cycle paths

[newbie babs]

Not sure if this has been discussed before.

Do cyclist use cycle paths ?

I live in Sheffield, I catch the bus in the morning but I noticed this morning traffic was held up by cyclists using the road and not the cycle path next to them.

So I wanted to ask how come ?

Are they not efficient
Do you prefer the road
Is there not enough of them or too many of them

I just find it odd cyclists don`t use them

 

[jrhilton]

Not sure if this has been discussed before.

Do cyclist use cycle paths ?

I live in Sheffield, I catch the bus in the morning but I noticed this morning traffic was held up by cyclists using the road and not the cycle path next to them.

So I wanted to ask how come ?

Are they not efficient
Do you prefer the road
Is there not enough of them or too many of them

I just find it odd cyclists don't use them

I've noticed the same here. The local council have spent huge amounts of money putting in lots of cycle lanes in the past two years, but they are hardly used at all. Where there are cyclists they just seem to carry on using the roads.

Though in fairness a lot of the cycle lanes around here are on pretty random roads, and stop and start here and there too, which I suppose doesn’t help. I suspect the council decided they had to have x miles of cycle lanes and then just put them in where they could to achieve that target regardless with little or no thought about where they are really needed, of if they would actually be used.

For the examples around here that are just not used (which is most of them), I often think the money would have been much better spent on fixing all the pot holes in the roads that are a real danger to cyclists, or better still, providing more secure fixing points to lock up bikes around stations or town/shopping centres.

 

[chris89]

I can't really judge since no bike lanes in my area. But i prefer to cycle on the road (Law abiding cyclist) since you don't have to contend with members of the public walking etc.

A lot of the time, a lot of cycle paths are block by cars, vans and so on, and the ones on the pavements tend to be fully blocked, or that people don't move out the way, so a lot will just use the road

 

[Greenback]

I haven't cycled for more yers than I care to remember, but when I did I would prefer to use cycle paths as long as they were well laid out, segregated from pedestrians (even if only by clear paint markings) and of a useful length.

Sadly, some of the ones I see today are not good enough. You have to cross busy roads to ge ton to them. They run for a 100 metres or less and stop, and they are too narrow to safely accomodate walkers and cyclists on the same path.

 

[90019]

The cycle paths on the roads are sometimes in quite a bad state, and being pretty much in the gutter means they're not always safe.

There are a few cases which really get on my nerves though, like the A8 between Gogar and Newbridge. There is a cycle path that is separate from the road, separated by a few feet of grass. It's well surfaced, and though shared with pedestrians, is very quiet. The A8 is 40mph at each end, but 70mph along most of this stretch.
The issue I have is with the militant cyclists who refuse to use the path and cycle along the road. I have never cycled on the road there, because it's just a stupid thing to do, especially when the path is there, and is a better surface than the road.
It's a stretch of road I would like to see cyclists banned from cycling along, because cycling on a 70mph stretch of road whilst there's a cycle path a few feet away is just idiotic.

 

[hairyhandedfool]

Generally I use cycle paths where available, but there are exceptions, for example, where they create a much longer journey. One local cycle path I avoid every day takes cyclists off of the road and on to the footpath just before I need to turn right, If I followed the cycle path round to the other side of the road I would potentially have a ten minute diversion at busy times and atleast five minutes when the roads are quiet (it crosses four motorway slip roads and a dual carriageway as well as being half uphill).

Another exception is where the cycle paths are full of objects. When the cycle path is on the road, they are often littered with broken glass from bottles (generally outside pubs) and car accidents (which is pretty much everywhere) and sometimes strategically placed nails/screws. When the cycle path is on the pavement, there are hazards known as 'pedestrians' who seem to be blissfully unaware that (a) they are on a cycle path and (b) they are about to get run over.

I can think of a couple of cycle paths locally which stop for about ten yards to accomodate a bus shelter then continue, presumably meaning cyclists should dismount or get back on the road for that distance.

 

[eMeS]

Not sure if this has been discussed before.

Do cyclist use cycle paths ?
...

I live in Milton Keynes where decades ago the Development Corporation laid miles of "Redways" across the area of the new city as a dedicated network of ~3m wide red tarmacked paths for pedestrians and cyclists. I've also tried cycling around Milton Keynes using the Redways - and it's not very pleasant.

They are separate to the roads used by cars etc. and in many places where the Redway crosses, there's a lack of detail with regard to abrupt changes in level. Milton Keynes uses an approx. 1km grid for its main roads, and the Redways frequently pass under the grid roads. Unfortunately these underpasses attract glass shards from broken beer bottles etc. and they're rarely swept, and of course, there are no cars on the Redways to help remove the glass shards.

