Danger to pedestrians outside Mountfields Lodge School

The Council is receiving complaints from parents about the danger caused by cyclists using the Woodbrook Way cycle path at school arrival and departure times. Several near misses have been noted and at least one collision when thankfully nobody was seriously hurt.

The fears expressed seem to be reasonable and we would be the first to agree that the track, although segregated, is too narrow to allow for high volumes of combined pedestrian and cycle traffic. One solution perhaps would be to only allow cycling on this section outside of the arrival/departure periods.

If any members have suggestions for dealing with this problem please pass on your ideas to one of the Campaign officers .

The Ashby Road Wiggles

You may have wondered how we let the Borough Council build such a poor piece of cycle path. For those of you that have not seen it the path has two trees on the centre line, which it winds round with very tight radii - it has to be seen to be believed. The Borough Concil never mentioned the wiggles to us. The first time we knew about them was when the digging started.

We fired off a couple of fierce letters to the Director of Planning and Public Services which were initially ignored. The facility is unsound and has already caused one near miss. The Campaign has continued to press for these bends to be removed and has now been assured that they will be soon.

Consultation is now on a much firmer foundation. The next part of the cycle network, Burleigh Way - along the old railway line, should be much better designed.

Suggestions for improvements

In many cases improvements for cyclists only involve small changes, such as the installation of dropped kerbs where roads have been closed. If you have any suggestions for small improvements, please advise one of the Campaign officers.

The Way Forward

Our next meeting on Monday, 9 September, is to be used to review our strategy and tactics for the future. Ariadne Tampion's article in the previous newsletter provided food for thought and evoked the following response from one member.

"I've always been of the opinion that cycle LANES are the thing to campaign for, particularly on non dual-carriageway roads. I'd LOVE a cycle lane between the Epinal way roundabout and the dual carriageway bit of the Ashby Rd - but I'm not able to think of asking for one now that there's a cycle path been put there, am I? I'm afraid I got the impression that the the group only wanted cycle paths, which I think are expensive and less useful. The only talk of a cycle lane I heard was on the A6 towards Derby. Does anyone have a problem on dual carriageways? I find them considerably easier as traffic (in particular the big lorries) seem quite happy to use the space to pull out more and just go round me."

If you think we need to change our style, do different things, ally with pedestrians or campaign to get the roads back, this will be your chance to air your views.

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