Brixworth Farcility

[mjr]

Can anyone shed any light on how Brixworth Country Park, Northamptonshire, came to have a cycle track that's only long enough to fit a substandard-size give-way marking in it?

I thought it might have been cut off by undergrowth but the Streetview from 2009 shows it the same length with a ditch behind - if it's a stub for future extension along the A road, I wonder why they didn't just leave it until building the extension. Given the nearby branch of Rutland Cycles (I think), it's a bit of a shocker that the cycleways are a mix of bonkers new build and paint+signs conversions. The northern island at that roundabout with one fence panel obstructing the crossing is also pretty special.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.31501 ... 312!8i6656

[MikeF]

And the absurdity opposite.

[Tigerbiten]

I've seen the signs many a time as I've cycled past but never stopped to check the track out.
I assume it's there to join the two local off-road tracks together via shared footpaths.
But I've always stuck to the road .......
There's a nice macadam track around the larger half of Pitsford Water and ~450 yard up Northampton Rd you can turn left onto a track that takes you down onto the Brampton Valley Way which runs from Market Harbour to almost Northampton.
I say almost Northampton as it can be DEEP mud under the railway line and then there's an anti-cycling barrier that I cannot get the trike past.

The cycle shop is Pitsford Cycles.

[mjr]

There's a nice macadam track around the larger half of Pitsford Water [...]

With a bizarre 10mph limit which I assume is possible because it's Anglian Water's private track rather than a right of way.

The cycle shop is Pitsford Cycles.

Not since June: https://www.rutlandcycling.com/content/ ... mpton.aspx

[meic]

It is a "bail out" option for those who do not wish to ride around the roundabout.
The little patch of tarmac in the first link is somewhere to pull a bike off the road while waiting for an opportunity to cross to the cycle track (for part of the roundabout) on the other side of the road.

[mjr]

But it looks too small to fit a typical bike in, much less turn it?

I've seen similar things but with a taper to let one turn off the road before turning to face across it.

[pwa]

One scenario that may fit the facts is if the people who constructed the highway were informed, prior to construction, that the people who own or lease the land either side of the new road planned a cycle track, and for some reason that track never happened. Maybe hoped for funding did not materialise. The road builders did their bit while they were putting the road in, but the neighbours didn't. That must be close to what happened.

[Pete Owens]

Its for unicycles obviously.

[psmiffy]

One scenario that may fit the facts is if the people who constructed the highway were informed, prior to construction, that the people who own or lease the land either side of the new road planned a cycle track, and for some reason that track never happened. Maybe hoped for funding did not materialise. The road builders did their bit while they were putting the road in, but the neighbours didn't. That must be close to what happened.

Nope

[Flinders]

The morons who install farcilities think a bike is about 3 feet long and can turn at a right angle in its own length. I thought everybody knew that.

[pwa]

One scenario that may fit the facts is if the people who constructed the highway were informed, prior to construction, that the people who own or lease the land either side of the new road planned a cycle track, and for some reason that track never happened. Maybe hoped for funding did not materialise. The road builders did their bit while they were putting the road in, but the neighbours didn't. That must be close to what happened.

Nope

I only looked at the unfinished bit on one side of the road and did not look at the other side. I now see what you mean. A token bit of something to tick a box.

[pwa]

The morons who install farcilities think a bike is about 3 feet long and can turn at a right angle in its own length. I thought everybody knew that.

Part of the track has not been constructed. Maybe somebody looked at what had been made on the other side and decided to halt money being wasted on more useless tarmac. Too tight to turn on the other side of course. I never use anything that requires a sharp turn close to traffic. Too much can go wrong even if you can physically do the turn.

[pwa]

A bit of a tangent, but I never use the off road alternatives around roundabouts anyway. Am I alone in this? I find that even the better ones slow me down, and the transition from track back to road is an opportunity for mishap. I just claim the road I need and take it like I would in a car. I may be lucky but I've not had much trouble doing that.

[mjr]

I use some and not others. Most of the ones I use don't have turns as tight as that one, don't stick as close to the kerb as that and often offer some benefit such as crossing fewer arms (such as right turns contraflow). For example,I often use the A10/A47/A149 roundabout track at quieter times because the carriageway is a scary racetrack taken at 60+ and I often use the A148/A149 track because it bypasses two sets of lights westbound and crosses fewer arms eastbound. I never use the tracks around the A148/A47 roundabout or the A149/B1145 one because they both have tight turns and the visibility is rotten at the latter.

[mjr]

There's a nice macadam track around the larger half of Pitsford Water

Just a small note on this aside: as of last weekend, the track is mostly loose stone with tarmac alongside the causeway and over the dam. Some stretches on the north bank are deep loose stone. It's passable on a road bike with 28mm tyres but uncomfortable in places - it would be fine on 37s but the overwhelming majority of users are on MTBs, even those who are racing around and shouting at others to get out of the way. I don't know if this is a downgrading of the previous track to make it cheaper to maintain (by not compacting or binding it), or maybe a rerouting so the macadam track can be used by wheelchairs/pushchairs/mobility scooters.