Some years ago an academic study found that overall they had reduced safety.

If my cycling had been on an all-terrain bicycle with its heavy tyres and suspension, I might have been a little less annoyed with them, but for people using traditional type tyres, it's more comfortable on the roads.

 

[466.networkers]

Down here on Sheppey, we have only 1 dedicated cycle lane (MIllenium Way in Sheerness - the newest road!) and very few cycle paths.

I use the road more than anything, I'd prefer to use the path but the local police have stopped and warned me a few times about the legality of doing that ... (once, I had a nasty accident after one such stop ... but that's another story ...)

When I go to work in Sittingbourne, I have to cycle along an arterial road through the outskirts of Sittingbourne (Grovehurst Road/Saffron Way/Mill Way for those who know the area) which only has a cycle path from the end of Grovehurst Road through Saffron Way and ends at the Trinity Trading Estate on Mill Way (all one long road).

I use the path 9 times out of 10 as I don't fancy cycling along a road which isn't well kept and also has lots of lorries and industrial traffic going along it!

I do use the road where possible, if the road is blocked or impassable and a path is there, I will use it.

 

[Metroland]

I use cycle paths where possible, the main problem with many of them is they are not very long, tend to merge in and out of the road, cross junctions so you have to give way (whereas on the road you wouldn't), mix with pedestrians, and some of them are in poor condition.

There are a few very good paths about, but ideally these are separate rights of way, off road, and dedicated to cyclists and allow speed.

 

[sprite]

I take a longer route to uni by bike than on foot to be able to make use of a cycle lane. There are 2 options for me, one is quiet traffic wise but involves a wait at lights for ages as the sensor in the road cannot tell there is a pushbike on it and so won't change the lights for me. The other is Oxford road (Manchester) and is stupidly busy, LOTS of buses and I have seen/know of lots of cyclists hit and nearly hit by the buses (mostly through Rusholme as the road narrows and is far too busy).
The cycle path on Oxford road goes onto the pavement just after Rusholme before nigh-on disapeering through the Uni area, however the very clearly marked cycle path on the pavement is almost always full of people armed with a dirty look for you becuase you're on a bike and they are in the cycle lane but want you to weave around them and the other groups of people.
To end this semi rant;

Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race

 

[jon0844]

We have lots of pretty good cycle lanes, separated from the pedestrians, but some of the more dangerous junctions just have you thrown back out onto the road because there's no feasible route to put a cycle lane in. It sort of defeats the object really!

A lot of people do just use the road.

 

[Nick W]

There's a cycle lane near where I'm working which is segregated from a curve. Unfortunately it's too narrow, making it impossible to overtake cyclists and scary when cyclists come the other way. In addition, the lights aren't synchronised and so you tend to stop at most or all of the traffic lights. The alternative is to cycle on the adjacent road, as I often do, or on the Euston road, which provides three lanes in each direction for overtaking and has synchronised traffic lights.

If there ever was more of a demonstration of injustice between roads and cycle paths, have a look at the junction just to the west on the Euston road:
A nice underpass for cars:

A tiny and windy cycle track for cycles requiring stopping at lights:

 

[bb21]

Cycle paths or psychopaths?

I'll get me coat.

 

[Nick W]

Cycle paths or psychopaths?

I'll get me coat.

A motorway walks into a pub one day. He goes up to the bar and orders himself a drink. He just sits down when in walks a strip of tarmac.

The motorway sees the tarmac and starts to panic so he jumps over the bar and ducks down so it won't see him. The barman looks down at him and says, "What's the matter with you? Why are you hiding? You've got six lanes and two hard shoulders. Why are you frightened of a piece of tarmac?

The motorway replies, "You don't know him like I do. He's a cyclepath."

 

[90019]

A motorway walks into a pub one day. He goes up to the bar and orders himself a drink. He just sits down when in walks a strip of tarmac.

The motorway sees the tarmac and starts to panic so he jumps over the bar and ducks down so it won't see him. The barman looks down at him and says, "What's the matter with you? Why are you hiding? You've got six lanes and two hard shoulders. Why are you frightened of a piece of tarmac?

The motorway replies, "You don't know him like I do. He's a cyclepath."

 

[starrymarkb]

In Exeter there are a lot of dedicated paths, especially along the river and canal, though some are in a bad state and are pretty rough on the bum (especially around Southernhay)

 

[newbie babs]

we have a dual carrigway with a cycle path and then the pavement, they still don`t use it they prefer to cycle in front of my bus (that I travel on)....it drives me nuts.

Then you get two chatting away, side by side in front of the bus as though no one else is on the road but them. Sheffield do try for cyclists but cyclists still like the road...strange !!!

