A road or B road

mattrsa

Hi Guys

I have decided in the new that I am going to try commute a few days a week on the bike to get some training in for 100k ride I plan to do and also to save some money and cash

Been looking at possible routes to take and was wondering what peoples thought are about the safety prespective, I can either take and A road (A57) or a B road (B5178) which is slightly longer

Obvoiusly there is a danger I will be hit by a car on either of these roads but what are peoples experiances cycling A and B road

Thanks in advance

Matt

snailracer

I would say there are too many other factors to be able to decide in advance, so try both for a few days and decide afterwards.

Matt.K

Depends on how busy the roads are.
I have an option of a short ride along an A road but avoid it like the plague. It's possibly one of the busiest roads I know and 2 main factors keep me off it:
1. The constant being passed by cars doing 60 giving me no chance to relax and enjoy the ride for fear of dying.
2. The headlights of cars coming constantly in the opposite direction can dazzle drivers behind you and make them less likely to see you in front.

At least on a quiet B road your lights are likely to be the only other lights around and will be seen well in advance by drivers. But then there's also the drivers taking the B roads to avoid the congestion of the A roads and thinking they are rally drivers trying to hit apexes and taking the racing line round corners.

So, to summarise I have no conclusion and it's probably very dependent on the individual roads.

The Rookie

Agreed, width of road, speed of traffic, number of blind corners, amount of traffic etc are all factors that can't come from a simple letter classification!

I commute a road that used to be a 'B' and is now unclassified, its fine, but I do need to practice some defensive riding at some blind corners (hang out wide on approach to stop overly late passers and maintain catching cars visibility of me, then once into the blind spot get right onto the left hand white line so giving cars as much room as possible should they comeround too quick).

Simon

BiggerBoat

All roads have their own unique risks about them. I use both types on a regular basis. Having said that....B is the answer.

mattrsa

thanks for the replies, might drive each route one morning to see how busy they are before jumping on the bike

Matt

markp2

Do them by bike. The bits of B and A road I come to work on always seem busy if you are driving a car. I always seem to be at the back of a gaggle of cars.
When cycling, I find that these gaggles of cars have masses of empty space between them and sometimes I can go a mile or two on my bike without being passed by anything.

mattrsa

yeah prob should try it on the bike, might have a go on my day off next week incase I get lost

amaferanga

Any main road into/leaving a city will be unpleasant during rush hour, its just a case of finding out which one is least unpleasant.

fnegroni

One other thing you might want to consider (at least I did), is whether there are any facilities for you to stop and attend to a puncture/breakdown or simply put more layerson / take some layers off.

Also, in case you need to make an escape maneuver, is it likely for you to fall in a ditch?

Traffic islands are also a concern, since they tend to make a perfectly safe (albeit busy) wide A road into a narrower and more irritating (for drivers of HGVs) one.

What about when it rains? Ice? Does it get grit when it's needed?

Any cycle paths available to avoid congestion?

Any accident hot spots? Major roundabouts with reduced visibility?

Most of the concerns above are usually secondary when touring leisurely or simply going for a Sunday ride, but a regular commute is somewhat different.

I don't think you would be pleased if the safer route took you twice as long as the 'less safe' one.

mplayer78

I always try and hit B roads instead of A, although you suffer a bit from road surface issues on more minor roads and there is not a great deal to call on the safety difference, cycling should be enjoyable and I find B roads more so.

mplayer78

I always try and hit B roads instead of A, although you suffer a bit from road surface issues on more minor roads and there is not a great deal to call on the safety difference, cycling should be enjoyable and I find B roads more so.

iain_j

I've just twigged where you're on about - are we talking about routes into Liverpool? Which stretch of the the A57 or B5178 will you be travelling - I've ridden along both, and others in the same direction.

mattrsa

HI iain

I will be coming into liverpool from warrington(central) so basicallly its either road all the way from warrington

Thanks to the others for response, think I might do a leisurely ride on the w end of both routes and then access all that is mentioned above

fnegroni

I just had a look online at the two routes.

My gut feeling says B.

iain_j

Never done it at rush hour but this is the route I use for Warrington - Liverpool:

www.bikehike.co.uk/mapview.php?id=27438

Most direct route and avoids the busy roads - the A57 is urban pretty much the whole way, two motorway junctions, and a drag-strip dual c'way into Liverpool. B5178 goes through the suburbs of Widnes. This route goes between the two.

mattrsa

thanks for the info iain , will give it a go and let you know how I get on

mattrsa

did a test run of that route today, took a few wrong turns but got there in the end