St Albans Cycle Strategy - get involved
You can make the city and district a better place to cycle! Have a look at the draft cycle strategy, it is on the St Albans District Council website, the first item (bravo!) on the transport tab. Then fire off lots of constructive feedback, it will help move cycling up the political agenda if this generates a big response. Get on with it though, as comments are sought by Friday 16 March.
Click here to see the strategy document.
1 comment:
Comments sent yesterday:
Section 1.5
Mention is made of safe routes to schools in other areas of the document, but schools, colleges and the university of Hertfordshire are not identified as key stakeholders. These establishments have a wider audience of potential cyclists and have the ability to promote positive messages about cycling at point where students could develop a life-long cycling 'habit'.
No mention is made of private motorists- I think motorists are stakeholders since their driving habits have a direct effect on the perception of cycling as a 'dangerous' activity. (see 'share the road' comments later)
Section 2.11
Could you include something along the lines of 'a perception of danger fuelled by the inconsiderate driving of a minority of other road users'
Section 2.12
Add 'Limited availability of adult cycle training'? Providing training for adults encourages drivers to consider cycling as a viable alternative by addressing some of the fears identified in 2.11- it also provides a safety boost which (to a degree) offsets delays in delivering improved cycle infrastructure.
Section 5.1
No mention is made of bridleways or other cycleable rights of way. Bridleways provide both leisure and commuting routes in and around the district, but suffer from the same fragmentation as dedicated cycle facilities. It would be good to see policies which encouraged the identification of stretches of footpaths which link bridleways for conversion into bridleways in order to provide a linked bridleway network. (This is likely to gain support from horse riders who suffer the same problems).
Section 5.4
Could this be strengthened? The quality of recent traffic schemes has been so poor that more emphasis should be put on best practice design. It would be interesting if Highways Engineers responsible for designing traffic schemes were to actually ride bicycles in order to understand the effects of their actions at first hand...
Section 5.6
Could this include waymarking of leisure routes on bridleways in a similar fashion to the Lea Valley walk etc?
Section 5.7
No mention is made of buses. Could the council adopt a policy which encouraged the provision of bike racks on buses as happens in other areas of the country? This would benefit commuters and promote leisure riding in more distant locations without the use of a car.
Section 5.8
Could this section include promotion of adult cycle training, perhaps in partnership with employers as part of green travel planning?
Section 5.10
Cycling would benefit from the promotion of a 'share the road' attitude which highlights the responsibilities of cyclists and drivers towards each other? This could help reduce cyclists' perception of danger, and highlight the actions drivers can take to improve safety for cyclists. (see Herts advertiser letter here)
Section 5.11
Is it possible to include setting up a community cycle scheme which provides basic bike maintenance courses (or encourages Oaklands to provide them?). This could target youths in particular, and could be largely volunteer run.
Section 5.13
Could you add publicising the tax incentive mechanisms which allow employers (including the council!) to set up schemes whereby employees can buy bikes out of pre-tax income?
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