - my old physics master.
I don't peddle bikes.
MikeF
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Re: Condition of my local cycle path

Post by MikeF »

RecumbentRide wrote:Fed up of putting up with the condition of my local cycle path and prompted by the selfless action of a retired railway worked I decided to take action and canvas other cyclists and the local highway authority as well as my local MP.

I've built a free website using Google sites here and am going to put up posters along the cycle path.

Has anyone else out there taken this route or how have you got action taken when local cycle facilities are failing. My communication with the local highways officer left a lot to be desired but it was interesting in that finances was not mentioned as a primary reason for doing nothing. That had more to do with his skills of observation or the fact cyclists come very low in his list of priorities.
Well done on the website. If Matt Southern is happy with that part of the highway he won't mind you shovelling that material onto another part of the highway eg the carriageway. :wink:
"It takes a genius to spot the obvious" - my old physics master.
I don't peddle bikes.
MikeF
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Location: On the borders of the four South East Counties

Re: Condition of my local cycle path

Post by MikeF »

pwa wrote:
RecumbentRide wrote:
Cyril Haearn wrote:The same here, many cycleways are still covered with grit put down during the snow weeks ago
It would be easy to sweep it up to re-use next winter
Maybe there is no overtime budget left after the snow
The motor roads are perfectly clear of course


Can you imagine the uproar if a car lane was becoming overgrown with grass and weeds!!


It does happen but it is much less common. A few lanes around here are now almost unusable by car or road bike, with a grass strip down the middle and hedges overhanging the tarmac.https://www.google.com/maps/@51.4784451 ... 6?hl=en-GB
That's nothing compared with some of Surrey CC D roads. At least that's passable.
"It takes a genius to spot the obvious" - my old physics master.
I don't peddle bikes.
pwa
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Joined: 2 Oct 2011, 8:55pm

Re: Condition of my local cycle path

Post by pwa »

MikeF wrote:
pwa wrote:
RecumbentRide wrote:


It does happen but it is much less common. A few lanes around here are now almost unusable by car or road bike, with a grass strip down the middle and hedges overhanging the tarmac.https://www.google.com/maps/@51.4784451 ... 6?hl=en-GB
That's nothing compared with some of Surrey CC D roads. At least that's passable.

It was passable when the Google van came. It no longer is. On another road, now decommissioned, I once drove down in a transit minibus only to reach a point where both sides of the vehicle were pressed against the hedge. I had to reverse out, initially with no view through the wing mirrors. Bridgend CCC have now put boulders at either end of that lane and it is basically a grassy path. I think the lane in the Google image will finish up like that.
pwa
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Re: Condition of my local cycle path

Post by pwa »

pwa wrote:
MikeF wrote:
pwa wrote:
It does happen but it is much less common. A few lanes around here are now almost unusable by car or road bike, with a grass strip down the middle and hedges overhanging the tarmac.https://www.google.com/maps/@51.4784451 ... 6?hl=en-GB
That's nothing compared with some of Surrey CC D roads. At least that's passable.

It was passable when the Google van came in 2009. It no longer is. On another road, since decommissioned, I once drove down in a transit minibus only to reach a point where both sides of the vehicle were pressed against the hedge. I had to reverse out, initially with no view through the wing mirrors. Bridgend CBC have now put boulders at either end of that lane and it is basically a grassy path. I think the lane in the Google image will finish up like that.
reohn2
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Re: Condition of my local cycle path

Post by reohn2 »

Username wrote:
A good idea would be to get dole people to do it. In return, they do not have to actually look for a job on the basis they are already doing one. So the dolies win by getting the JC off their backs, and the taxpayer wins by getting work done. 1 day per week isnt asking too much is it? Ofcourse as a government, its their job to be as inefficient as possible.

You seem to be advocating working for unemployment benefit,which indicates there's work needs doing and therefore there are jobs.In which case some of the people out of work could be offered a permanent job and paid a decent wage for it.
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MikeF
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Re: Condition of my local cycle path

Post by MikeF »

pwa wrote:
MikeF wrote:
pwa wrote:
It does happen but it is much less common. A few lanes around here are now almost unusable by car or road bike, with a grass strip down the middle and hedges overhanging the tarmac.https://www.google.com/maps/@51.4784451 ... 6?hl=en-GB
That's nothing compared with some of Surrey CC D roads. At least that's passable.

It was passable when the Google van came. It no longer is. On another road, now decommissioned, I once drove down in a transit minibus only to reach a point where both sides of the vehicle were pressed against the hedge. I had to reverse out, initially with no view through the wing mirrors. Bridgend CCC have now put boulders at either end of that lane and it is basically a grassy path. I think the lane in the Google image will finish up like that.
Seems similar to Surrey's attitude, although they put up a sign "unsuitable for motor vehicles", but one near me is now not even walkable without long wellies. It would be OK in a tractor or maybe a Land Rover etc :evil: I had been cycling it for years as well. Surely if any road is part of the road network it has to be passable.
"It takes a genius to spot the obvious" - my old physics master.
I don't peddle bikes.
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squeaker
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Re: Condition of my local cycle path

Post by squeaker »

Perhaps West Sussex CC Highways need one of these? (As well as a sensible budget :roll: )
"42"
Cyril Haearn
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Re: Condition of my local cycle path

Post by Cyril Haearn »

RecumbentRide wrote:
Cyril Haearn wrote:The same here, many cycleways are still covered with grit put down during the snow weeks ago
It would be easy to sweep it up to re-use next winter
Maybe there is no overtime budget left after the snow
The motor roads are perfectly clear of course



Can you imagine the uproar if a car lane was becoming overgrown with grass and weeds!! :shock:

Fortunately there is so much motor traffic that the roads are never blocked for long :(
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