Disappointing For Cyclists in Radstock

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Heltor Chasca
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Disappointing For Cyclists in Radstock

Post by Heltor Chasca »

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-so ... sh_regions

This concerns NCN 24 (Colliers Way) in Radstock, Somerset near Bath.

I'm waiting with baited breath to see if the above new £1m road layout will make ANY provision for cyclists. I pass through this new system on the school run bike 4 times a day if I'm doing pick up and drop off.

When my 5 YOD is on board I have to 'pedestrianise' ourselves and use 1 pelican crossing, 2 traffic light regulated pedestrian crossings and 2 sections of pavement before I can get from Haydon hill onto a local greenway. When I'm on my own I have use the road as a vehicle would. The original double roundabouts are frightening to say the least and the new mini-roundabout can be negotiated if you shut your eyes.

Some of you may know NCN 24 (or Colliers Way) in Radstock. If you are coming from Bath it mysteriously disappears when you arrive into Radstock and if you are on your way to Frome it only starts again on the edge of town. In town, cyclists need to 'magic' them selves from one point to another.

How do I go about voicing my disappointment? £1m spent on a road system for vehicles and from what I can see £0.00p on cyclists just seems...well...add your own expletives...b
Vorpal
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Re: Disappointing For Cyclists in Radstock

Post by Vorpal »

It looks like your closest Right to Ride representative is http://www.ctc.org.uk/campaigns/right-t ... w-nicolson

I would start by contacting him.

It's frustrations like that which led me to do my own campaigning.
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Elizabethsdad
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Re: Disappointing For Cyclists in Radstock

Post by Elizabethsdad »

why do you have to 'pedestrianise' when your child is on board? Why does carrying the extra load mean you cannot use the roads as you normally do at other times?
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Re: Disappointing For Cyclists in Radstock

Post by Vorpal »

I don't know about Heltor Chasca, but there were a couple of junctions where I pedestrianised when I had my children with. The biggest reason was that they were fast, intimidating junctions, and I didn't trust being able to get across them quickly enough with children. On my own, I could accelerate my way out of most developing problems. With the kids, I couldn't do that.

Also, one of those junctions, had a 40 mph road with a hill just after the junction. With the kids on board, I was slower, and preferred to use the shared use facility for going up the hill. That was easier to get to from the informal crossing than from the road. On my own, I avoided the shared use facility, but I could go rather faster, and the difference in speed between me and the motor traffic was less.

The other junction was an awkward offset on a blind summit on an A-road, so I usually went 50 metres on the pavement and used the pedestrian crossing when I had the kids along.
“In some ways, it is easier to be a dissident, for then one is without responsibility.”
― Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
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Heltor Chasca
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Disappointing For Cyclists in Radstock

Post by Heltor Chasca »

Elizabethsdad wrote:why do you have to 'pedestrianise' when your child is on board? Why does carrying the extra load mean you cannot use the roads as you normally do at other times?


Because of the zero provision for cyclists, motorists cannot fairly predict where I am going to be on the road. About 32 000 vehicles go through this junction every day I was told over 5 years ago. I drive a truck and trailer through it to work and the number of 'retina contacts' you have to process is staggeringly high. The risk is too high for me to pretend I am in the Netherlands for the morning just because I am a cyclist and I know my rights. I also have a responsibility to my daughter. The motorists are not at fault. I am not at fault. The fault is the planners'....b

EDIT: My 'load' is precious goods! [emoji108]

EDIT 2: exact figure I remember.
Last edited by Heltor Chasca on 15 Apr 2015, 9:34am, edited 4 times in total.
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Heltor Chasca
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Re: Disappointing For Cyclists in Radstock

Post by Heltor Chasca »

Thanks Vorpal. I'll do my best. It's worth him cycling with me to see how bloodthirsty this part of town is. I commuted in London for 5 years so I hate to make a comparison, but this is gladiatorial...b
Elizabethsdad
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Re: Disappointing For Cyclists in Radstock

