O/t Cycle lane on Wellgate

[sawmiller]

Important points getting completely lost in this polarised, worn old argument...

People, consideration and responsibility. If someone isn't, they're a pain in the butt whether they are standing in a public place (often blocking the way of others), walking (refuse to accommodate others' needs alongside their own) or face stuck to screen device, riding a bike (on pavement, no visible clothing, no thinking of others) or driving (too fast, too close, cutting up, using screen device etc). People are the problem - this is what needs to be dealt with. For information, I talk as a regular pedestrian, bloke on a bike, train passenger and driver (I own three vehicles and have a business fleet) etc.

Still, don't let this get in the way of a good old rant.....

[Lasterman]

I'll give you the crap in the cycle lane.

Blocked emergency vehicles??? Nope, never seen one. Just like any road or a busy roundabout or Whiston Crossroads, other vehicles get out of the way.

Queues behind buses - What makes your time more valuable than a person sat on a bus going about their daily life. I bet you don't moan when on a single carriageway road and you get held up by a car turning right due to oncoming traffic.

If cars are hitting kerbs then perhaps the drivers of said cars shouldn't be on the road anyway. I've never hit a kerb on Sheffield Road and I drive to work 5 days a week.

Lack of cyclists - I see plenty. If those cyclists weren't riding their bikes and were in a car then the roads would be even more clogged up than they already are. The more cyclists the better for me - I might get to and from work much more easily.

Glad we're agreed on the crap in the cycle lane making it hazardous to use.. Now...

I didn't say my time was more valuable than someone on a bus. What I AM saying is that the road has been configured in such a way to ensure that nobody can safely get past a bus which has stopped, thereby creating an unnecessary jam. That wasn't the case before the divided-off bike lane was put in. Previously there was a bike lane delineated with a line which worked fine for the purpose.

Of course drivers should be paying more attention than to hit random kerbs, but the fact remains that they do. Why make life more difficult than it needs to be?

I'm surprised you haven't seen blocked emergency vehicles (specifically ambulances.) No it's not like the area around Whiston Crossroads at all. In that area, there aren't huge kerbs preventing cars getting out of the way. There is nowhere to go on Sheffield Road!

I've got absolutely nothing against cyclists. I'm a cyclist myself. But idiotic box ticking like this won't encourage a single person to ride rather than drive. The cycle lane isn't fit for purpose and it's just a very short (but very expensive) stretch between other normal stretches of road. It's a complete waste of money and has actually made things worse for drivers and bus passengers while doing nothing to improve the experience for cyclists.

[Andy_the_Miller]

Glad we're agreed on the crap in the cycle lane making it hazardous to use.. Now...

I didn't say my time was more valuable than someone on a bus. What I AM saying is that the road has been configured in such a way to ensure that nobody can safely get past a bus which has stopped, thereby creating an unnecessary jam. That wasn't the case before the divided-off bike lane was put in. Previously there was a bike lane delineated with a line which worked fine for the purpose.

Of course drivers should be paying more attention than to hit random kerbs, but the fact remains that they do. Why make life more difficult than it needs to be?

I'm surprised you haven't seen blocked emergency vehicles (specifically ambulances.) No it's not like the area around Whiston Crossroads at all. In that area, there aren't huge kerbs preventing cars getting out of the way. There is nowhere to go on Sheffield Road!

I've got absolutely nothing against cyclists. I'm a cyclist myself. But idiotic box ticking like this won't encourage a single person to ride rather than drive. The cycle lane isn't fit for purpose and it's just a very short (but very expensive) stretch between other normal stretches of road. It's a complete waste of money and has actually made things worse for drivers and bus passengers while doing nothing to improve the experience for cyclists.

That's the point - they are trying to encourage people to use public transport / cycle more by giving priority to these modes of transport. If it's not safe to pass a bus then drivers need to apply patience and wait (extremely difficult because people turn into idiots when behind a wheel).

You say you're a cyclist yourself but you also state that a painted line is fine!! Painted lines are never fine for a cyclist as it just encourages terrifying close passes by the impatient idiots. You're better off not having any lines at all. If drivers are damaging their cars driving into a raised kerb, guess what damage it does when they drive into a person on a bike.

