Cycling campaigners have pledged to keep Colchester on two wheels, even though funding to promote the use of bikes is about to run out.Oh noes! What will they do?
Money from Cycling England and Essex County Council has paid to increase and improve official cycle routes and trained hundreds of people in safe riding.Will withdrawal sink in?
It runs out tomorrow, when Cycling England becomes one of dozens of bodies scrapped by the coalition government.
Its demise had left cycling groups hunting for alternative sources of cash.Their own, perhaps?
Perish the thought!
Will Bramhill, chairman of the Colchester Cycling Campaign, said he was confident local cyclists would get money from other Government budgets.I say it’s time they went cold turkey…
11 comments:
The whole cycle lane thing was a council scam anyway; many are a total waste of cash to give the illustion of doing something while making things significantly less safe for cyclist and inadvertedly giving *another* reason for motorists to hate cyclists being on the road. They probably call that a "Holy Trinity" in councils...
Some of the cream of the bunch here:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/pete.meg/wcc/facility-of-the-month/
I'd say its well beyond high time that the "head-down, arse-up" brigade were made to take compulsory tests, made to obtain compulsory licences, made to take out compulsory insurance, made to tax their machine annually & be subject to compulsory annual testing of their machines .. just like every other road user ..
If they wish to use the road system, they can join the rest of us in paying for it ..
They've been allowed to leech off this country's drivers for far too long ..
I cycle everywhere, it's the fastest way by far to get around town and keeps me fit. Plus there is nowhere safe I could park a car even if I wanted one, it would be vandalised/stolen the first night...
I don't need "cycle lanes" making the roads narrower, more dangerous and wasting money. I don't need some quango teaching me how to suck eggs and wasting money.
Also don't need more excuses to tax and and control me wheeled out by people who should know better, what on earth do you want more of that for CH?
Far better to reduce the tax and rules around driving IMO than inflict more of the same bollocks on the few of us free of it...
Captain Haddock:
so many cliches, stereotypes and narrow minded arsewittery in one post; it may well be some sort of record!
Go live in a hilly place, as I do. The council here have neglected to repair the roads but resolutely pursued putting in speed bumps for cars on main roads, and provided numerous cycle lanes –– in some cases moving them on the pavement (like cyclists need any encouragement to ride through pedestrians)
The upshot of this 'save the planet, love the sicklist' approach is that in a place where it is too much effort to ride up the steep hills, the cycle lanes remain utterly unused. All the signs, all the special traffic lights, all the road alterations reach very few people... and often people who may make zero contribution to the economy.
But the council has to do something with the all the money they have, right?
As Anonymous said, the whole cycle lane thing is a council scam…
Here in Nottingham, we have cycle lanes on the pavement AND on the road - on the same stretch of highway. Both with their own own signage and paint.
Anyone would think that they got money for each metre of cycle lane…
Kevin, I'm in Nottingham too and totally agree. Most of the cycle lanes run a few dozen yards then stop, making them useless for commuting purposes.
They are a total waste of money, would be far cheaper and safer to not put cycle lanes or any other street furniture there in the first place. Leave a decent road width for all the traffic and everyone's life is easier IMO.
Anon @ 11.17 ...
You know you've hit a raw nerve when a post generates that sort of response ..
So I know I'm doing something right .. ;)
@ Jiks ..
I don't have a problem with cyclists per se .. If that's your chosen mode of transport, fair play to you ..
I agree that a lessening of taxation & legislation for motorists would be welcome .. but realistically, its not going to happen ..
I have a problem with the cyclists who thoughtlessly & dangerously obstruct and clog up the roads on a weekend, by riding 3 or 4 abreast .. in large groups, as if the road belonged entirely to them ..
I have a problem with the cyclists who routinely ignore traffic lights, one-way streets, stop lines, pedestrian crossings etc in the mistaken belief that they only apply to motorists ..
Cyclists can & do cause accidents .. but without cycles carrying VRM's (Vehicle Registration Marks) how are they to be identified ? (its easy enough to strip off the top layer of clothing) ..
If a cyclist causes an accident .. why should the motorist have to risk loss of a hard-earned no claims bonus .. whilst the cyclist has nothing to lose ?
Are all cycles on Britain's roads maintained in a road worthy condition ? .. Do they all have lights ? .. Efficient & working brakes .. Tyres fit for purpose etc ?
The only difference between cyclists & motorists, is that motorists pay for their means of propulsion ..
Cyclists seem to have got it into their heads that because they provide their own means of propulsion, they deserve to be somehow treated as "special cases" .. or allowed to ignore the rules which the rest of us are obliged to obey ..
As road users, cyclists should be subjected to all aspects of the Road Traffic Act & associated legislation .. and should be as easily identifiable as motorists are ..
"The whole cycle lane thing was a council scam anyway; many are a total waste of cash..."
There's often a 'Is this the wackiest cycle lane in Britain?' competition in the media that would seem to bear this out...
"Far better to reduce the tax and rules around driving IMO..."
Most people on the road aren't obeying them anyway.
"Anyone would think that they got money for each metre of cycle lane…"
I wonder if they do? Or at least get 'green' brownie points with someone?
"As road users, cyclists should be subjected to all aspects of the Road Traffic Act & associated legislation .. and should be as easily identifiable as motorists are .."
Agreed!
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