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Newbury Today Forum _ Newbury News _ West Berkshire Council to invest £100,000 government grant in a cycle lane on the A4

Posted by: Andy Capp Mar 9 2017, 05:51 PM

Cycle the A4 to get fit? Yeah right!

http://www.newburytoday.co.uk/news/home/20846/funding-confirmed-for-5-7m-newbury-to-windsor-cycle-path.html

Posted by: Biker1 Mar 9 2017, 07:29 PM

QUOTE (Andy Capp @ Mar 9 2017, 07:51 PM) *
Cycle the A4 to get fit? Yeah right!

http://www.newburytoday.co.uk/news/home/20846/funding-confirmed-for-5-7m-newbury-to-windsor-cycle-path.html

Glad to see £5.7M being spent wisely.
I'm sure it will be heavily used.
Who needs social care anyway!! tongue.gif

Posted by: Simon Kirby Mar 9 2017, 08:28 PM

QUOTE (Biker1 @ Mar 9 2017, 07:29 PM) *
Glad to see £5.7M being spent wisely.
I'm sure it will be heavily used.
Who needs social care anyway!! tongue.gif

When you think that the Town Council spend every year something like £150k on civic niff-naff and associated flummery then I don't think West Berkshire contribution of £100k is so bad. I think it's a good idea to promote cycling as it's good for people and good for the environment.

Posted by: Cognosco Mar 9 2017, 08:56 PM

QUOTE (Simon Kirby @ Mar 9 2017, 08:28 PM) *
When you think that the Town Council spend every year something like £150k on civic niff-naff and associated flummery then I don't think West Berkshire contribution of £100k is so bad. I think it's a good idea to promote cycling as it's good for people and good for the environment.


Taken in isolation it may seem not too bad but if you take all government spending, local and national, then there is a very real lack of coordination on what the priorities should be. Sure there are some things it would be nice to have but ensure the essentials are covered first. A cycle way is no help to someone who is unable to get out of bed in the morning as they have no carer to assist them due to underfunding etc. So joined up thinking seems to be severely lacking in a very many councils etc.! huh.gif

Posted by: Andy Capp Mar 9 2017, 09:07 PM

Bear in mind it is the A4, which is only getting busier. Even if it is not as unsafe as one might think, there's the stink from trucks and VWs, etc!

Posted by: Simon Kirby Mar 9 2017, 09:26 PM

QUOTE (Cognosco @ Mar 9 2017, 08:56 PM) *
Taken in isolation it may seem not too bad but if you take all government spending, local and national, then there is a very real lack of coordination on what the priorities should be. Sure there are some things it would be nice to have but ensure the essentials are covered first. A cycle way is no help to someone who is unable to get out of bed in the morning as they have no carer to assist them due to underfunding etc. So joined up thinking seems to be severely lacking in a very many councils etc.! huh.gif

I do agree with you, but I would still have sustainable transport high on my list of priorities.

Posted by: Simon Kirby Mar 9 2017, 09:34 PM

QUOTE (Andy Capp @ Mar 9 2017, 09:07 PM) *
Bear in mind it is the A4, which is only getting busier. Even if it is not as unsafe as one might think, there's the stink from trucks and VWs, etc!

Yes, I'd have thought the money might be better spent improving National Cycle Route 4 which already connects Newbury and Reading via the Kennet & Avon canal tow path (and in the interests of full disclosure I should say that I work for the national charity that maintains the canal, but that my view is my own).

Posted by: Andy Capp Mar 10 2017, 12:18 AM

QUOTE (Simon Kirby @ Mar 9 2017, 09:34 PM) *
Yes, I'd have thought the money might be better spent improving National Cycle Route 4 which already connects Newbury and Reading via the Kennet & Avon canal tow path (and in the interests of full disclosure I should say that I work for the national charity that maintains the canal, but that my view is my own).

I'm inclined and initially agree, but then I remember there is one thing that spoils a nice walk along the canal...

Posted by: Biker1 Mar 10 2017, 05:45 AM

QUOTE (Simon Kirby @ Mar 9 2017, 11:26 PM) *
I do agree with you, but I would still have sustainable transport high on my list of priorities.

