Cycling UK Forum

Thread moved from 'Too Good To Lose' to 'On the Road'.

Good luck with this, because the dire state of nominal cycle paths outside crash barriers, and indeed where there is no crash barrier, on A roads maintained directly by HE is endemic. I thought from the description and the initial photos that it was my “local favourite”, the A5 south of Milton Keynes, which is just the same, with the added spice of being paved with broken glass.

They are also habitual neglecters of bridleways which cross major roads; often the sections on their land are effectively impassable, while adjacent farms maintain the routes properly on pain of having their grants cut.

It is a proper mess, plastic bottles, paper... some parts are showered with gravel, does it fall from the sky ?....Plus, there is always shards of glass... The thing is, it's a direct route and car free..... better than faffing with busy, winding, country lanes and wondering what's coming around the next blind bend. I split my time between Essex and London, by a long way I prefer the cut and thrust of riding up there, the visibility is generally better, car drivers are very much used to bikes swarming around them, they might not love us all, but I don't mind being shouted at from time to time. Then there is the speed limit, generally 20mph... Granted it's not everyones cup of tea...perhaps certain personality types it suits better, dunno know. The other bonus is the outer ring of Regents Park...it's blooming great; jump on a group, get dropped by a group, find another group, jump on, no drama....and you might see a llama or giraffe on your way around !

The interesting one this year, is the Giant Hogweed, it's really taken hold over this way, it's nasty stuff. A biennial in theory, so it'll flower in it's final year and put on a growth spurt, some plants though last for up to 4 years, but that's more unusual. I'm unsure if HE treat (kill) them with a chemical of some sort. They're plenty of dead ones around which look quite spooky in their skelatol state. It's the very large ones, at full height that I notice, so it's possible they have all come to the end of their natural life and not been treated. It's the brown Monty Don courds which have brought on the horticultural chat, apologies for that.

Take care on the roads ... BB

Also collect screenshot of the location and nearby of google street view, to show how it was when google last drove by, noting the date.
And if you still frequent that route, take your own weekly photos to establish what if any regular maintenance actually happens without them been forced into it, as clearly, they might not have tackled that triffid for another month had you or someone else not reported it as a hazard.

Seems councils et al do the minimum, or maybe don't ensure their contractors do a thorough job of maintenance. I've a local cyclepath which they cut maybe twice a year, but only strictly back to the path line, so obviously within 2 weeks it's already growing back into the way.
I had an injury accident myself as a result, an oncoming cyclist wasn't paying attention and swerved at the last moment, I had anticipated it, and stopped short of the obstacle but the other cyclist caught my hand as he swept by and then crashed. That's why I hate these wide mountain bike handlebars, they leave little room at all for others.

Sustrans have volunteers helping with routine maintenance on their network. What's frustrating is how almost all councils while not doing the work themselves, due to cost, won't countenance volunteers doing basic vegetation clearance. Nothing serious like dangerous secateurs or loppers

but just your everyday jungle defoliage kit

(it's a gif, click on to view fully )

I don't know if you contacted Police or not. My experience with Highways Agency (or whatever they call themselves today) isn't good. I contacted them about Brampton Hut roundabout a few years back - It was absolutely horrendous in a car, let alone on a motorbike or pedal bike. Their response was the usual "we regularly check and there are no issues". Unbelievable. I contacted the Cambridge Police Commisioner and within 2 weeks the area was resurfaced. I received no correspondence back from the Police, but suspect they had an influence. What astonishes me is the HA guy can make such excuses and keep his job ......... but of course the NHS management in the recent news is another (more tragic) example.

I've had a similar accident due to a boulder laying in the path obscured by foliage but I know if I'd report that here the most likely course of action by the council would probably be shutting that cycle route down so I'd just loss my route and don't think I'd get any compensation unless I had video evidence. In the event I just tidied the path myself after I'd licked my wounds then I fixed the bike and cycled on to work.


I'd have kept this thread in the " Too Good To Lose " section for the reasons above.

I reported it to the Police so I have an incident nr, they really weren't interested, I at least have a record if nothing else. I pressed them several times and eventually a Police Sergeant called me, again, he didn't want to know, he said is was a civil case, yes, they were certainly digging their Cuban heels in. I'm not 100pc sure if what they say is correct, at the time I had read a couple of articles which said it was a criminal offence. Once I put my claim through with HE...(at their suggestion) - I let the police be.

HE cleared the area where the incident happened within 48hrs, timewise, in one way, I can't really criticise them for speed, I was surprised. I did blitz them with photos of my injuries, legs, hands, upper arm and so on... perhaps that helped....or maybe a quite day...

The NHS, I often don't now what to say about them, they have so many, many problems from bottom to top and top to bottom.

BB

Hello harriedgary....

HE rarely touch certain parts of the pathway, I'm unsure why, I only travel on it around once a month, occasionaly twice, usually when I ride out with Schils on Sat morning up at Marks Tey.

That's a good tip to use Google Maps.... thank you.

Guerilla grooming type 2: cycle paths....I like that idea. I can think of any number of times I've pulled branches, bits of car...and so on off the road...when it's been safe.... I'm sure plenty of others have to. Something that never seems to get touched on this pathway is gravel, and the random lumps of lorry tyres.

BB

Hello Cowsham .... I think most cyclists, by their unique place on our roads and pathways can get up close and personal to many objects quickly, straighten things out with little fuss, it's almost a natural thing to do... At traffic lights, if a van, or lorry, has tie down strap(s) dangling in the wind like bunting at a Covid garden party (no further comment) .... I let the driver know, they've always been appreciative and tidy up, on the odd occassion I've done it for them...
Before I open my mouth to the driver, there is the usual frisson between cyclist and driver !

