I have recently been commenting on blogs and forums about the need for better separated cycle paths. I am totally committed to the cycling strategies that have actually worked in Holland and Denmark. I want to live in a quiet, clean and safe town and removing a large proportion of cars is the only way to achieve this. Blogs from Copenhaganize and David Hembrow show how high quality separated cycle paths and other traffic calming measures can increase cycle use by massive amounts and so actually make the difference. Most people I talk to including cyclists think this is a crazy idea and “Can’t see it working over here”.
So here goes, let’s see if it might be possible to change Taunton from a car nightmare to a cycling heaven.
- Taunton is flat. There are a few bumps but nothing to worry about. So we can get people on their bikes a for around town journeys without any worry about hills.
- Taunton is compact. Half all journeys by car are less than 5 miles and a quarter less than 2 miles. Anyone who lives in Taunton will travel less than 5 miles to shop or work within the town. This means they could easily replace the car with the bike.
- Taunton has good weather. As Taunton is located in the south west of the UK the weather here is good. It is certainly milder than in Denmark!
- Taunton nearly has a good network of cycle paths. The town is compact and so a few paths can make a huge difference. There are some good paths, that, with some resurfacing and a little care to join them up would provide the basis for a great network. There are some dangerous paths, but these could be removed and some of the worst offenders would go if the whole town centre was made car free. This could easily be done and would allow the safe linking of all the major separated paths currently in use. There is much to be done but the problems are not insurmountable and the network could be transformed in a very short time if only the will was there to do it.
- Changing priorities is simple. It would not be difficult to give bikes on bike paths the right of way at all junctions. Adopting the Dutch system for paths would require some redesign but the roads are big enough and we could lay the curbs and paint the lines IF WE WANTED TOO.
- 20 MPH works. Some parts of Taunton already have 20mph limits and a town wide scheme would calm traffic down, saving life and limb, and making walking and cycling more attractive. It would not change journey times much as the town is compact and journeys are short.
- Much less on street parking is possible. Many streets could be improved if on street parking was totally banned. There needs to be a commitment to reducing on street parking and if we make a start, even small reductions, could make a huge difference.
Taunton could with relatively little cost become the best cycling town in the UK. If spending was moved from car infrastructure to bicycle we could make many of the changes in a very short time, maybe just a year or two. Will this happen? Probably not, because the council lacks vision, and most people are selfish when it comes to their car use. The main thing is it would not be impossible or a far distant dream, all we need is the will from people to stop driving the short, flat journeys they make around town and to get on two wheels.
Best
Nipper
The best of luck with that,it will be a hard uphill struggle even though you have no Hills in your Town. Trying to convince the Pro Motoring Lobby on your Council and vested Business interests.
If you can get them to put in one decent wide separated Cycle Path straight through the Centre of Town giving Parity to Cyclists at junctions it would be a great Boon . Then get them to put in Traffic free Zones at Shopping Areas. Tell them Tourists do not come to an Area to see Traffic clogging up the Roads,they like nice Areas where they can Breath in Fresh air and take nice Photo’s of the Historic Architecture. If the Town is always Clogged with Traffic and Pollution t hen they will not come back again. Money talks I am afraid they are a Greedy lot,if they think they can make a lot of Cash then maybe you can convince them to put in more Infrastructure.
If you can get Traffic free Sundays that would be great too.This is the situation in Dublin with two sets of People engaged in a Battle Royalle,on one side Cyclists Organisations The Greens and City Councillours and Government Ministers . Who want to improve the Carbon Footprint ,Public Transport ,Cycling Infrastructure and Quality of Life. Opposed by big Business interests like Department Store Owners ,City Councillours,Pro Motorists Organisations who are very Car Centric.
We suffer from narrow Cycle Lanes badly designed very much like the UK where you can get Doored,but People are trying to improve things.
Good piece, Nipper.
As you imply, it’s the lack of political will of a car-centric administration, frightened of losing votes from a stuffy, reactionary electorate, which is the major stumbling block to achieving Northern European levels of cycling infrastructure and the resulting levels of cycling in Britain. We are a generation behind them and it’s going to take a long time to catch up. Hopefully the steadily increasing price of motor fuel (£1.10 and rising, today…) will help to accelerate the process.
I shan’t be holding my breath, though.
Thanks Chaps,
I think what I am trying to say is that physically and for relatively little money changes could very easily be made to make Taunton a great cycling place. But as you both say it doesn’t happen because of the car centric politics and the ridiculous fears of business. I just find as I ride through town every day I want to scream out ‘just bloody do it’ The cars have had 50+ years and now it’s only fair to redress the balance. To avoid becoming the screaming loon on a bike I wrote the blog instead.
John, thanks for some good practical suggestions. The car free Sunday sounds great. Last Sunday the centre of Taunton was closed off to motor vehicles for the Christmas light switch on, it was a great atmosphere. There were lots of music stages and market stalls and it felt clean and safe, something lacking when the town is full of cars.
best
Nipper
As with other bloggers, I am 100% behind you on this.
I am doing my best to go as car free as possible, and I live in the wilds of Yorkshire – certainly NOT as mild as Taunton.
I regularly ride 22 miles round trip to go to town (would be 10 miles, but I ride round the houses to avoid ‘busy’ roads), and see people driving 1/2 a mile in their car to post a letter?
We (it is with much distaste that I include myself) as a nation are far too car-centric and need to get off our collective arses and ease congestion.
I reckon that England has great potential to exploit towpaths along the old canals to re-use them as arteries for it’s bicycle network.
Indeed Martin I love to ride tow paths, but they have to be direct routes or else people will not use them for commuting. Taunton to Bridgwater by canal is 14 miles, the main road is 9 miles. I would like the choice of a segregated path alongside the main road or the tow path for a more scenic route.
Hi Hipper, If I’d visited your site before responding on my blog, I would have seen that of course you know David. Hembrow.
I hope to post some interviews, already shot, with him soon. Cheers, Mike
P.S feel free to lift any of my films you like for republication. from http://situp-cycle.com
Thanks Mike, I look forward to the interviews with David, he has a great blog.
I am really enjoyin your blog, particularly this post. It is true that the UK is a beautiful place, and at very little cost the major issues of congestion could be remedied and the transportation issues effectively improved. If only councils focused their efforts on the needs of the citizen then we could drastically change our green credentials and improve the quality of life.
If you think about it, it is obvious that priority should be given to the following in order:
1. Pedestrian
2. Cyclist
3. Public Transport
4. Private Transport
Why should the quickest routes, and resources be afforded to these groups in reverse order, what does that say about the value of a society. Walking is the most egalitarian forms of transportation, the rest follow in the aforementioned order.
Keep it up, I will be interested to follow your organisation and progress of the campaign. Best initial start is writing a defense (similar to your blog) under local / community papers. All the best.
Joseph
A possible place to look at for inspiration is Milton Keynes. With the huge network of cycle-paths (redways) there is bike access to almost all of the (large) town without having to use a main road.
Its a really good idea, though in Milton Keynes it was designed to have the redways rather than them being built in afterwards. Maybe you could encourage the council to look at something like the redway system?
Sarah
(previously from MK)
Well said. I also have a dream about superb cycle tracks in London. What we have at the moment are scraps of blue paint tottaly disrespected by the drivers. There will never be enough room for all the cars, there will always be traffic jams and if we don’t start inconvenienceing people in cars and showing that riding bicycles is THE alternative this will never change. Good luck mate.