Cycle lane insanity

[Acorn1]

Whilst our roads crumble and are riddled with potholes, the Council (Lib Dem’s) have spent £17m of taxpayers money on this utter lunacy.

This has caused chaos around Poole for the last 3 years.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15621869/...

[grumbledoak]

And you can expect more and more of this, until it is near impossible to get anywhere by car. Because that is the policy really, they just won't say it out loud because they know it is a vote loser.

The fact that you have journeys you need to make that cannot be done by bicycle means nothing.

[119]

They did something very similar where we used to live and one day we noticed that the food waste bin lorry used it to do the collections to save blocking the roads.

[TorqueVR]

Is it some sort of national policy?

Early last year South Glos dug up and relaid the cycle path along the Bristol Ring Road and according to the signs it was a £3.5m improvement. It was a decent tarmac path that I used from time to time and it was 100% fit for purpose, but is now wider and has green tarmac. There are no other improvements, just the width and the colour of the tarmac and even as a cyclist it seems to me to have been a massive water of money.

[GloverMart]

TorqueVR said:

Is it some sort of national policy?

Early last year South Glos dug up and relaid the cycle path along the Bristol Ring Road and according to the signs it was a £3.5m improvement. It was a decent tarmac path that I used from time to time and it was 100% fit for purpose, but is now wider and has green tarmac. There are no other improvements, just the width and the colour of the tarmac and even as a cyclist it seems to me to have been a massive water of money.

It seems to be the same further on at Bradley Stoke where for the last couple of years, vehicle journeys have been lengthened by constant roadworks from the Old Gloucester Road roundabout right through to the "Aldi roundabout" just before Aztec West. That last section of cycle path is currently dug up even though there didn't appear to be much wrong with the old surface really.

You just know that in 2028, or whenever it is meant to be finished, they will trumpet the fact that congestion is down by xx% when in fact those figures will be the 2023-2025 figures where the congestion was horrendous because of the roadworks they instigated.

Whoever is at the top of the transport ladder at SGC should fall on their sword.

[menousername]

At the smaller end of the scale but equally
Insane - our local town recently secured £1m funding to turn us into a “walking town”.

It was from Central Govt so obviously a nice little gift to blow that does not come from actual tax payers.l and does not need to be funded in any way.

It was spent on a couple of curb widening at some random small T junctions in residential streets, with the road surface in that area raised - like a big square speed bump, and a load of unsightly yellow paint marking the path / route of this new walking town.

We are a fairly standard residential area with small high street. The route is a random route meandering from East-to-West across a few residential streets and even some unwelcoming back alleys.

It does not represent in any way a route that anyone would ever walk and is not even an efficient route to the high street. Completely random. Like they just pulled street names out of a hat.

£1m on some unsightly yellow paint and some curbing. Ignoring its viability for now, It shouldn’t cost that much surely??

[Hugo Stiglitz]

Acorn1 said:

Whilst our roads crumble and are riddled with potholes, the Council (Lib Dem s) have spent £17m of taxpayers money on this utter lunacy.

This has caused chaos around Poole for the last 3 years.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15621869/...

A fantastic idea. Personally the more urban is turned over to bikes the better.

[Smollet]

Hugo Stiglitz said:

Acorn1 said:

Whilst our roads crumble and are riddled with potholes, the Council (Lib Dem s) have spent £17m of taxpayers money on this utter lunacy.

This has caused chaos around Poole for the last 3 years.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15621869/...

A fantastic idea. Personally the more urban is turned over to bikes the better.

Yeah great idea if you have mobility issues and need a car to get around

[Jamescrs]

Leeds is as bad. A good portion of the city is currently ripped up due to building cycle lanes along with a lot of the main roads heading towards the city.
I know a lot of people who rarely go into the city centre now because they simply can’t be bothered with the hassle. The number of new build apartments suggests that there’s peobaly more than enough people already in there though to mean others travelling in doesn’t worry them too much.

[Essarell]

Hugo Stiglitz said:

Acorn1 said:

Whilst our roads crumble and are riddled with potholes, the Council (Lib Dem s) have spent £17m of taxpayers money on this utter lunacy.

This has caused chaos around Poole for the last 3 years.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15621869/...

A fantastic idea. Personally the more urban is turned over to bikes the better.

All urban is already available to bikes, bicycles have access to far more areas than vehicles.

Even though we ve lost circa 50% of our roads to bicycle priority there has been no increase in cycling, we cycle less now that the roads have been narrowed as the traffic is now unpleasantly close, the roads surface is a potholed mess and the paths suffer from heave from roots or subsidence.

Add in the fact that leaving a bike anywhere pretty much guarantees it ll be stolen.

No wonder our local economies are in decline, even the tattoo, vape and st food takeaways are closing in the area immediately south of the Tyne, an area blessed with dedicated cycle only areas.

[Randy Winkman]

Smollet said:

Hugo Stiglitz said:

Acorn1 said:

Whilst our roads crumble and are riddled with potholes, the Council (Lib Dem s) have spent £17m of taxpayers money on this utter lunacy.

This has caused chaos around Poole for the last 3 years.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15621869/...

A fantastic idea. Personally the more urban is turned over to bikes the better.

Yeah great idea if you have mobility issues and need a car to get around

The authorities would probably say that the more people are encouraged to get out and about without using cars the less likely they are to end up with mobility issues.