In that case I'm sure you also support HS2 ?

Posted by: je suis Charlie Mar 10 2017, 09:55 AM

QUOTE (Andy Capp @ Mar 9 2017, 09:07 PM) *
Bear in mind it is the A4, which is only getting busier. Even if it is not as unsafe as one might think, there's the stink from trucks and VWs, etc!

Just so long as it gets the 'lycra warriors' out of my way it gets my vote, just a shame I won't get to smoke em like kippers with my nice pretty euro 4 white van.

Posted by: je suis Charlie Mar 10 2017, 09:56 AM

QUOTE (Andy Capp @ Mar 10 2017, 12:18 AM) *
I'm inclined and initially agree, but then I remember there is one thing that spoils a nice walk along the canal...

Swans??

Posted by: Turin Machine Mar 10 2017, 10:30 AM

QUOTE (Andy Capp @ Mar 10 2017, 12:18 AM) *
I'm inclined and initially agree, but then I remember there is one thing that spoils a nice walk along the canal...

The fragrant Mrs Capp?

Posted by: Simon Kirby Mar 10 2017, 02:37 PM

QUOTE (Biker1 @ Mar 10 2017, 05:45 AM) *
In that case I'm sure you also support HS2 ?

As you asked, yes, I support HS2 as part of an integrated sustainable UK transport and development strategy, but to deliver all of that it needs to be built with British steel and engineered by British companies, and that's not guaranteed.

But HS2 is more your hobby horse than mine - if it was up to me my first priority would be to install footpaths and cycle ways between every settlement in the UK.

Posted by: Andy Capp Mar 10 2017, 09:53 PM

QUOTE (je suis Charlie @ Mar 10 2017, 09:56 AM) *
Swans??

QUOTE (Turin Machine @ Mar 10 2017, 10:30 AM) *
The fragrant Mrs Capp?


Fkn 'enthusiastic' cyclists! angry.gif

tongue.gif

Posted by: Cognosco Mar 11 2017, 04:07 PM

QUOTE (Andy Capp @ Mar 10 2017, 12:18 AM) *
I'm inclined and initially agree, but then I remember there is one thing that spoils a nice walk along the canal...


The main Lycra Louts don't like the towpath, no red lights or traffic signage to ignore and unable to ride three or four abreast! rolleyes.gif

Posted by: spartacus Mar 12 2017, 09:17 PM

One day.... when petrol is up at £4 a litre and diesel cars have been banned from the road you may be glad that some faceless government officials had the foresight to plan the gradual conversion of the A4 into a cycling superhighway....you people have got no vision...

Posted by: Andy Capp Mar 12 2017, 09:26 PM

QUOTE (spartacus @ Mar 12 2017, 09:17 PM) *
One day.... when petrol is up at £4 a litre and diesel cars have been banned from the road you may be glad that some faceless government officials had the foresight to plan the gradual conversion of the A4 into a cycling superhighway....you people have got no vision...

Painting some road graffiti is visionary?

Posted by: Biker1 Mar 13 2017, 08:56 AM

QUOTE (spartacus @ Mar 12 2017, 10:17 PM) *
One day.... when petrol is up at £4 a litre and diesel cars have been banned from the road you may be glad that some faceless government officials had the foresight to plan the gradual conversion of the A4 into a cycling superhighway....you people have got no vision...

Have the people who do http://stophs2.org/ no vision either?
Or when petrol is up at £4 a litre and diesel cars have been banned from the road would we glad that government officials had "foresight".
High speed rail is part of future transportation as most of Western Europe, Japan and several other countries have already realised.

