DrIsotope

New cycleway opens in Yorkshire - but council's cycling champion "disappointed" by "irresponsible" cyclists you chose to ride on road instead. Read the whole story at road.cc.
Councillor Taj Salam, who cut the ribbon to open the new route and is Bradford council's cycling champion, said: “I am disappointed to think there are irresponsible riders out there who want to ignore the new route and carry on cycling in the road.

“We are delighted with the route. It provides a safe environment for cyclists as well as making the route safer for other road users as they are not having to negotiate them on the road so it is sad to hear people are choosing to ignore it.”
I hope that the white line on the ground is decorative, and not intended to serve as a divider for bi-directional traffic. Because if that "route" is supposed to be two individual lanes, I would stay on the road as well.

Maelochs

I feel the same .... it is a one-lane road ... and the idiot who planned the picture chose an area where half the lane was made hazardous but a drainage grate.

"We did a job badly because none of us really knew what we were doing, and now the people who do know, whom we failed to consult, are not willing to risk their safety to validate our bad job. Life simply is not fair."

For an airhead politician.

Marcus_Ti

That picture shows exactly why people would ignore it. People ride the center line and don't keep to their lane. There's a drainage grate, also it doesn't look like it is sloped properly so in winter and freeze/thaw the path will become an ice-rink or lake.

Poorly implemented infrastructure won't get used.

Stadjer

Oh dear, a drainage grate. And it's narrow too, cyclists will have to go in a straight line when there's oncoming traffic! With an attitude like that it's better to not waste any money on cycling infrastructure because people will find any excuse not to use it.

CB HI

Councillor Taj Salam, Bradford council's cycling champion does the ribbon cutting and he is not even riding a bicycle for the opening. And then he is going to disparage the two cyclist that did not want to join the circuis on a 6 foot wide, two way path, with metal drainage grades in 90 degree turns.

His proper title should be Bradford council's cycling dunce, for this poorly designed, get off my road path.

Maelochs

Yes ... exactly ... but the excuse is "It is not safe." Also, It is poorly designed." Further, "It was obviously Not designed with input from actual active cyclists."

If a town built an unsafe road that puts drivers and passengers at risk, would you drive on it just because someone built it? Would you buy and drive an exploding Ford Pinto to soothe the feelings of the executives at Ford who calculated that paying off wrongful death suits would be marginally less expensive than moving the car's fuel filler neck? Would you ride in an airplane after dozens of that model had crashed and it was being taken out of service in most countries, to make the airlines feel better?

Yes ... Much Better Not to WASTE money on badly designed and constructed infrastructure, because sensible people won't use it. We are in complete agreement.

livedarklions

There's a bike path like this in Watertown MA (Arsenal St.) although it's only about a mile long. I've never seen anyone actually use it. It's all pretty and green, but it crosses a bunch of busy driveways, and it's clearly more dangerous than riding in the street on the correct side of the road. That's saying something because Arsenal St. is not a good street to ride on.

That path doesn't look appropriate for anything over 5mph. I'd never use it.

livedarklions

If that path actually became popular, it would jam up--people have varying ability to ride a straight line, and on a path that narrow, it's going to go sideways a lot, especially with crap like that sewer grate.

You're confusing "excuse" with "good reason" .

work4bike

I'm not ready to be herded like cattle; I'll stick to the roads.

ExPatTyke

That bike path's sadly typical of quite a few around here, clearly implemented by local councils who cobble together something like that with no input from people who actually ride on those roads in rush hour traffic. A lot of this so called infrastructure is done to secure central government funding; an example of that in my home town is two stretches of bus lanes that aren't even on a bus route.

For a so-called Cycling Champion to come out with the remark he's quoted with about cyclists using the road being irresponsible is mind boggling. One can't help wonder what the attitude of opponents of cycling are like?

There's an especially lethal cycle lane on my commute home; it's a painted strip on the road side that ends right on a bend where the road narrows. The paint is flaking making it even more dangerous in the wet. In the interest of my health I do not and will not ride in it.