BB

Reply from National Highways / Highways England today ....

My FOI request; "Will you send me records of your maintenance days, plus the specific tasks your performed for; May, June, July and Aug 2023 for the A12 cyclepathway, between Witham and Kelvedon ".



RESPONSE from H/E

"Advice and Assistance

We, National Highways, do not inspect footways and cycle paths with the same detailed frequency that we inspect carriageways.

Footways and cycle paths are inspected annually as part of a detailed, walked inspection of the entire network that starts each April.

A driven inspection of the main A12 carriageway is completed each week. Obvious defects and other problems with footways and cycle paths that can be identified as part of these driven inspections will be recorded alongside any defect recorded for the carriageway and will then be corrected. However, any defect recorded is currently associated with the main carriageway and not identified separately as being related to the footway or cycle path in our repair database.

In many cases, the highway inspector will fix minor defects and trim back vegetation when found or identified.


Thoughts / comments much appreciated.

BB

Sorry to hear about the accident. Re reporting road issues, Devon has a good website for reporting all sorts of things. Then there's a number to ring if it's serious.

I suggest contacting your MP. I had an issue 3 years ago where I crashed. Reported it by phone, was told someone might go out in maybe 2 weeks. I stressed the issue had caused my crash, which could've been serious. Got indifference. So I went to my MP, she copied me in, it was fixed in days.

From my own work experience, I know that once MPs are involved, the case become top priority, everything else put to one side.

Good luck!

Thanks for the reply Rob. I believe Government agencies have to respond to an MP within a specific number days, something like 14 days is in my head. Thanks for suggesting this. When I spoke with HE over the phone, they cleared everthing up in around 48hours, which in fairness to them is quick....a bit late for me though I nearly ended up on the A12 which is a really busy dual carriage way, in lots of ways I was very lucky. As I have an official claim against them, (their suggestion), I will wait until I have their response, they only have around 30 days left now, so too not long. If their response is -ve I'll got down the Small Claims Route, but in parallel to that, I'll write to my MP, for now that'll be my strategy. A Solicitor, no.. it appears and at times seems, they can be a hit and miss; the curates egg.

The suggestions on here have been pretty sound.

Thanks Mr......

Would you need proof that your accident took place there and or was caused by said condition? If someone had previously reported it and it wasn't fixed I could see you would have more of a claim but my own notion would be not to claim for fear of having to pay court costs if I lost due to lack of evidence and the fear of losing the path altogether.

I have photographic evidence of my injuries, as I've said before, they're date and time stamped, standing in said location, with blood ! Ideally, a video of the crash would help greatly, but I don't have that, so I'm quite happy to leave decision(s) to the courts, if necessary.

The pathway is not widely used, what % of cyclists would think of reporting the condition, < 20pc ? ... what % would try and report the condition of the pathway; < 5% ..... what % would know who to report the condition of the pathway to <2pc. Think about it, how many cyclists, or even motorists report potholes; not that many, Council websites make that available to the public, even on roads with what apppears to be something on the scale of a "sink holes" few report it, it's lack of confidence in local councils + human nature, Brits don't really like to complain. At the beginning It wasn't clear, who was responsible for the maintenance of the pathway, I thought it would be my County Council.

There is a cap on costs via Small Claims, that's the whole idea of it; inpart, so Solicitors don't get whopping/inflated costs, this gives the man on the Clapham Omnibus access to Justice, without significant costs. Also, you have to consider the Judge too, they can always pull a rabbit out of the hat, it's not always black and white, remember you're in their front room. I'd have to be some scammer, time waster, going to all this trouble of making up a conveluted story that the fairies, who live under the mushrooms, at the bottom of my garden would be proud of, I'm not.

The pathway won't be lost, as a consequence of one incident, not a belief, a view based on the balance of probabilites. What are they going to do with it, plant it up with Cosmos, Rudbecki, Echium Pininana and wild flowers...They won't plant trees, they're very unforgiving if a car hits them. As long as there continues to be not enough money around to construct a third lane, or widen existing ones of the A12...the pathway is safe, in my humble opinion.

BB

bartlebobton wrote: ↑22 Aug 2023, 9:15pm ..........a Police Sergeant called me, again, he didn't want to know, he said is was a civil case, yes, they were certainly digging their Cuban heels in.
...........
.......HE cleared the area where the incident happened within 48hrs, timewise, in one way, I can't really criticise them for speed, I was surprised.
BB

The ecilops often do tell civilians that everything is a civil matter when you complain about Goliath. But as soon as Goliath wants a word with you, it becomes a criminal case... Not suggesting anything, but english justice has always been founded on protecting the rights and property of the King, Lords and bishops, not to protect the rights of the servants.

HE or most councils will be most quick to clear a problem after they've been told of a injury accident loss due to a failure to maintain some infrastructure, else they really do become liable for any subsequent accident injuries or losses.

As cyclists and pedestrians it's more likely we will stop and clear a problem if we can. After all we are the ones most likely to suffer worse if we don't. Though maybe some of us are a bit more willing to take a pair of secateurs back to a badspot than most. I've never been hassled yet, though I get some long stares at my bowsaw sometimes on one particular council maintained cyclepath near me. But their contractors only clear it once or at most twice a year. Dealing with gravel and broken glass is harder I find. It's not so easy taking a decent broom to a location. Might make a 3 sectional handle one day to achieve that easier. If I can, I always pick up discarded glass bottles, as the day after they usually become broken glass.

They won't plant trees, they're very unforgiving if a car hits them.

Have you noticed how double decker buses have what look like giant handles at front on the side of the windows. There are deflectors for branches. Trees are seldom cut back well enough to avoid been hit by buses.