An email came my way this week with the above title. Apparently a man called John Adams has written to Lichfield City Council to request better provision for cycling in the city. The council has asked for his proposals for new routes. In his letter he makes the point that improvements should include new cycle routes, better and more signposting, including information about how long in time as well distance from one point to another, and advanced stop lines at traffic lights.
With these things in mind a few of us who cycle regularly in Lichfield went out to look at the existing infrastructure in the city. We made some observations about the existing routes and the lack of connectedness in places. We saw the lack of, or poor placement of cycling facilities. We had ideas for achievable measures to improve this. These I shall try and write up to send to Mr Adams.
A better way to approach the question could be to think of lines of desire that reflect the ways that cyclists want to travel, regardless of whether there is a shared path or not. When we get chance we agreed to go out again and look at one specific part of Lichfield, say the northern estates of the city, and think about the routes we would take on our everyday journeys from home to shops to doctors to park and back again. These investigations would hopefully provide useful when determining where any cycle paths could go. An example of unsatisfactory cycle paths that have been installed, by planning or legal requirements, would be those around the edge of the new Darwin Estate. Rather than give us a route through and across the estate the path is around its perimeter. OK for leisure cycling maybe but not for the residents who might want to go from their home into the city centre or to the local facilities.
I often think that the National Cycle Network 54 through the city is for those just passing through. The vast majority of cycling I see on my way round the city is the short distance kind. Sometimes on the pavement, the road or the cycle path. Many of the existing cycle paths are not used by us because we want to go from A to B as quickly and safely as possible and using the roads is often preferable.
Increased and better infrastructure would undoubtedly encourage more cycle use. The infrastructure that exists at present doesn’t meet the needs of most who use the bike to get around the city. Ultimately a better cycling culture will lead to the improvements we desire. Even if this is just an exercise on paper it could be useful for the future as a set of demands, realistic or not. I shan’t reproduce the whole document here, but can send it on if anybody is interested. I don’t have an email address for Mr Adams but if you have ideas or comments you can send them to the email address on the contact tab of this blog and I will forward it to somebody who does.
Confident cyclists need not be concerned about the lack of joined up infrastructure but if cycling is to keep increasing in popularity and participation, infrastructure that meets the needs of novices and returners to the saddle will be vital.
Lichwheeld 