 

[SWTCommuter]

Plenty of examples of reasons to cycle on the road here:

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/pete.meg/wcc/facility-of-the-month/May2011.htm

 

[bb21]

Thanks for the emoticon library.

 

[causton]

I despise people who cycle on paths that are unsuitable for them - in Hatfield many people tend to cycle on the path (which is full of pedestrians) rather than the road (which is empty) - there are some roadworks near me where they are replacing bus shelters reducing the path to about 1 person wide. There is a cycle path on the opposite side of the road. Today I got fed up and stopped (or rather, didn't move out of the way of) 3 cyclists. One thanked me for pointing out the path and two didn't understand what I was saying because they didn't understand English. *sigh, so is progress...*

We need a lot of training of motorists and cyclists in this country. I was in London at the evening peak (at the front of a routemaster!) and the number of cyclists going straight through red lights, across pavements, blindly cycling out between gaps across the road without looking... and also the amount of motorists disobeying Advance Stop Lines, and compulsory cycle lanes...
Police officers need to be employed to have a crackdown on this. And once they're done they can work on people who hold tube train doors open!

Sidenote: I witnessed someone who tried to run into a train door as it was closing, fall backwards and hit the ground of the platform! It was yesterday on the Bakerloo line and as we pulled away the SAT (who was dispatching the trains as it was peak time) was saying "That is why we say 'mind the doors'" to the passenger and the driver reminded us not to do that either. Fun times!

 

[yorkie]

Not sure if this has been discussed before.

Do cyclist use cycle paths ?

I am sure cyclist (who?) uses paths if they're appropriate, beneficial, and in a good state of repair and assist in the journey being made. All too often though, this is not the case and paths can lead to nowhere, be bumpy, and in some places are full of pedestrians.

I live in Sheffield, I catch the bus in the morning but I noticed this morning traffic was held up by cyclists using the road and not the cycle path next to them.

So? They are perfectly entitled to use the road.

So I wanted to ask how come ?

How can any of us answer that particular question? We have no idea on the situation other than it's somewhere in Sheffield. That narrows it down to hundreds of roads...

Are they not efficient

Some aren't, no!

Do you prefer the road

Depends on the location/situation.

Is there not enough of them or too many of them

There are not enough useful ones, and far too many useless ones. The 'Cycle facility of the month' on the website that was linked to earlier demonstrates how ridiculous some of them can be.

I just find it odd cyclists don't use them

Have you ever used them? If you had, you would not find it "odd". There are many cycle paths that I would think it "odd" if someone did use them!

 

[newbie babs]

I cant ride a bike, I just wondered why they prefer using a road when in Sheffield they wanted cycle paths and now a lot don`t use them.

There are some that do though so they cant all be useless cycle paths.

 

[jon0844]

We need a lot of training of motorists and cyclists in this country. I was in London at the evening peak (at the front of a routemaster!) and the number of cyclists going straight through red lights, across pavements, blindly cycling out between gaps across the road without looking... and also the amount of motorists disobeying Advance Stop Lines, and compulsory cycle lanes...
Police officers need to be employed to have a crackdown on this. And once they're done they can work on people who hold tube train doors open!

Don't even mention London. Go on a cycle forum and you'll get many cyclists claiming it's only a minority of people that break the law. In London (central London at least), it's probably 90% or more and that's NOT an exaggeration. Only the minority will abide by the law, and they get hassle from other cyclists and probably end up joining in eventually.

People hiring Boris Bikes are obviously terrible too - ignoring the 'instructions' given on what you can, and can't, do. Long gone are the days when it was just bicycle couriers that broke all the rules. All they did was set the benchmark for everyone else!

FWIW, the police do sometimes stop people and issue on the spot penalties, often in the City of London, but it's rare and cyclists can probably see them and become like a motorist - become model citizens for a short time.

What's worrying, however, is how many don't comply when they see police and get stopped and then it becomes clear they didn't even know what they couldn't do. After all, anyone can cycle and there's no training required. A lot of cyclists argue that it's safer to jump lights as it can give them a clear route (sod pedestrians).

Pathetically designed cycle paths must contribute to this growing problem, as they 'force' cyclists back onto roads and in the end, they just look for the shortest route which means crossing pavements, up the wrong way on a one way street and taking all sorts of risks. Go abroad where cycle lanes are done properly and it's totally different (The Netherlands excepted; they're just as bad and the Government designs roads to give them priority over everything!).

 

[185]

East Lancs Road is a useful path, spanning Manchester Liverpool. Also have Trans Pennine Trail up here, running Sheffield-Manchester-Liverpool, much of which is flat on ex rail lines.

Hit 48mph last month coming off the top of Woodhead pass, down towards Dunford Bridge, towards Barnsley