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OPINION
The barrier fairies
Fri, Jun 26, 2009 09:16
3
Bridge behind Homebase in BathRemember the barrier in the picture above? Bath & North East Somerset council erected it in their infinite wisdom (see this blog) to try and stop motorbikes crossing a footbridge in Bath. Not that the motorbikes were a big problem: the footway used to be a road so it's nice and wide, and the 'bikes were considerate since they weren't really supposed to be there.
Anyhow, all it served to do was funnel all the foot and cycle traffic (and motorbikes) through a gap about four feet wide, thus not solving a problem that didn't exist anyway, and creating problems with conflict that were entirely new. Hoorray for progress.
It hasn't been a popular installation. two months on, this is what it looks like:
All the horizintal barriers on the left hand side have been removed by the barrier fairies, and there's only two left on the right – my guess is they're not long for this world either. Soon the only bit of the barrier remaining will be the bottleneck section. I'm sure the irony won't be lost on the council...
Dave is a founding father of road.cc, having previously worked on Cycling Plus and What Mountain Bike magazines back in the day. He also writes about e-bikes for our sister publication ebiketips. He's won three mountain bike bog snorkelling World Championships, and races at the back of the third cats.
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3 comments
both of the remaining horizontal barriers have now gone. there doesn't seem to be a big rush to replace them
And try getting through barriers like these with a tandem or a trailer.
Here in Cambridge the council has been gradually removing them over the last few years.
I rode over that bridge a couple of months back and was stunned! from my angle I couldnt tell how to get through the barriers, pointless waste of money that they have proved to be. Thanks to the barrier fairies for clearing that one up for us!