In BaNES we have Partners and Community Together (PACT) meetings. The last one was dominated by people demanding what the police are doing about pavement cycling. The simple answer is to give Cyclists their own space.
There is a picture that has done the rounds recently about a street in Amsterdam comparing the 1970s shot next to one taken recently. It’s subtle to notice, but there is no pavement cycling in the recent picture.
Seven Dials consists of a new shared space and a swathe of Traffic Regulation Orders to develop a more direct cycle network through the implementation of cycle contraflows. The Avon Street contraflow was applied for on the 15th of January 2015. If you look at the scheme map, you’ll see that the Monmouth Street contraflow is key to delivering the scheme as it provides a direct on road contraflow route into the scheme for cyclists:
So in theory as part of the delivery of this scheme, this TRO SHOULD have been applied for at the same time as the Avon Street TRO, sometime around the middle of January. So what happened? Why did council officers not apply for this TRO?
Continue reading Seven Dials, what happened to the Monmouth Street contraflow?
The Tour De France has delivered probably the single best video to underline the need to make cycling a serious transport option. If you are a councillor, MP, or work for a council, you need to spend 5 minutes and watch this video. Then you need to watch it again AND every time you commission a transport/public space project you need to watch it again.
http://www.itv.com/tourdefrance/features/video-chris-boardman-on-the-dutch-love-affair-with-cycling
AND you absolutely must go visit Utrecht. If you have a training budget, put yourself and your team on the http://www.hembrow.eu/studytour/ and transform your view of transport.
PS: If you work in the NHS you absolutely should also probably watch this.
Somebody once told me that every single councillor is there because they believe they can do good. I honestly believe that. I, however, do not expect every councillor to immediately have the knowledge to be able to engage with the council officers in a constructive manor.
So when it comes to public realm schemes, councillors “trust” the officers to get it right, or even trust other councillors with more expertise in that area to help them get it right. So a project is delivered, campaign groups and residents watch and then begin to give feedback through letters/email/talking/shouting. The councillors then go back to the officers and “get it fixed”.
This is how Cycle Bath had some of the posts moved on the Widcombe scheme. It was nonsensical to put the lamp post in the middle of the path and not on the edge out of the way.
It’s a very re-active approach, costly and time consuming. You wait for it to be built, then raise a concern.
A better pro-active approach that tries to get the design right at the beginning of the process is needed.