Post by Elizabethsdad »

thanks vorpal and heltor, I guessed it might be something like that. I started taking my daughter to places round Southampton by bike about four months back. A domestic role reversal sees me as stay-at-home dad while my wife goes out to work in the car. Rather than get a second car I got a Bakfiets longjohn bike. My daughter loves riding in it. It is a bigger heavier bike and is slower up hills than I might be on normal bike but it doesn't feel that different otherwise. With a bike like that I think I am better off using the roads and staying off narrow paths.
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Heltor Chasca
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Re: Disappointing For Cyclists in Radstock

Post by Heltor Chasca »

Good stuff Elizabethsdad. I do the school run on a Surly Big Dummy. It is pretty nimble even with a stoker bar for said 15 kilo daughter who is perched on a sheepskin and has her scooter strapped to the rear part of the rack. Cargo bikes are the future [emoji573]

Vorpal thanks for the contact who I've emailed. He's about 15 miles up the NCN 24 drag from me so I'm hoping he may feel proprietorial about it. Cross fingers...b
Dave W
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Re: Disappointing For Cyclists in Radstock

Post by Dave W »

I thought there was a short cut that definitely avoids the double roundabout - not sure about the new roundabout.

http://www.gps-routes.co.uk/routes/home ... ycle-route

Have to say Radstock has become a total bottleneck particularly when driving in from Trowbridge to visit Bike It to get my bike serviced.
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Heltor Chasca
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Re: Disappointing For Cyclists in Radstock

Post by Heltor Chasca »

Dave W wrote:I thought there was a short cut that definitely avoids the double roundabout - not sure about the new roundabout.

http://www.gps-routes.co.uk/routes/home ... ycle-route

Have to say Radstock has become a total bottleneck particularly when driving in from Trowbridge to visit Bike It to get my bike serviced.


Hi Dave. There used to be before all the regeneration work. It was a source of lots of complaints on the NCN24 as it was so tricky. I'm hoping they fix something up. I'm hoping once the housing is finished they'll make this link safe and cycle friendly rather than 'pedestrianising' us.

Still waiting to get advice from our CTC rep...b
MikeF
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Re: Disappointing For Cyclists in Radstock

Post by MikeF »

Whatever happened to "cycle proofing" of new schemes?
The aim of the £1m scheme is to ease congestion, better define the town centre and assist in the building of hundreds of new homes.
Hundreds of new homes=hundreds more cars, so will congestion be "eased" - whatever that means? :wink: Or is this the usual rubbish spouted by councillors. £1 million doesn't seem much to spend on a road scheme that's supposed to ease congestion, but then I don't know the area.
"It takes a genius to spot the obvious" - my old physics master.
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coffeedrinkerUK
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Re: Disappointing For Cyclists in Radstock

Post by coffeedrinkerUK »

Elizabethsdad wrote:why do you have to 'pedestrianise' when your child is on board? Why does carrying the extra load mean you cannot use the roads as you normally do at other times?

I understand the concept of not being cowed and sticking to the roads, i seldom do pavements or get off and push. Getting from the Colliers Way to get over to the Bath side of Radstock has never been easy. I was there a fortnight ago, i couldn't find the little tunnel, It must have been demolished but there were problems getting to that point. Colliers way is being extended to reach closer into Radstock but there will still be the issue of getting accross to the othe side of the town. Hopefully a conveniently placed pelican crossing will be provided to pass over to and through the new houses where the old Rad Co was.
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Heltor Chasca
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Re: Disappointing For Cyclists in Radstock

Post by Heltor Chasca »

Yes, I'm hopeful too CoffeeDrinkerUK. I embarked on a "shakedown" this morning with 2 weeks worth of gear on my Surly DT in preparation for a couple of missions in the next few months. Just under 30kg including all water, fuel, food etc. All felt good, but having spent a week on my Surly Big Dummy (light front end) I was getting used to slightly different handling skills...

...On coming out onto the new roundabout I was almost hit by a lady coming from the top of the hill (Westfield) who drove straight over the roundabout and then proceeded to switch from her lane into the wrong one at the first of the famous double roundabouts. TWICE she almost got me! I did my best to tick her off but she couldn't see or hear through her perm. Poor lady looked as lost as I did once in the Chimanimani mountains when I was 20.

It took me 6 miles to get back into the rhythm of enjoying a day out on my bike. I did learn something though: For my long hair, perms look pretty damn useful as an easy-maintenance option. Leo Sayer with a beard is a good look methinks.............b
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