Cycling City - New Killer Lanes

I may have remarked before on the sheer incompetence of the so-called 'cycling officers' employed by our local authorities. Well here's a classic example from Cycling City partner South Glos (Bristol will be dealt with, yet again, shortly). It's a brand new 'facility' installed in connection with works on the bridge over the main line railway at Patchway on the north Bristol fringe (see map below).



Looking northwards from the bridge we see that the main road (and main 'desire line') swings around to the right to cross the A38 Gloucester Road on another bridge which can just be made out in the upper right of the picture. This bridge is strategically important to cyclists as it is the only decent means of crossing the A38 between Gypsy Patch Lane and Aztec West. Yet looking more closely (below) we see that the new cycle lane leads northwards onto the A38 and makes it very difficult and dangerous to follow the main traffic stream around to the right.



There have already been unconfirmed reports of a female cyclists being knocked-off her bike here and taken to hospital just a week ago. I tested it myself yesterday and found it difficult to establish my intention to follow the main route around to the right, despite appropriate hand signals (I should explain for the benefit of non-cyclists that hand signals alone are generally ignored by motorists. It is your 'positioning' as a cyclist that is most important and which sets up an expectation of your intentions with following motorists). Another cyclist (unknown to me) trying out the 'facility' reports -

"As I looked ahead, I could see that it did not offer a facility that I would be able to negotiate at 'commuting' speed. I thus looked behind and indicated right to move reasonably far out on to the main carriageway. My intent at this point was to avoid any motorist overtaking me and turning left (northbound), cutting me up in the process.

Shortly after, I heard a horn sound and was then overtaken by a car driven by a woman, with a man leaning out of the front passenger window shouting obscenities (including the words 'get out of the f*cking way, you are on a bike, not in a f*cking car'). Clearly, this person believed that I should have religiously followed the green cycle lane, however inappropriate for my journey."

Meanwhile more cycle 'facilities' are proposed by South Glos in the north fringe around UWE and Bristol Parkway station. The plans have already been condemned by local cyclists in deservedly forthright terms but it looks as if they are going ahead with them anyway. So much for consultation under the arrogant Cycling City regime.

Welcome to Cycling City. Incompetent 'cycling officers' ignoring cyclists' advice and turning out ill-conceived cycle 'facilities' that actually put cyclists at greater risk than would be the case with a standard highway design, coupled with aggressive and foul mouthed motorists ignoring hand signals and resenting the intrusion of cyclists into 'their' space. Until such time as we get shot of these "Better by Bike" Buffoons I suggest that every cyclist treats every new cycle facility with extreme caution.

Cycling City - Cycle Route Degraded

A useful 1.4 kilometre cycle route (below in red) using a road formerly closed to through traffic has been degraded by the road being permanently reopened to traffic to provide a commuter rat-run avoiding the parallel Avon Ring Road. The once attractive cycle route linked Frenchay with the University of the West of England (UWE) on Bristol's north-eastern fringe in South Gloucestershire. Cyclists now have to compete for space with rat-running traffic or use a narrow footway with blind corners.

The Ashley Dilemma

I'm not usually that bothered about who gets elected in local elections. Whatever the outcome the same tired old officers run the council with elected members being little more than rubber stamps who get rewarded once a year by being given a few percent of the budget to squabble over and play pork barrel politics. Of course I'd like to see environmental issues being given more weight and so am inclined towards supporting Green candidates, although politically they are too far to the left for my tastes.



However in today's election I am genuinely hopeful that Jon Rogers (above right), the Lib-Dem candidate for Ashley ward, will win through. That is not because he is a Lib-Dem but because he is Jon Rogers. I'm not easily impressed by local politicians but I believe he has genuinely tried to act as a bridge between the concerns of local people and the machinations of local government, making good use of the medium that matters most these days - the Internet. That is surely what councillors are there for, yet few perform that role as energetically and effectively as Jon Rogers.

He is also concerned about environmental matters and takes a particular interest in transport related issues including of course impacts on walking and cycling. He has taken over leadership of the Cycling City project and those involved seem to think he is doing the right thing there in getting some revision of the unrealistic plans adopted by Labour. As noted elsewhere he played a prominent role in defeating the West of England Partnership's plans to turn the Railway Path into a bus route.



It so happens that Ashley is also the ward most likely to be won by the Greens, whose candidate is Daniella Radice (above). I've nothing to say against her but a victory for her would mean Jon Rogers losing, which in my view would be a very sad thing. Jon has proved himself to be an extremely effective councillor and Executive Member whereas Daniella is as yet an unknown quantity. I know that many others take a similar view. We'd like to see more Green councillors but not at the expense of the most effective 'environmentalist' on the council.

Were I an Ashley voter I think I would split my vote - Jon Rogers for local councillor and the Greens for Europe. If you are an Ashley voter please think twice before giving Jon the boot. It really would be a great loss to Bristol.

Brazza Shocka! - "Cycling City in decline"

Labour's transport spokesperson and former Executive Member for transport on Bristol City Council, Mark Bradshaw, has publicly criticised the Cycling City project that he was instrumental in 'winning' for Bristol just a year ago. Although the project has been widely criticised by cycling interests in Bristol, including of course this blogger, it has up till now enjoyed cross-party support from the elected members of the council.



