Bradley Stoke to Bristol Parkway bike path opens. (BBC News 14/01/2011)

[whole diary]

[JayMac]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

A new bike path which links Bradley Stoke Leisure Centre with the nearby Bristol Parkway railway station has opened. The new route, through quiet streets and on cycle paths, is two miles long and cost ^100,000. The route begins on Fiddlers Wood Road then runs along Bradley Stoke Way, Sherbourne Avenue and Stoke Brook then crosses Baileys Court Road. The route then continues along Arden Close and Winterbourne Road before joining Mead Road, North Road and onto Bristol Parkway.

A similar route which runs in the opposite direction from the leisure centre to Cribbs Causeway opened in December.

Councillor Brian Allinson, from South Gloucestershire Council, said: "For those who want to start the new year with a healthier lifestyle this route offers a great opportunity to combine a cycle ride with a trip to the gym or for a swim. For longer cycle rides the new route also offers good links to cycle paths in the Three Brooks Nature Reserve and the local area."

Mark Crutchley, from South Gloucestershire Leisure Trust, said: "This new cycle route at Bradley Stoke Leisure Centre ensures that we can help the community work towards an all-round active life. We're delighted that people now have the chance to cycle to our centre. not only helping individuals get fit but also reducing the need for car journeys in the local area."

[SDS]

Grr mumble bikes, How many people in sadley broke actually want this cycle path? Or is it the council needs to spend money or loose it?

[JayMac]

Grr mumble bike haters. 

Also gives access to University of the West of England, AXA Life, MoD Abbey Wood, Filton College WISE Campus, a couple of Secondary schools as well as many other locations by linking into other 'Cycling City' routes. Bristol Parkway is a hub for these routes.

If you've ever seen the rush-hour traffic around this part of South Gloucestershire then you will appreciate the need for safe cycling routes. A lot of youngsters are travelling from the large residential area of Bradley Stoke to the schools and college. Also, cycling from Bradley Stoke to, say, MoD Abbey Wood is often quicker than driving.

So, I think the new route will be welcomed by the residents of Bradley Stoke, and South Gloucestershire Council should be congratulated for continuing to invest in safe cycling routes.

[Lee]

BNM, as someone who is clearly more well up on the ins and outs of bike paths than I am, would you say that ^50,000 per mile (according to the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) article) represents good value for money?

[JayMac]

I'd say so. That doesn't seem overly expensive to me in terms of construction cost. Factor in the socio-economic benefits as well and I think it represents even greater value. It's very difficult to quantify the cost though. Against what benchmarks do you compare? What factors do you include or exclude?

Sustrans carried out an analysis of the Benefit/Cost Ratio of three cycle route schemes in 2005. In their study the BCR^▸ (Benefit Cost Ratio) across the three schemes was 20:1. The typical ratio for road or rail projects is 3:1.

The Sustrans 'Economic Appraisal of local walking and cycle routes' document can be found here.

Not a comparison (as so many aspects are different) but here are some figures for road construction costs quoted in Hansard in 2006:

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the average cost was of constructing a mile of (a) motorway, (b) additional lane of motorway and (c) trunk road in the latest period for which figures are available.

Dr. Ladyman: The average cost for constructing a mile of motorway is ^29.9 million. I refer the hon. Member to my previous answer of 13 June 2006, Official Report, column 1116W, for the cost of an additional kilometre of lane of motorway in the period of 2005-06 as the latest available. The equivalent rate per mile is ^10 million. The average cost for trunk roads of constructing a mile of dual carriageway is ^16.2 million and single carriageway ^10.6 million.

Yes, we are in 'belt tightening' times at the moment. But if safe cycle routes were only to show a BCR of 5:1 then I'd still say it was money well spent.

[inspector_blakey]

100,000 nicker?! I'm sure I could have bodged something for S Glos council cash-in-hand for ^80,000, but sadly no-one asked...

[Phil]

Am I right in thinking this effectively links up Filton Abbey Wood with Bristol Parkway in a direct pedestrian friendly route? In which case, it can only be a good thing for anyone stuck at one station wanting an alternative line should trains not be running for whatever reason.

[tramway]

Phil

There was already a very good car free route between the two stations, although I admit I^ve not had any reason to cycle between the two for a few months so can^t comment on what additional work may have been done under the cycle corridor 1 improvement scheme, which is only one of approx 20 schemes. The signpost and white pillars on the MoD side of Filton station would appear to be part of the improvement work, the ones a cyclist ran into in the dark the other week. Can^t find the report at the moment.

With the recent removal of car passes from virtually all those living within 3 miles of the MoD Abbey Wood site I would say that any improvement to cycle paths in the area will be more than worthwhile.

SDS

A bit of background about Bristol being awarded cycling city status in 2008. I^m sure with the increasing costs that councils now impose on business parking I can see this sort of policy becoming increasingly common.

The government is giving Bristol ^11.4m to transform cycling by creating dedicated cycle lanes, better facilities and more training for children.

And from last December

All of the funding awarded to Bristol for it to become the UK^▸ (United Kingdom)'s first cycling city has been either allocated or spent, according to the city council.
The aim of the government-backed scheme was to encourage more people to ride their bikes and upgrade infrastructure.
Two thirds of the ^11.4m funding was used to either build or improve cycle tracks in Bristol.

Edit:

Found it.

http://www.bicycleaccidentlaw.co.uk/bicycle/accidents/news/cyclist-injured-by-camouflaged-bollard

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1340515/Council-slammed-using-white-bollards-invisible-snow.html

[Ollie]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1340515/Council-slammed-using-white-bollards-invisible-snow.html

I'm not familiar with the path but it does sound like it was his fault - he said it was before the snow came and the bollard blended with the white line that seperates cyclists from pedestrians  the fact he hit it suggested he was for some reason going over the line or was on the line.

"It happened before the recent snowfalls - but even then, the white line painted on the approach to the bollard fooled him into thinking it wasn't there."

[SDS]

Also agree, but then I will admit i'm kinda (okay very) biast against bikes.

He knew they were there, so why did he hit them? Biking without due care and attention?

I do like the council on this one, we'll paint them white so when you do cross the line, BANG you get hurt and you'll be more careful next time.


It also seems like a press stunt for his charity.
"Redmond, from Stroud, Gloucestershire, continued his journey on to sign up student volunteers for The Ape Alliance, the charity he chairs, at Bristol University's Biology Society."

[tramway]

Bristol Evening Post and Western Daily press articles on the accident.

http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/news/Cyclist-crashes-camouflaged-bollard/article-3030342-detail/article.html

http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/news/Cyclist-blames-smash-camouflage-bollard/article-3025673-detail/article.html

Interesting in the difference between these articles on how long the chap had been cycling the route as the path and station were built approx 15 years ago. 

The majority of the images don^t really give the full picture of the problems at that point of the path and the reason the council has probably placed the bollards there in the first place, the picture in the Mail is probably the best one.

As can be seen, the path has the usual white line to divide pedestrians and cyclists, the fence on the left in the picture is the boundary fence which has an access gate to the site in it, not very obvious in the photo, with the ^cycle^ path running adjacent to the fence. AM the normal cycle traffic flow is toward the camera. Just to the right a bit further up is the access point to Filton station, which is really just a gap in the hedge.

In the latest figures (08/09), Filton had something like 537k passengers going through, up from 378k in 04/05, and it has been claimed to be the busiest unmanned station in the uk. 80% of those people use that path, and as an example at approx 8.30 this morning there were 3 train loads of PAX dropped off within 2 min of each other, ( 1 x 4 car, 1 x 3 and 1 x 2) all 3 platforms in use, so you can imagine that bit of pathway can get a tad busy. Quite a large proportion then have to cross the cycle section to get through the gate, cue pandemonium.

The only improvement to date is the sticking of little blue and white circular signs in the empty spot at the top of the bollard. It would be interesting to see the councils risk assessment for that bit of the route. 

[BPWuser]

Am I right in thinking this effectively links up Filton Abbey Wood with Bristol Parkway in a direct pedestrian friendly route? In which case, it can only be a good thing for anyone stuck at one station wanting an alternative line should trains not be running for whatever reason.

No, Bradley Stoke is to the north of Parkway, whilst Abbey Wood is to the south. The cycle path links the BS leisure centre to Parkway.

This 'new' cycle route was already there, apart from the last piece to the leisure center which is actually built on land originally earmarked for the doomed tramway from Parkway to Cribbs Causeway/Aztec West (take your pick where it was going to end up).

As mentioned above, quite why it cost so much is a South Glos Council mystery. SGC do have a habit of spending vast amounts of money on traffic measures for no obvious benefit (rant over).

[grahame]

We could ... end up with a whole cycling forum, I suspect.   Anyone with some time to browse may like to look at these examples of some cycle lanes that don't always suit the cyclists:

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/pete.meg/wcc/facility-of-the-month/site-map.htm

This one in Oxford (my picture, not sure if it's still there) which looks like the cycling equivalent of a very low bridge:

http://www.wellho.net/pix/cycllane.jpg

And the magnificent cycleway to the new school just up the road from us which (I'm told) is to be shared between cyclists and pedestrians, but to my uneducated eyes looked like it was pushing the pedestrains (a.k.a. school children) into the path of the lorries.  Let's hope that the pupils are better informed than I was.

http://www.wellho.net/mouth/2867_Cycling-in-Melksham-and-looking-forward.html
and
http://www.wellho.net/mouth/2958_What-do-these-road-markings-mean-Could-Confusion-Kill-.html

Oh - to balance Oxford, here's what they do with cycles in Cambidge ...

http://www.wellho.net/pix/campunt2.jpg

[JaminBob]

Am I right in thinking this effectively links up Filton Abbey Wood with Bristol Parkway in a direct pedestrian friendly route? In which case, it can only be a good thing for anyone stuck at one station wanting an alternative line should trains not be running for whatever reason.

No, Bradley Stoke is to the north of Parkway, whilst Abbey Wood is to the south. The cycle path links the BS leisure centre to Parkway.

This 'new' cycle route was already there, apart from the last piece to the leisure center which is actually built on land originally earmarked for the doomed tramway from Parkway to Cribbs Causeway/Aztec West (take your pick where it was going to end up).

As mentioned above, quite why it cost so much is a South Glos Council mystery. SGC do have a habit of spending vast amounts of money on traffic measures for no obvious benefit (rant over).

That's just how expensive infrastructure is. The minute you get guys in yellow jackets and tarmac on site the costs just spiral.

I think bignosemac hits it on the head, when you compare the entire cycling city project to the cost of even short bits of road you can see that if even they were to double the 5% that cycle already, it's not just good value for money its 'cheap'. You sign and promote a route that exists as well as improve the missing links you can get high growth.

Improvements in Easton to: http://www.betterbybike.info/cycle-improvement-work-starts-along-frome-greenway

[tramway]

The offending bollards have now been removed.

I've not searched for any press articles, but there is bound to be something about soon.