Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

From Scotland to Southwest England, calls for councils to grit cycle paths (+ videos)

Campaigners north of border call for action, videos show danger on Bristol & Bath Railway Path

Cycling and pedestrian campaigners in Scotland have criticised local authorities for not gritting cycle paths or clearing them of snow. Meanwhile in England, a series of videos have shown cyclists coming off their bikes in icy conditions on the Bristol & Bath Railway Path.

While many roads north of the border have been gritted following two weeks of severe weather warnings, there are concerns that similar treatment is not being given to footpaths or cycle paths, reports The Scotsman, although the newspaper adds that Edinburgh had taken action to clear snow.

Cycling Scotland’s chief executive, Keith Irving, said: “It is essential that maintenance programmes designate key cycling routes that link people to essential services and jobs as a high priority.”

Meanwhile John Lauder, Sustrans Scotland’s national director, urged Glasgow City Council to take action on cycle paths in the city.

He said: “The facilities in place for cycling are great, but they simply have not been properly cleared during this biting cold weather.

“If we want to get more people cycling their short, everyday journeys in Glasgow, it is essential they can do so safely.”

A spokeswoman for the council, speaking to the newspaper on Wednesday, said that “priority footways” would be treated that evening, with the council then working on “secondary footways,” including off-road cycle paths.

She said: “We are currently focusing on priority routes, which comprise of 53 per cent of the city’s network.

“Gritting staff have been out round the clock and we also have additional external resources deployed to help our teams with the continued treatment of pavements and ­footways.”

Stuart Hay from Living Streets Scotland, which campaigns for pedestrians, added: “We are concerned busy routes and key pedestrian areas don’t always get the same priority as roads when it comes to gritting.

“It’s important that pavements are ice-free, especially for older people who simply won’t venture out in cold weather if they don’t feel it is safe. Whilst volunteers might have a role to play, it is important key routes get the priority they deserve.”

The dangers of riding on icy roads were highlighted in three videos posted to YouTube yesterday that show  riders coming to grief on the slippery surface of the Bristol & Bath Railway Path on Wednesday.

With last night the coldest of the winter so far in England, Sustrans area manager Jon Usher this morning took to Twitter to advise users of the path: “Take care cycling this am. They'll be gritted on the future, but arrangements won't be in place yet.”

With the cold snap set to continue and snowfalls in some parts of the UK, make sure you read our tips on riding on ice and snow.

The videos were posted to the video-sharing site by user Cycle Pledge, who said: “This is a set of 3 clips that have been trimmed from one film I took with my cycle helmet cam. I always film my ride for protection.

“I edited the original 22 minute film into these 3 clips to illustrate what was happening due to the black ice. Hopefully this will help towards the council getting the path gritted.”

He added: “Many crashes out there today and a couple of ambulance incidents. The council needs to get the gritter out! This is a serious commuting route.”

However, the Bath Chronicle reports this morning that conditions on the path remain hazardous, with a number of cyclists crashing.

 

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

Add new comment

38 comments

Avatar
mrfree | 9 years ago
0 likes

Another example of our elected legal bodies failing to provide a basic service which impacts more than just safety, but a behavioral change which helps the environment, health and economy.

I have hope that someone with a brain will be in charge in my lifetime to sort things out.

Avatar
3wheelsgood | 9 years ago
0 likes

Solution to icy bike paths: get a recumbent trike - slippery surfaces become a playground, a wonderland of radical drifts and thrilling three-sixties!!!!  4

Avatar
Paul_C replied to 3wheelsgood | 9 years ago
0 likes
3wheelsgood wrote:

Solution to icy bike paths: get a recumbent trike - slippery surfaces become a playground, a wonderland of radical drifts and thrilling three-sixties!!!!  4

and useless for my route which includes many chicane barriers and bollard nests...

Avatar
Airzound | 9 years ago
0 likes

I went down three times last week on cycle paths that were like ice rinks. You know your tyres suddenly don't have any grip, you try to slow and stay balanced and then away goes your front or rear wheels. Agghhhh! ! F**k the Council for not gritting the paths.

Avatar
glynr36 | 9 years ago
0 likes

Grit does work on white paint.
It's the damp on them following the grit melting the ice/frost that makes them slippy still.

Avatar
paulfrank | 9 years ago
0 likes

Grit doesn't work on white paint, I know to my cost, and they are all falling on the crossing. Any scientists out there know why salt/grit doesn't work on white paint?

Avatar
dodgy | 9 years ago
0 likes

These paths could be gritted, if only they didn't have the Sustrans endorsed barriers at every single intersection that would block them.

