Danger Alert - Portway Bristol

[foxyrider]

Just a heads up for anyone using the Portway eastbound and using the road rather than the shared path.

There is a sunken manhole about halfway through the 'suicide' tunnel under Clifton Bridge, its directly in the line bikes should be taking, @ 1.5m from the kerb - i know as i hit it yesterday causing me to lose control and crash There is lighting but in daylight this just results in bands of gloom and less gloom, by the time i spotted it there was no avoiding action i could make (and i'm pretty good at dodging/jumping such things. Luckily a trip to A&E revealed nothing broken, a seperated shoulder and lots of roadrash which will keep me off the bike for a bit but someone else may not be so lucky.

So take care travelling through there.

[mjr]

Get Well Soon!

Can you see if anyone had reported it to the council already? If so, you might be able to claim damages - I'm not in favour of the compensation culture but it seems like it could be a way to get highways departments to wake up and stop injuring cyclists through misprioritising faults affecting riders.

Anyway, please report the fault and crash to the council, just in case they don't already know. Or is that bit of the A4 still trunk road? In which case, reports go to Highways England. If in doubt, council first, and they'll soon reject anything that's not their fault!

[simonineaston]

i hit it yesterday causing me to lose control and crash

Ow, ow, ow! Sorry to hear that - lucky you weren't squished by a following bus!! Get Well Soon.
Meanwhile, while you're "convalescing", treat yourself to a Sunday roast at the Beaufort Arms. Me and chums often get the chuffa to Sea Mills on a Sunday, walk back along the meandering paths between the station, up to the little lake, in & out of the arboritum, past the scruffy whales and so to Clifton, going up Goat Valley onto the Downs, thence to the Beaufort where we scoff Bristol's Best Value Sunday Roast (£10.95), washed down with a pint of cider.

[morzov]

Thanks for the heads up. Could have been very nasty with the traffic under there.

One other area worth mentioning in Bristol is the new fangled coned off cycle lane on the Clifton Triangle running down towards the Wills Building.

There are at least two quite dented manhole covers right in the middle of the lane which look like they would be a real hazard when wet ie today! You do wonder about the mentality of whoever put that lane in simply ignoring such a potential hazard.

[Bmblbzzz]

Ouch! Glad you're not too injured. Thanks for the warning.

[foxyrider]

yes i have reported it but no, it seems no one else has. They've acknowledged receipt of the complaint so i guess its wait and see now.

At the moment i'm confined to barracks as i can't wear anything fit for public consumption! Hopefully i'll be able to get out for a walk or two later in the week.

[Redvee]

Is this the guilty party? I'm aware of it as I ride The Portway on a daily basis and when I'm coming back into town there is less traffic about as I'm riding after 22:00, there is another road defect just after the tunnel that I ride wide to avoid but with less traffic about it is easier for me.
With regards the new cycle lanes I use the one past the Sports Direct bike shop on Lewins Mead upto the Bear Pit and it could be better. The reasoning for the concrete blocks is sensible, to stop vehicles using it, but the concrete blocks need so reflective material added to them and the other issue is the lane spits you out onto the roundabout in totally the wrong lane. I time it so that I get to the roundabout when the lights are red and cross back to the inside lane to continue up North Road on the otherside of the roundabout. I came down from Clifton last week and thought about using the lanes but as it was dark and I was carrying a fair bit of speed I kept to the main carriageway, glad I did now.

[Bmblbzzz]

Is this the guilty party? I'm aware of it as I ride The Portway on a daily basis and when I'm coming back into town there is less traffic about as I'm riding after 22:00, there is another road defect just after the tunnel that I ride wide to avoid but with less traffic about it is easier for me.

I only ride the Portway occasionally but if heading east, I generally prefer the bus lane to the shared pavement - except under the tunnel, where it all disappears.

With regards the new cycle lanes I use the one past the Sports Direct bike shop on Lewins Mead upto the Bear Pit and it could be better. The reasoning for the concrete blocks is sensible, to stop vehicles using it, but the concrete blocks need so reflective material added to them and the other issue is the lane spits you out onto the roundabout in totally the wrong lane. I time it so that I get to the roundabout when the lights are red and cross back to the inside lane to continue up North Road on the otherside of the roundabout. I came down from Clifton last week and thought about using the lanes but as it was dark and I was carrying a fair bit of speed I kept to the main carriageway, glad I did now.

That's what you're supposed to do. There's a sign by the roundabout saying something like "Cyclists northbound, use crossing". But that does mean you lose priority twice, once at each crossing. Actually three times, cos you have to wait for the traffic to clear to enter Stokes Croft (North Rd technically at that point) under the 51-02. On the positive side, it is nice and wide; though Marvin has already said it might be altered in some way because apparently it's holding up buses.

[foxyrider]

Is this the guilty party? I'm aware of it as I ride The Portway on a daily basis and when I'm coming back into town there is less traffic about as I'm riding after 22:00, there is another road defect just after the tunnel that I ride wide to avoid but with less traffic about it is easier for me.

that would be the one, in daylight with shadows from the outer wall it is much less visible.

i ended up a good 10 metres beyond it.

[Redvee]

I only ride the Portway occasionally but if heading east, I generally prefer the bus lane to the shared pavement - except under the tunnel, where it all disappears.

My journey down the Portway is on the shared pavement heading out of Bristol tioll I get to Shirehampton then into Shirehampton via Park Road, the return journey is on the road all the way back into Bristol. I will not use the shared pavement on the way home as I ride home in the dark and vehicle headlights are angled slightly to the left straight at me.

[Bmblbzzz]

Good point about the headlights. The shared path is also, in places, narrow and bumpy.

[tykeboy2003]

a seperated shoulder.

Join the club, I got mine in January when an overgrown hedge was blown into my path by high winds on my homebound commute. I had a cracked skull and a few broken ribs thrown in for good measure.

The shoulder looks a bit strange but doesn't affect me at all really - I've recently started playing badminton again (post lockdown) and my game certainly hasn't suffered.

Hope you make a full recovery.