tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828166865647185633.post4690016877291536892..comments2024-03-17T09:15:16.095+00:00Comments on The Ranty Highwayman: #BashTheBarriersThe Ranty Highwaymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17361350433158148025noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828166865647185633.post-17032904408915558082016-01-17T16:31:59.144+00:002016-01-17T16:31:59.144+00:00The anti social problem has other solutions. Drug ...The anti social problem has other solutions. Drug war solutions like the Dutch perhaps, and a criminal justice system like theirs or Norway's. Add lighting to things like parks and it seems like that makes people not want to go hang out there. Just giving a person a house, good medical care and a bicycle, plus safe and efficient and fast places to use it for transportation, could give a huge amount of freedom to the homeless, who would become, well, what's the antonym of homeless? Homed? That is a social safety problem. The Dutch have solved this so well that a child can walk around outside at night with parent's not being worried. Multiparty Democracy Todayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13359081992141220593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828166865647185633.post-80466516027186213042016-01-17T12:44:07.853+00:002016-01-17T12:44:07.853+00:00Nice bit of humour of course, but that barrier blo...Nice bit of humour of course, but that barrier blocks access and needs to come out. Have you more location details on NCN12 - I lived in Hatfield for 4 years (although without a bike).The Ranty Highwaymanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17361350433158148025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828166865647185633.post-59188412830627173942016-01-17T12:42:09.358+00:002016-01-17T12:42:09.358+00:00Sooner or later there needs to be a legal challeng...Sooner or later there needs to be a legal challenge to this poor practice; I think it is worth spending 5 minutes emailing the local pointing out their duties; perhaps I need to sort out a template.<br /><br />Closing of parks is a different but allied issue, all about stopping anti-social behaviour; my LA closes a local park at night which contains a greenway route, rendering it useless. In terms of antisocial behaviour, the play equipment was torched. Yobbos can climb fences - who knew?The Ranty Highwaymanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17361350433158148025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828166865647185633.post-81914478264674281532016-01-17T10:54:55.856+00:002016-01-17T10:54:55.856+00:00Your Foot - the answer here is to close that littl...Your Foot - the answer here is to close that little stub of St Fillans Road to motors and have the crossing running between it and the park to people can walk and cycle without zig-zagging!<br /><br />Cycling in Edmondton - even with my little scheme (with the photo of the black bike) we would have locally widened the track on the main road (bent in/out) and then put in the barrier opposite the side path to stop overshoot. Unfortunately, the funding was very limited and so wasn't an option. The Ranty Highwaymanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17361350433158148025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828166865647185633.post-23269346747488051952016-01-15T19:55:41.649+00:002016-01-15T19:55:41.649+00:00My partnet rides a trike and cannot use a section ...My partnet rides a trike and cannot use a section of NCN12 in Hatfield, so feels very discriminated against. Meanwhile in Luton, they have extrterestrial threats to deal with on their cycle routes: http://www.lutontoday.co.uk/news/dalek-danger-on-luton-dunstable-busway-1-6611207Adamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06764801041477493876noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828166865647185633.post-15069407772424204962016-01-15T17:48:26.271+00:002016-01-15T17:48:26.271+00:00The story interests me because Dungannon is where ...The story interests me because Dungannon is where I got my grammar school education, though in all those years I never once rode a bike there. At the end of my street in London the local council installed similar turnstile gates at each entrance to a small local park, thereby rendering it a no-go zone for the many mothers with buggies and prams in the surrounding area. As well as being a green, pleasant and quiet space with playgrounds, the park provides a useful shortcut to shops, schools and transport links for a huge number of local residents in the many residential streets around it.<br /><br />Later the council replaced these barriers with more substantial railings with gates that could at least open wide enough for mums with buggies (and others with bikes) to pass, but after a year of 24/7 access, padlocks were added and now the gates are locked shut at seemingly random times in the evenings.<br /><br />I imagine the reason for all this experimentation is to prevent kids partying in the park at night, keep people away from a potential muggers' paradise and also cut off handy escape routes for young scrotes using it as an escape route from police. It just seems a very heavy handed way of controlling an area that is otherwise a valuable community asset. But rather than think of solutions that prioritise safety while maintaining function, all the council can do is erect barriers.congokidnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828166865647185633.post-22750689766179101842016-01-15T01:49:03.882+00:002016-01-15T01:49:03.882+00:00It's easier than you think to deal with this. ...It's easier than you think to deal with this. Just make some bends in the cycle path. Bend it left or right, then in the other direction after a few metres of going in the other direction. Make sure there is enough of a bend out, a sharp enough corner radii, 2-4 metres should be good for this purpose, and there being some space between the two bends. It makes it safe. So safe of a design that 19 of Assen's roundabouts (the other two are too new to have statistics for) in all of 2007 to 2012, inclusive, which are quire busy, with crossings designed in the way I just described, produced 2 minor cyclist injuries. Multiparty Democracy Todayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13359081992141220593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828166865647185633.post-78072750812065701002016-01-14T18:41:02.540+00:002016-01-14T18:41:02.540+00:00to my mind having an unprotected footway next to a...to my mind having an unprotected footway next to a 50mph dual carriageway means the network is fundamentally really rather flawed- though I appreciate that's not easy for today's engineers to fix.Alhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06817806128052425511noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828166865647185633.post-53617677741887922832016-01-14T13:51:25.202+00:002016-01-14T13:51:25.202+00:00A barrier along the kerb edge of a main road may m...A barrier along the kerb edge of a main road may make sense in some circumstances, but in others is just a nuisance. See here, for example.<br />https://goo.gl/maps/ZyB1H8Krrq92<br />The barrier has been added on a cycle route, forcing cyclists to weave along (far too narrow and sometimes quite busy) shared footways to use the toucan. The dropped kerb beneath the barrier indicates this was not always the case so presumably it was added because the previous arrangement was considered dangerous to cyclists and pedestrians existing the park.your foot, my facehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16795083014032577839noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828166865647185633.post-37365288637493890232016-01-14T06:52:14.993+00:002016-01-14T06:52:14.993+00:00Bob, we suggested a pedestrian barrier along the k...Bob, we suggested a pedestrian barrier along the kerb edge of the main road which deals with the theoretical risk of an overshoot from the side path, but the other authority didn't want clutter on its network! As I stated, it probably happens, but any more than people overshooting at a junction and we don't barrier those.<br /><br />Al, by that implication, we need crash barrier at every situation like this. The road is straight and I would say the risk is low; plus there are crossings at signalised junctions and we can't barrier those off!The Ranty Highwaymanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17361350433158148025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828166865647185633.post-67451941554613996472016-01-13T22:22:12.080+00:002016-01-13T22:22:12.080+00:00Or, as many pedestrians are killed whilst on the f...Or, as many pedestrians are killed whilst on the footway, and it's a 50mph road, perhaps a proper, sturdy, crash barrier to protect pedestrians and cyclists on the shared use from errant drivers and their tonnes of steel?Alhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06817806128052425511noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828166865647185633.post-38448523751873226192016-01-13T20:39:57.641+00:002016-01-13T20:39:57.641+00:00A thought occurs: re-the penultimate photo.
In f...A thought occurs: re-the penultimate photo. <br /><br />In fact I do know of one case where a child DID cycle on to the main road and get killed, although this may well be exceptional. What would you think of a barrier in between the footway (or shared use footway/cycle path as in this case)and the main road carriageway instead of the two separated barriers? That would address the possibility of an inattentive cyclist going straight into the carriageway, although not slow down the cyclist for any actual or supposed conflict with pedestrians? Just a thought, your opinion welcome,<br /><br />Bob DavisAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com