[Patio]

Jamescrs said:

Leeds is as bad. A good portion of the city is currently ripped up due to building cycle lanes along with a lot of the main roads heading towards the city.
I know a lot of people who rarely go into the city centre now because they simply can t be bothered with the hassle. The number of new build apartments suggests that there s peobaly more than enough people already in there though to mean others travelling in doesn t worry them too much.

Yep, £13 mill on cycle lanes and more inclusive pathways, whatever that means
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clydx0m453xo

Unfortunately the cash comes from govt and has to be spent on this type of rubbish rather than fixing the growing number of potholes everywhere

[bergclimber34]

Anti car policy has been going on for years, it is probably a small part of the reason why potholes are not getting repaired with the regularity they should, it is certainly the reason why fuel profiteering is the way it is despite much protestation from garages and why the government does eff all about it, it is certainly the reason why roadworks operate they way they do, why towns and cities have the approach they have to traffic and why garbage like this crops up.

it is actually called blackmail to be honest

My theory is this, EV's will be for those that HAVE to have cars, the lower classes will be forced onto other transport, buses, trains, ebikes, etc, no bad thing, but they have to make it work somehow as the people that own thee companies are the REAL power in the world, not government

[Essarell]

Randy Winkman said:

Smollet said:

Hugo Stiglitz said:

Acorn1 said:

Whilst our roads crumble and are riddled with potholes, the Council (Lib Dem s) have spent £17m of taxpayers money on this utter lunacy.

This has caused chaos around Poole for the last 3 years.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15621869/...

A fantastic idea. Personally the more urban is turned over to bikes the better.

Yeah great idea if you have mobility issues and need a car to get around

The authorities would probably say that the more people are encouraged to get out and about without using cars the less likely they are to end up with mobility issues.

This argument comes up all the time, especially at the “consultation” stage, we are actively restricting access to our cities to those with mobility issues to theoretically introduce a benefit to those who need to increase their personal fitness due to general sedentary lifestyle that seems to have taken root in the UK.

Then we have “lime bike leg” and other associated injuries

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2ejgrw9yepo

[Sporky]

bergclimber34 said:

it is actually called blackmail to be honest

They're threatening to release compromising information about you unless you give them money?

[oyster]

Smollet said:

Hugo Stiglitz said:

Acorn1 said:

Whilst our roads crumble and are riddled with potholes, the Council (Lib Dem s) have spent £17m of taxpayers money on this utter lunacy.

This has caused chaos around Poole for the last 3 years.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15621869/...

A fantastic idea. Personally the more urban is turned over to bikes the better.

Yeah great idea if you have mobility issues and need a car to get around

How many mobility issues (like obesity) are caused because of an overreliance on cars?

[G Thang]

Smollet said:

Hugo Stiglitz said:

Acorn1 said:

Whilst our roads crumble and are riddled with potholes, the Council (Lib Dem s) have spent £17m of taxpayers money on this utter lunacy.

This has caused chaos around Poole for the last 3 years.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15621869/...

A fantastic idea. Personally the more urban is turned over to bikes the better.

Yeah great idea if you have mobility issues and need a car to get around

They did the same in our local town, and I can honestly say I have never seen a cyclist on it.

[Essarell]

oyster said:

Smollet said:

Hugo Stiglitz said:

Acorn1 said:

Whilst our roads crumble and are riddled with potholes, the Council (Lib Dem s) have spent £17m of taxpayers money on this utter lunacy.

This has caused chaos around Poole for the last 3 years.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15621869/...

A fantastic idea. Personally the more urban is turned over to bikes the better.

Yeah great idea if you have mobility issues and need a car to get around

How many mobility issues (like obesity) are caused because of an overreliance on cars?

Causality? like obesity in those now sat at home on the Nat King? Or leading a sedentary lifestyle due to our failing economy where jobs are scarce or the lure of benefits creates generations of the unproductive.

But yes, I’m sure it’s cars that’s causing the problem

[Glosphil]

Gloucestershire is spending millions & causing major traffic disruption to build a network of joined up cycle paths. Bishop Cleeve to Cheltenham and then on to Gloucester. Then Cheltenham to Stroud.

On Evesham Road in Cheltenham residents have to stop their cars across the cyclcepath when waiting to join the busy road. Where the new cycle/pedestrian path passes through Churchdown the road has been narrowed so much that buses have difficulty passing in opposite directions.

On the road from Edge into Gloucester cars have to enter the cycle lane when passing in opposite directions. Also when passing the 'refuges' in the centre of the road. The only cyclists I ever see on this road are kids from a school & they ride on the pavement.

[Hugo Stiglitz]

Smollet said:

Hugo Stiglitz said:

Acorn1 said:

Whilst our roads crumble and are riddled with potholes, the Council (Lib Dem s) have spent £17m of taxpayers money on this utter lunacy.

This has caused chaos around Poole for the last 3 years.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15621869/...

A fantastic idea. Personally the more urban is turned over to bikes the better.

Yeah great idea if you have mobility issues and need a car to get around

Plenty of countries use bicycles to get around and have a decent car at home.

Yes there is illness or lifelong disability sadly but for many people its willful self neglect.

Our roads are rammed with constant traffic.