Post by dhopl on Apr 23, 2010 7:27:41 GMT
I attended the exhibition at the Quaker Meeting House in Frodsham St 21/04/10 for the the Proposed Cycle and Pedestrian Bridge and I am a 65 year old pensioner who has been cycling from my home South of the river for the last three years up into the City for shopping and recreation nearly every day . My 'heart in mouth' route is up the cycleway in Lache Lane until debouched into a safety lottery on the Overleigh roundabout at the main A483 Wrexham Rd / A5104 Saltney Rd juncture . The South section of the A483 Grosvenor Rd over the Dee and past the cemetery requires strong nerves and luck . This section has an unfortunate requirement to go from two lanes to one and just before the cemetery gates in a Northwards direction the road narrows on the left , and I have actually been clipped at this point by a Park 'n Ride bus who had ill judged relative speeds and was forced to slow down abruptly by vehicles in front .
The Grosvenor bridge itself unfortunately is too narrow for both vehicles and pedestrians and the cyclist is dicing with death whether he chooses either the pavement or the road . Things ease off into two lanes after the bridge but the City bound cyclist has to choose whether to take to the pavements at Nun's Rd or to move at some point from the inner lane to the outer lane for the A483 Grosvenor / Nicholas St roundabout . The following section Grosvenor St to Bridge St and hence the pedestrian precinct is fairly quiet , and if necessary the pavement past the Catholic church can be used as it is quite wide .
I realise that as well as the major expense of the Dee crossing , to arrange a route basically from the Holiday Inn Express hotel at the Race course may require a significant amount of engineering to be effective , but my suggestions as as follows :
1.Engineer a cycle route basically from the Holiday Inn Express hotel by the Race Course with the existing quite wide pavement on the A548 New Crane St Eastbound towards the City and using the existing pedestrian tunnel at the Watergate (which would have to be adequately signed and Cyclists Dismount !) then continue up Watergate St itself up to and across Nicholas St and thereby gain access to the City pedestrianised area and into the one way section of Watergate St (ideally with a contra flow cyclepath) , or alternatively with a route up the alleyway by the Guild Hall into Trinity St and via Hamilton Place into the Town Hall Square at the Dublin Packet .
2.Similarly up to the Watergate pedestrian tunnel , but then right into Nun's Rd and along to second left Black Friars across Nicholas St at the crossing lights and up White Friars to gain access to the pedestrianised City at Bridge St .
3.A new crossing of New Crane St by the hotel and Eastbound up the street and across the car park and left into City Walls Rd , then right into Bedward Row to the crossing of St Martin's Way and on into Princess St and the bus station area , whence the Town Hall Square .
Each of these routes would involve greater distance and of course lose the benefit of basically staying on the flat as with my existing route , but every cyclist would chose hills and longer distance to get away from the motorists . In the City itself it would be a boon if in the interests of clarity cycle signs were posted in the pedestrianised area as most members of the public are unaware of the Minister's 1999 advice permitting 'considerate' cycling in such areas , although the police and Community Support Officers do know of the change .
Obviously for 'leisure' cycling the Proposed Cycle and Pedestrian Bridge will be most helpful joining as it does route 89 , and also with easy access to the Link Route and via the Shropshire Union canal towpath to the Chester to Connah's Quay section of Cycle Route 5 , but I think that the object of a 'Cycle City' requires significantly more , to engineer the necessary social change and to provide a safe and viable route for all ages and genders from South of the river to the City for study , work , recreation and shopping and surely that's the way to do it . Otherwise cycling will continue to be primarily a 'macho' male pursuit ,
The Grosvenor bridge itself unfortunately is too narrow for both vehicles and pedestrians and the cyclist is dicing with death whether he chooses either the pavement or the road . Things ease off into two lanes after the bridge but the City bound cyclist has to choose whether to take to the pavements at Nun's Rd or to move at some point from the inner lane to the outer lane for the A483 Grosvenor / Nicholas St roundabout . The following section Grosvenor St to Bridge St and hence the pedestrian precinct is fairly quiet , and if necessary the pavement past the Catholic church can be used as it is quite wide .
I realise that as well as the major expense of the Dee crossing , to arrange a route basically from the Holiday Inn Express hotel at the Race course may require a significant amount of engineering to be effective , but my suggestions as as follows :
1.Engineer a cycle route basically from the Holiday Inn Express hotel by the Race Course with the existing quite wide pavement on the A548 New Crane St Eastbound towards the City and using the existing pedestrian tunnel at the Watergate (which would have to be adequately signed and Cyclists Dismount !) then continue up Watergate St itself up to and across Nicholas St and thereby gain access to the City pedestrianised area and into the one way section of Watergate St (ideally with a contra flow cyclepath) , or alternatively with a route up the alleyway by the Guild Hall into Trinity St and via Hamilton Place into the Town Hall Square at the Dublin Packet .
2.Similarly up to the Watergate pedestrian tunnel , but then right into Nun's Rd and along to second left Black Friars across Nicholas St at the crossing lights and up White Friars to gain access to the pedestrianised City at Bridge St .
3.A new crossing of New Crane St by the hotel and Eastbound up the street and across the car park and left into City Walls Rd , then right into Bedward Row to the crossing of St Martin's Way and on into Princess St and the bus station area , whence the Town Hall Square .
Each of these routes would involve greater distance and of course lose the benefit of basically staying on the flat as with my existing route , but every cyclist would chose hills and longer distance to get away from the motorists . In the City itself it would be a boon if in the interests of clarity cycle signs were posted in the pedestrianised area as most members of the public are unaware of the Minister's 1999 advice permitting 'considerate' cycling in such areas , although the police and Community Support Officers do know of the change .
Obviously for 'leisure' cycling the Proposed Cycle and Pedestrian Bridge will be most helpful joining as it does route 89 , and also with easy access to the Link Route and via the Shropshire Union canal towpath to the Chester to Connah's Quay section of Cycle Route 5 , but I think that the object of a 'Cycle City' requires significantly more , to engineer the necessary social change and to provide a safe and viable route for all ages and genders from South of the river to the City for study , work , recreation and shopping and surely that's the way to do it . Otherwise cycling will continue to be primarily a 'macho' male pursuit ,