Avatar
primalcarl | 9 years ago
0 likes

Coming off your bike IS serious, people really should pay attention to the consequences. I suppose there's not the added risk of cars on cyclepaths.

I came off my bike on an ungritted road before Christmas at walking speed and broke my weeks. It's been 6 weeks off the bike, lost income and a load of hassle adjusting. It happened so easily. Think about the consequences! It could have been worse if I'd hit my head, but don't under-estimate how easy it easy for bones to break! I hope everyone in the above videos were ok

Avatar
fenix | 9 years ago
0 likes

It'd be nice to have all bike paths gritted. It'd also be nice if they gritted the pavements I have to walk on too. It's all down to money eh ?

And yes those grippers for shoes are brilliant. So much safer than normal shoes in icy conditions.

Avatar
Arthur Scrimshaw | 9 years ago
0 likes

I'm just a bit shocked that rather than using their time to warn cyclists about the ice they withdrew to a vantage point to film the carnage?

Avatar
DublinPort | 9 years ago
0 likes

How about leaving your bike on the turbo trainer while there's ice on the roads?

Avatar
Kestevan replied to DublinPort | 9 years ago
0 likes

"How about leaving your bike on the turbo trainer while there's ice on the roads?"

Fine for those who only use their bikes for leisure or sporting purposes.

It may come as a shock, but there are actually a number of us who use them as transport too.....

Avatar
Paul_C replied to DublinPort | 9 years ago
0 likes
DublinPort wrote:

How about leaving your bike on the turbo trainer while there's ice on the roads?

well that's a bit impracticable for commuters now isn't it...

Avatar
bendertherobot | 9 years ago
0 likes

Excellent

Avatar
gazza_d | 9 years ago
0 likes

Another shout out for Marathon Winters.

I use paths for about 13 miles out of a 16 mile commute from Tyneside to Durham including the C2C, and none of them have not seen a sniff of grit all week.

They were especially treacherous on Tuesday, with sheet black ice after rain and then snow on top. The winters coped brilliantly with just a hint of squirming occasionally. Only time I came close to slipping was when I stopped at a junction & my foot slid when I put it down as the tyres did not give a hint at how bad it actually was.

Most of them are shared, so have pedestrians struggling to walk as well. We're not drivers though so LAs don't care.

Surely a quad with a grit box would be sensible.

Avatar
bike_food | 9 years ago
0 likes

TBH it's generally only main roads that are gritted.
I don't go anywhere near a cycle path on my commute through the Wiltshire countryside but would appreciate the B and minor roads being gritted.

Avatar
caaad10 | 9 years ago
0 likes

If it's that icy I'll take my MTB instead, it is much easier to catch a slide and it's a lot of fun losing it. I hate the thought of cycle paths being gritted!! No!! Just sounds like another way to pass the blame buck, ah, God Bless the UFK....

Avatar
STATO | 9 years ago
0 likes

Id imagine a local housing estate would get more traffic than most cycle paths, so not surprised to find they dont get gritted.

However! What exactly do you expect grit to do on big patches of ice on cycle paths? Without cars running it into the ground and spreading it about its nearly pointless. I say this as someone who has come off on a gritted road that hadnt seen much traffic.

As cyclists have always done over winter, just stick to the roads (or buy appropriate 'studded' tyres)

Avatar
bobbinogs | 9 years ago
0 likes

There's a lot of roads...the main ones get gritted. Gritting all roads and all cycle paths whenever there is a risk of ice would cost a fortune and take an army of staff...and even then ice can still form when running water washes the salt grit away.

I think we need to be careful we don't continue our headlong rush to follow the Americans and always look for someone somewhere to be at fault everytime something goes wrong...we have to accept there is a risk attached to cycling in ice prone conditions. Fat knobbly deflated tyres can help, studded ones can be even better but are often slower/heavier. Not riding a bike reduces all the risk albeit at the cost of inconvenience. Ho hum.

Avatar
ibike | 9 years ago
0 likes

Here's how they do it properly in the Netherlands:
https://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/2015/01/13/how-to-make-cycling-possib...

Avatar
crikey | 9 years ago
0 likes

Hmmm.
Low lying black tarmac path in wintery conditions....

...and if we have to start gritting every footway and cyclepath in the country as well as all the roads, we'd better start now by employing about 4 million people with shovels.

Avatar
andyp | 9 years ago
0 likes

Getting the majority of roads gritted would be a start. If it has to go anywhere I'd rather it went there.

Avatar
finbar | 9 years ago
0 likes

No no no!

I get enough grit dissolving my bike in winter already, thanks.