I can guarantee that there are not many ambulances flying down Sheffield Road between the hours of 8 and 5.30. I have worked here since 2010 and I can only recall 2 occasions when I've been driving on the road and had to manoeuvre to allow an ambulance past. Guess what - it got through!

[Lasterman]

That's the point - they are trying to encourage people to use public transport / cycle more by giving priority to these modes of transport. If it's not safe to pass a bus then drivers need to apply patience and wait (extremely difficult because people turn into idiots when behind a wheel).

You say you're a cyclist yourself but you also state that a painted line is fine!! Painted lines are never fine for a cyclist as it just encourages terrifying close passes by the impatient idiots. You're better off not having any lines at all. If drivers are damaging their cars driving into a raised kerb, guess what damage it does when they drive into a person on a bike.

I can guarantee that there are not many ambulances flying down Sheffield Road between the hours of 8 and 5.30. I have worked here since 2010 and I can only recall 2 occasions when I've been driving on the road and had to manoeuvre to allow an ambulance past. Guess what - it got through!

So, you think that crappy half mile bike lane will encourage people to cycle? It won't. We don't have the weather, local environment or wider infrastructure to make cycling viable for most people as a mode of transport. And nothing is going to change that. Sheffield Rd is still a dirty, poluted, rubbish strewn unpleasent mess. I'm looking out the window now and there are rocks, discarded rubbish and weeds growing in the cycle lane. Even keen cyclists don't want this type of box ticking intervention. The answer to cycle safety is driver education. not artificial physical interventions which because of the local environment, will never be joined up.

Ambulances? Well, there are a lot using the road, and the layout makes it more likely that they will be delayed. Fine if it's for the greater good, but it isn't. The cycle lane is serving zero purpose, other than giving some blokes in hi viz jackets somewhere to lean on their shovel, smoke and scroll through their phones for another year (Yes, I've spent a lot of time in traffic jams watching them!)

[Andy_the_Miller]

So, you think that crappy half mile bike lane will encourage people to cycle? It won't. We don't have the weather, local environment or wider infrastructure to make cycling viable for most people as a mode of transport. And nothing is going to change that. Sheffield Rd is still a dirty, poluted, rubbish strewn unpleasent mess. I'm looking out the window now and there are rocks, discarded rubbish and weeds growing in the cycle lane. Even keen cyclists don't want this type of box ticking intervention. The answer to cycle safety is driver education. not artificial physical interventions which because of the local environment, will never be joined up.

Ambulances? Well, there are a lot using the road, and the layout makes it more likely that they will be delayed. Fine if it's for the greater good, but it isn't. The cycle lane is serving zero purpose, other than giving some blokes in hi viz jackets somewhere to lean on their shovel, smoke and scroll through their phones for another year (Yes, I've spent a lot of time in traffic jams watching them!)

I've rode more miles on my bike this year than I have driven in my car. According to Strava, I've urrently rode 8,237km which is roughly 5,150 miles. I ride in all conditions - and I mean all conditions.

I drive to work as the roads from Wickersley to Sheffield Road at rush hour are simply not safe to ride on. Build proper cycle infrastructure and I will ride to work and take a car off the road and save a bit of pollution at the same time. I'm sure other people would do the same. What's the saying - Build it and they will come.

[Lasterman]

I've rode more miles on my bike this year than I have driven in my car. According to Strava, I've urrently rode 8,237km which is roughly 5,150 miles. I ride in all conditions - and I mean all conditions.

I drive to work as the roads from Wickersley to Sheffield Road at rush hour are simply not safe to ride on. Build proper cycle infrastructure and I will ride to work and take a car off the road and save a bit of pollution at the same time. I'm sure other people would do the same. What's the saying - Build it and they will come.

If you're building a new town, great - incorporate it. But trying to fit it within an existing heavily industrialised area is untenable. Be honest, you wouldn't want to use the cycle lane on Sheffield Rd. It's already in embarrassing condition and the number of roads and business access points makes it hazardous despite what's been done. And if you want to talk environmental impact, you'll have to include the impact of building the thing in the first place.

And while we're on envoronmental impact. Great idea to build that biomass power plant on Sheffield Road, and then have literally dozens of diesel powered lorries queing up to fuel it every day, creating not only a traffic hazzard , but polution as well. Heartily sick of virtue signalling projects where the true cost is never calculated.