Bradshaw's criticisms were first made public a few days ago when he commented on the Internet forum Twitter, accusing the Lib-Dems (who only took over in February this year) of "letting Cycling City role wither". This is an odd accusation to make when his Labour administration hadn't even managed to appoint a Project Manager in the 8 months that they were running the project. Poor 'interim' management was widely held to be responsible for most of the problems experienced during the first year.

Bradshaw's latest criticism, posted on Twitter on Monday, was that "Cycling City has now stalled and is in decline". This is an extraordinary comment, considering that Bradshaw forged close links with many of the senior transport and planning officers during his 22 months as Executive Member. It is quite possible that he is reflecting the private views of senior officers. Perhaps it is now recognised that Cycling City cannot achieve its over ambitious targets and Bradshaw sees this as the chance to distance himself.



Another surprising Bradshaw Cycling City comment of the last few days is his assertion that the "opportunity for radical new thinking to achieve big shift being missed". Given the utterly uninspiring approach taken by Cycling City under Bradshaw's watch one can only wonder what "radical new thinking" he has in mind. Twitter's post limit of 140 characters doesn't allow for the exposition of any detail - perhaps why some politicians find it a comfortable medium.

Railway Path & BRT - Putting the Record Straight.

With electioneering in full swing and some marginal wards along the Railway Path corridor to be fought for, it's not surprising that Political Parties are playing up their involvement in stalling the plan to run Bus Rapid Transit down the Railway Path. The Greens are certainly entitled to do so, as are the Liberal Democrats who eventually came out against BRT on the Path despite their involvement in earlier stages of the plan's development.



But Labour have been trying to paint themselves as saviours of the Railway Path too, which might raise a few eyebrows amongst the hundreds involved in last year's hard fought campaign to persuade the Labour administration of Bristol City Council to drop the BRT plans. Mark Bradshaw, the Executive Member for transport from May 2007 until February 2009 has been prominent in making such claims and I've had a few run-ins with him on Twitter (see also my Tweets in the sidebar to the right).



But worst of all, as reported by the Bristol Blogger, was the leaflet distributed on behalf of Labour's candidate for Easton, Mohammed Arif. Apart from tastelessly using a picture of of a prominent local Green, Pete Taylor, who died recently, Labour were guilty of misrepresentation in that the petition being received by the Labour councillor in the picture was against the degradation of the Railway Path by the Chocolate Factory development and was nothing to do with the BRT plan.


Pete Taylor, supported by local campaigners including other Green Party activists, presents his Chocolate Factory petition to Labour Cllr Faruk Choudhury and Mohammed Arif (right) earlier this year.

So let's recap what happened over BRT and the Railway Path early last year.

From May 2007 Labour were running the council (with Tory support) and Mark Bradshaw was the Executive Member for transport and development. As such he also had a key role with the West of England Partnership. He 'inherited' a range of initiatives including the BRT plans to use the Railway Path.

Following widespread publicity from January 2008 onwards opposition to BRT on the Railway Path grew massively and the Green Party were early supporters of the campaign, although individual members of other parties were also prominent, for example Paul Smith, Labour's PPC for Bristol West.

Green Councillor Charlie Bolton submitted a motion to the April 1st 2008 Full Council meeting which was subsequently amended and supported by the Lib Dems to read (my emphasis) -

Council notes the strength of feeling expressed by citizens of Bristol against the proposed bus rapid transit route along the much loved Bristol-Bath railway path. Council further recognises that cycling is a more sustainable transport solution than the use of public transport, and that as well as a ‘commute route’ the railway path is a valuable resource for local people for walking, cycling and enjoying the countryside in the heart of the town.

As such, while recognising the vital importance of improving public transport in Bristol, council regards the use of the railway path for bus rapid transit as an inappropriate solution. Council demands that the railway path option is dropped and concentration is given to other routes.

Council calls on the Executive Member for Access and Transport to pass these views on to the West of England Partnership and to make clear to partners and government that this route is unacceptable.

Council further calls for extra investment in the path to enhance the experience of walkers and cyclists including measures to improve public safety and believes that this will enhance Bristol chances of becoming Britain’s first cycling city.

The strong wording - "inappropriate; council demands that option is dropped; unacceptable" is unequivocal and would have killed off the BRT on Path plan completely. However Labour, with Conservative support, defeated this motion by bringing in a 'wrecking amendment' which read as follows -

"Council notes the strength of feeling expressed by the citizens of Bristol against the possible shared use by rapid transit of the much loved Bristol-Bath cycle path."

"Council further recognises that walking and cycling are vital components of the strategy to encourage more sustainable and healthier travel behaviour in our city."

"While fully recognising the vital importance of improving public transport, Bristol City Council will oppose route proposals which undermine the current and future expansion of walking and cycling in Bristol, and, in particular, will oppose any threat to the current or future use of the Bristol to Bath cycle path."

"Council requires further information about the various route options, including those on roads and for these to be the subject of full public consultation."

"Council fully supports the Executive Member for Access & Environment in making these views known to the West of England Partnership."

There was a long debate on this on The Bristol Blogger but most commenters seemed to agree that the Labour motion consisted of weasel words which could be interpreted in whatever way suited the politicians and were basically meaningless, so keeping the threat from BRT to live another day.