Posted by: Rdg Mar 16 2017, 04:49 PM

I suspect if you delve into this you will find the name sustrans listed - they seem to be a consultancy who specialise in getting sustainable transport grants for councils which saves them spending their own money. For instance from M4 J11 to Winnersh instead of Wokingham spending 80k resurfacing the road from their budget they got nearly £1m of grant funding to build a cycle lane and fence and resurface the road. Nobody uses the cycle lane, the road has had it's speed limit reduced and extra islands so you can't overtake plus the roundabout had to be reprofiled after a couple of crashes due to poor sightlines - but hey Wokingham "saved" £80k. Even the cyclists hate it as they have to stop for the side roads and the fast cyclists just want to keep moving

So unfortunately i doubt the money could have been spent on social care as it would have been a ring fenced grant

Posted by: blackdog Mar 16 2017, 11:52 PM

QUOTE (Rdg @ Mar 16 2017, 04:49 PM) *
I suspect if you delve into this you will find the name sustrans listed - they seem to be a consultancy who specialise in getting sustainable transport grants for councils which saves them spending their own money. For instance from M4 J11 to Winnersh instead of Wokingham spending 80k resurfacing the road from their budget they got nearly £1m of grant funding to build a cycle lane and fence and resurface the road. Nobody uses the cycle lane, the road has had it's speed limit reduced and extra islands so you can't overtake plus the roundabout had to be reprofiled after a couple of crashes due to poor sightlines - but hey Wokingham "saved" £80k. Even the cyclists hate it as they have to stop for the side roads and the fast cyclists just want to keep moving

So unfortunately i doubt the money could have been spent on social care as it would have been a ring fenced grant

Fast cyclists can cycle on the road - cycle paths are for safe cycling, not racing. As for no-one using the cycle path - I drove along there yesterday for the first time since the path was built - and noticed cyclists on it. Struck me that it was a rare UK example of doing the job properly, not just painting an ineffectual line along the edge of a road.

Posted by: Rdg Mar 18 2017, 08:23 PM

QUOTE (blackdog @ Mar 16 2017, 11:52 PM) *
Fast cyclists can cycle on the road - cycle paths are for safe cycling, not racing. As for no-one using the cycle path - I drove along there yesterday for the first time since the path was built - and noticed cyclists on it. Struck me that it was a rare UK example of doing the job properly, not just painting an ineffectual line along the edge of a road.


You obviously found the rare day they were there and not a day when a car breaks down (which now blocks the whole road) or when the walker had a suspected heart attack and the ambulance staff had to get the stretcher through the fence whilst their ambulance blocked the road or noticed the increased number of crashes on the roundabout since it was but it or the total mayhem when the stretch of M4 from 11 to 10 was shut and all motorway traffic had to use the now narrowed road.

And of course you ignored the perfectly good cycle route already provided through that area along the old road from before lower earley was built cutbush lane - it is directly the other side of the field and follows nearly the same route

Posted by: newres Mar 19 2017, 08:38 AM

QUOTE (Cognosco @ Mar 11 2017, 04:07 PM) *
The main Lycra Louts don't like the towpath, no red lights or traffic signage to ignore and unable to ride three or four abreast! rolleyes.gif

Cyclists are entitled to ride three or four abreast (not that I've ever seen more than two).

Posted by: Cognosco Mar 19 2017, 04:02 PM

QUOTE (newres @ Mar 19 2017, 08:38 AM) *
Cyclists are entitled to ride three or four abreast (not that I've ever seen more than two).


You don't get out much then? rolleyes.gif

Posted by: Biker1 Mar 20 2017, 06:00 AM

QUOTE (newres @ Mar 19 2017, 10:38 AM) *
Cyclists are entitled to ride three or four abreast (not that I've ever seen more than two).

You need to read The Highway Code rule 66 newres.
(Does anyone ever read that document anymore once past the test? rolleyes.gif )

Posted by: newres Mar 20 2017, 06:36 AM

QUOTE (Biker1 @ Mar 20 2017, 06:00 AM) *
You need to read The Highway Code rule 66 newres.
(Does anyone ever read that document anymore once past the test? rolleyes.gif )


It's a good job cyclists know the rules even if I don't because I have never seen more more than two abreast.

Posted by: Biker1 Mar 20 2017, 04:25 PM

QUOTE (newres @ Mar 20 2017, 08:36 AM) *
It's a good job cyclists know the rules even if I don't because I have never seen more more than two abreast.

You don't get out much then? rolleyes.gif

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