Tangled Metal wrote:Can the only person to say he's ridden that path say whether he's seen any disabled users there or tandemists or any other user type that might possibly have an issue getting through such a point?
People seem to be arguing from the point of what if scenarios not what actually happens. So I'll put in a what if scenario. If they changed that chicane what effect would that have on disabled users? It seems me that it won't entice many down there because I reckon if local they'll know the rest of it is impassable to disabled users. Instead of encouraging disabled access, which I'm certainly for, it is unlikely to do so but allow problem users to become a problem to all who do actually use it.
There's a bit of 'there aren't any swimmers, so we don't need a bridge' in that. If they've made it horrid for disabled users, they won't use it.
I used to use the Flitch Way quite a bit on my solo bike. It's a nice route, straight, flat, and free of motor traffic for ~10 miles. I avoided it with my tandem and trailer, because it was horrid getting through, over & around the barriers. There were a couple that my trailer didn't fit through. I also met mobility scooter users at Rayne who said that they didn't use the Flitch Way because they could not get through the barriers.
There have been examples in the UK of disabled users campaigning to have barriers widened or removed. The routes have subsequently attracted tandemists, disabled users, recumbent riders, etc.
There have been a number of threads on here in the past about barriers, and how to deal with anti-social use. I don't have a problem with a fence post, half-gate, bollard, etc. and a sign asking cyclists to slow down & give way to pedestrians.
Barriers don't help anybody, unless they are simple barriers, meant to prevent use by large motor vehicles.
Someone above made the analogy of speed bump. Speed bumps are not unreasonable things in the right location, but they also do not prevent legitimate users from using the road. Nor should anything on a towpath.
Infrastructure can't fix idiocy.
“In some ways, it is easier to be a dissident, for then one is without responsibility.”
― Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom