tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828166865647185633.post3872370401072482725..comments2024-03-27T11:51:03.366+00:00Comments on The Ranty Highwayman: If we are going to do it properly, let's plan it properly first!The Ranty Highwaymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17361350433158148025noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828166865647185633.post-42149366347740163752013-12-04T20:32:04.092+00:002013-12-04T20:32:04.092+00:00But what if an LA or even the HA proposed such a s...But what if an LA or even the HA proposed such a scheme. A town gets a (probably long wished for) bypass, with the quid pro quo that the town's infrastructure is also re-designed to be fully inclusive (with the obvious exception of the car)? What then for those vehemently against the car and ever more road building?<br /><br />ARAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828166865647185633.post-24644980274380276682013-12-04T06:35:48.695+00:002013-12-04T06:35:48.695+00:00Quite right, but in the UK we have built ring road...Quite right, but in the UK we have built ring roads and bypasses, but have mostly not treated the areas being bypassed and so these routes still take heavy, non-local traffic.The Ranty Highwaymanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17361350433158148025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828166865647185633.post-52906592991573237332013-12-03T00:02:00.269+00:002013-12-03T00:02:00.269+00:00Quote "If the right answer to a barrier is a ...Quote "If the right answer to a barrier is a new bridge or a tunnel, or traffic signals which cut back vehicle capacity, then we need to spend the time getting proper budgets together and time to win people over. If the right scheme needs 3 years to deliver, then so be it. We have waited this long after all."<br /><br />But what if the right answer is road building?<br /><br />http://www.aviewfromthecyclepath.com/2012/09/langholm-example-of-how-british.html<br /><br />AR<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828166865647185633.post-4496394606960211572013-10-22T23:38:37.419+01:002013-10-22T23:38:37.419+01:003. Study the feasibility of the network ...
"...3. Study the feasibility of the network ...<br /><br />"Studying the feasibility of a network is of a similar importance to setting up a cycling unit or appointing a cycling coordinator," (Cycling: the way ahead for towns and cities, p.57)<br /><br />In other words, what is needed to be done in order to get the network to function?<br /><br />Once the network is functioning, you have gone from zero to one. As before said, this is the hardest step. <br /><br />You say that it is madness to front end so much feasibility, but a 'network first' approach has never been tried in this country, so how do you know that you would never get the chance to develop the network further? How do you <i>know</i> this?<br /><br />"Given their low cost, the small amount of extra work which they entail and the possibilities of corrections in the case of error, such measures may be adopted automatically. Even if their impact is not massive, <b>it will be real</b> (improvement of cyclists’ comfort, raising the awareness of motorists, encouraging the mass of non-cyclists who are most likely to take up cycling again).<br /><br />You have said before that engineers like to see stuff written down, but surely you don't think engineers are unique in this respect? What evidence can you show us to refute the five-step plan listed in my earlier comment?bikemapperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16902775699101288384noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828166865647185633.post-73958949446069931802013-10-22T19:18:03.763+01:002013-10-22T19:18:03.763+01:00It is madness to front end so much feasibility as ...It is madness to front end so much feasibility as we as we never get the chance to develop it properly or sound people out. We need a plan to transcend politics. Yeah, right.The Ranty Highwaymanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17361350433158148025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828166865647185633.post-34925394166933560852013-10-21T23:21:52.071+01:002013-10-21T23:21:52.071+01:00"I admit that long ago most authorities shoul..."I admit that long ago most authorities should have planned and designed the network they want to see before funding it."<br /><br />Not just planned and designed, but "introduced" it, as well. This—says the only publication out of Europe to answer the question, How to begin?—would be "a prudent course to follow". <br /><br />In French—Une approche prudente: le niveau de fonctionnement minimal<br />In German—Ein vorsichtiger Ansatz: das Minimalkonzept <br />In Spanish—Un enfoque prudente: el nivel de funcionamiento mínimo <br /><br />"But the short-termism applied to funding bids makes things a hundred times harder."<br /><br />The hardest step—according to Eastern philosophers—is to go from zero to one. Madame du Deffand: The distance is nothing; it is only the first step that is difficult.<br /><br />And yet this "difficult" first step, we want to make a hundred times harder. How very British of us.<br /><br />1. Think in terms of a network<br />2. Plan the network<br />3. Study the feasibility of the network<br />4. "Introduce" the network<br />5. Develop the network further on the basis of priority interventions and a timetable. The key here is <i>sustained investment</i>, which means to say, a lot of money and (more importantly, Ranty suggests, and I agree) a lot of time.bikemapperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16902775699101288384noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828166865647185633.post-60641140253645084482013-10-21T12:46:28.330+01:002013-10-21T12:46:28.330+01:00Another excellent post, and it does highlight the ...Another excellent post, and it does highlight the problems of the political expediency of "getting things done" and delivering stuff quickly as opposed to delivering stuff well.<br /><br />Very few authorities I know have schemes that can be simply taken off the shelf and submitted into a funding bid. Whilst the construction is the finance-heavy element of any scheme, the design is the resource-heavy element. Most local authorities simply do not spend the time designing schemes for which funding is uncertain or non-existant. <br /><br />As you can guess I also feel your pain. We are currently trying to submit for the Local Pinchpoint Fund. This effectively means designing a scheme, modelling it, consulting on it, and preparing a Major Scheme Business Case inside a month. That means putting all my other work on hold for a month to rush around in the vain hope of getting a few million quid. All in the name of getting something done.<br /><br />Ironically, one of the things I have had to drop is pulling together a 5 year programme of integrated transport schemes across 4 authority areas inside 6 weeks to go into the bid for the Single Growth Fund. One year's programme takes the better part of 6 months to pull together. It's insanity.<br /><br />I admit that long ago most authorities should have planned and designed the network they want to see before funding it. But the short-termism applied to funding bids makes things a hundred times harder.<br /><br />Rant over!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17695665033548919188noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828166865647185633.post-48613414990987480172013-10-21T07:03:35.575+01:002013-10-21T07:03:35.575+01:00Yes, Sustrans are heavily involved and have engine...Yes, Sustrans are heavily involved and have engineering staff in place for the workload.<br /><br />I am a volunteer for them and so have a lot of time for them, but while they will be able to help to assess borough proposals for TfL, it is all still too rushed and there will still be the issue of barriers and bust streets to deal with.The Ranty Highwaymanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17361350433158148025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828166865647185633.post-62439400293049104522013-10-20T22:27:51.892+01:002013-10-20T22:27:51.892+01:00I think that Sustrans are going to evaluate some o...I think that Sustrans are going to evaluate some or all of the quietways in London.john ackershttp://www.icag.org.uknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828166865647185633.post-28639284987543278772013-10-20T17:45:33.615+01:002013-10-20T17:45:33.615+01:00Well, the closest we may get to National standards...Well, the closest we may get to National standards will be those coming out of the Welsh Active Travel Act or the London Cycle Design Standards - I cannot see anything proper national, any time soon and this continues to demonstrate the total lack of leadership we have from the government.The Ranty Highwaymanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17361350433158148025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828166865647185633.post-40364868481736288742013-10-20T16:39:17.531+01:002013-10-20T16:39:17.531+01:00An excellent post. Thank you for your insight as e...An excellent post. Thank you for your insight as ever. Planning and deciding what to do is absolutely key.<br /><br />I have been saying for ages that what is needed first is a set of national designs that local authorities have to abide by. These designs need to be of a much higher quality and cater for a much greater number of cyclists in the future. It is also important to plan and include cycling at the very start of any project.<br /><br />If the Govt had decided to chuck a couple of billion at LAs and told them to get on with it, over large parts of the country all we would have got was a lot of tarmaced pavements redesignated as shared use.<br /><br />Yet to see any sign of the "cycle-proofing" promises (I hate that phrase btw), but suspect it will end up being more narrow shared paths with convoluted routes across junctionsGazza_dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00648167302912969102noreply@blogger.com