If it's icy, get some appropriate tyres or don't ride your bike. I wish the UK took the same approach to car traffic well.

Avatar
mrmo replied to finbar | 9 years ago
0 likes
finbar wrote:

No no no!

I get enough grit dissolving my bike in winter already, thanks.

If it's icy, get some appropriate tyres or don't ride your bike. I wish the UK took the same approach to car traffic well.

and what are the appropriate tyres?

18mile commute this morning, bus and train aren't options before you mention them.

Most of the route is on main roads no ice, gritted, etc. a couple of small sections where farm vehicles, hill run off, mean there are short 50-100m sections of ice/slush today.

The issue in the UK is simply one of the weather being massively variable. Today was cold, yesterday warm, and tomorrow warm.

just run a hosepipe and liberal coating of gt85 over the mechs and that sorts most of the salt issues.

Avatar
cqexbesd replied to mrmo | 9 years ago
0 likes
mrmo wrote:

and what are the appropriate tyres?

I recommend Schwalbe Marathon Winters. You still have to be careful, and they are a bit more hard work than regular tyres, but I haven't come off on ice since I've had them.

I think they only go down to 35 though so if you only have a race bike you might be out of luck. I think they make a non marathon winter tyre as well though which goes a bit thinner.

http://www.schwalbe.com/en/newsreader/spike-tyres-test-in-sweden.html

Not suggesting bike paths shouldn't be treated appropriately in winter of course. I'm living in Berlin where the bike paths do get swept and gritted but even then the council can't keep up with the weather and I'm glad of my tyres (though its actually quite mild at the moment...I wonder were all the cold weather has got to...  3 )

Avatar
bendertherobot replied to mrmo | 9 years ago
0 likes
mrmo wrote:

and what are the appropriate tyres?

schwalbe snow studs. Cheap at planet x

Avatar
RedfishUK replied to bendertherobot | 9 years ago
0 likes
bendertherobot wrote:

schwalbe snow studs. Cheap at planet x

There is no snow in any of the videos attached, what is the performance like on what are basically clear paths with stretches or patches of ice?

Avatar
johndonnelly replied to RedfishUK | 9 years ago
0 likes
RedfishUK wrote:
bendertherobot wrote:

schwalbe snow studs. Cheap at planet x

There is no snow in any of the videos attached, what is the performance like on what are basically clear paths with stretches or patches of ice?

Snow studs is a misnomer. They have no impact at all in the snow. Riding on snow you instead want the biggest softest tyres you can find. The studs cut into ice though and give some extra grip. I've found there's enough to go up some steep bridges on local cycle paths.

They're badass: You sound like a tank coming down the road if you're riding on un-iced surface. The biggest downside is that everyone else (pedestrians, cyclists) think they can go over the same surfaces and inevitably fall over. Then you'll put your foot down to dismount and help, and end up on the floor as well.

Avatar
bendertherobot replied to johndonnelly | 9 years ago
0 likes
johndonnelly wrote:
RedfishUK wrote:
bendertherobot wrote:

schwalbe snow studs. Cheap at planet x

There is no snow in any of the videos attached, what is the performance like on what are basically clear paths with stretches or patches of ice?

Snow studs is a misnomer. They have no impact at all in the snow. Riding on snow you instead want the biggest softest tyres you can find. The studs cut into ice though and give some extra grip. I've found there's enough to go up some steep bridges on local cycle paths.

They're badass: You sound like a tank coming down the road if you're riding on un-iced surface. The biggest downside is that everyone else (pedestrians, cyclists) think they can go over the same surfaces and inevitably fall over. Then you'll put your foot down to dismount and help, and end up on the floor as well.

Yep. They're awesome and, at £14 or so, a must. First day with them was hard, added about 5 minutes to my 20 mile commute. But over the next few days they were no slower than my normal tyres. So it looks like it was just me being rubbish. They're also quite a good alternative to a bell on cycle paths  1

Avatar
P3t3 | 9 years ago
0 likes

Entirely symptomatic of a lack of consideration of cycling as a valid transport method. Its endemic across the country and lets face it Bristol is the best of a bad bunch! Its also a rubbish cycle path design but again, by far the best of a bad bunch!

Once Bristol has enough bike paths they might be able to invest in a quad bike or similar to grit it with. I was actually think about this the other day and it probably could be done by bike and a land-drive gritter trailer.

I'd argue that its actually MORE important to grit foot/cycle ways since broken hips and legs are more expensive to the government than bent cars. Do appreciate that the cars also pose a risk to pedestrians/cyclists when they loose control...

Pages

Latest Comments