Cycling proposal shot down

BigLights

Oh dear....this seemed like a very good idea to me - closing some of Wandsworth's less used streets on some Sundays for family rides....seems to have completely bombed amongst my neighbours. What a shame.

http://www.nappyvalleynet.com/mums/view ... 15&t=25657

It is very enlightening on others' attitudes to cycling though.

bigmat

Having had to drive through Wandsworth on a Sunday, I think its a duff idea. Its already far too congested with through traffic. To be fair though I couldn't open the link showing exactly which streets were affected, so maybe the impact wouldn't be that great, but then if they are quiet streets anyway they don't really need closing do they? I was surprised by how rational the anti brigade came across actually (give or take a couple of stupid comments) - I feared the worst when I saw "nappyvalleynet"!

Paul E

Ahh the usual "I can't drive about on roads I have paid for" comments

owenlars

As a 5000 miles a year cyclist and London commuter it seems to me that we should encourage all traffic to share the roads equally and courteously, including bikes and Chelsea tractors. So I am not a great fan of closing anything for any particular group of people except for very good and agreed reasons.

JamesB5446

Sharing the roads doesn't really work.

If we had real cycling infrastructure in the UK then the OP wouldn't need to go begging on mumsnet for drivers approval.

roger_merriman

BigLights wrote:

Oh dear....this seemed like a very good idea to me - closing some of Wandsworth's less used streets on some Sundays for family rides....seems to have completely bombed amongst my neighbours. What a shame.

http://www.nappyvalleynet.com/mums/view ... 15&t=25657

It is very enlightening on others' attitudes to cycling though.

It's not really surprising really.

Plenty have busy weekends, some of us work on sunday for the most part, and weekend trains and buses being what they are, folks drive to work on the weekends.

Closing the street for the Olympics is one thing, for such a vague ill thought out proposal, is not going to garner much support.

TheStone

Is there a map of what's included as 'nappy valley'? I may need to move far, far away.

Headhuunter

I can't work out what roads would be included in this but in general I would support something like this if only to change the all pervasive attitude among those with cars that they rule the roads and that all other road users come second... If you open roads up to traffic it will come, you build roads and make driving easier, they fill up with increasing numbers of cars, on the other hand if you make driving more difficult, many of the drivers out there who think nothing of motoring round the corner to pick up a loaf of bread and some milk from the corner shop, would be put off and may actually be forced to investigate other ways of getting around. I am all for roads, which we ALL pay for, being opened up for ALL of us to use more easily. Is it really such a hardship for people with cars NOT to be able to use them once a month?!

notsoblue

heh, an advert on that site lead to this:



Cycling is dangerous, people!

Koncordski

notsoblue wrote:

heh, an advert on that site lead to this:



Cycling is dangerous, people!

That kid was cycling on the footpath. That lady is a concerned citizen who has actioned a citizen's arrest, firmly detaining the 'lycra lout' until the police arrive. Good work.

rjsterry

Koncordski wrote:

notsoblue wrote:

heh, an advert on that site lead to this:



Cycling is dangerous, people!

That kid was cycling on the footpath. That lady is a concerned citizen who has actioned a citizen's arrest, firmly detaining the 'lycra lout' until the police arrive. Good work.

-10 points for use of the word "actioned". Grrr.

Seems that with a bit of thought then something could be made to work - trouble is, the request for support is accompanied by almost no detailed information, hence people jumping to the conclusion that it'll be 'like the Olympics'.

peat

Koncordski wrote:

That kid was cycling on the footpath. That lady is a concerned citizen who has actioned a citizen's arrest, firmly detaining the 'lycra lout' until the police arrive. Good work.

BigLights

JamesB5446 wrote:

Sharing the roads doesn't really work.

If we had real cycling infrastructure in the UK then the OP wouldn't need to go begging on mumsnet for drivers approval.

Just to be clear - i'm not the OP on nappeyvalleynet, just here. Interesting feedback from you folk though - I had just thought it was a fantastic idea to get the wee ones cycling in a safer environment. I don't think he's talking about shutting down main thoroughfares. Oh well. I suppose at the very least the Nappeyvalleynet OP has raised a little bit of awareness amongst the yummy mummies....I've done my bit - my wife now cycles across the Common everyday instead of driving 2 miles which I always felt was a bit OTT.

davmaggs

It didn't seem like a good idea at all. It was so vague as to be useless. It also struck me as lazy online activism, in that no work has been done to sound out the neighbours, find out what paperwork the council wants or any particular events are planned.

If you want something like this then I suggest designing a one-off event that has a small circuit, partner with local groups to get their people to turn out and then flog the hell out of the publicity to get other people to show up and take part. If the idea works for one day, then you'd have a case to repeat it.

At the moment his is just inflicting one man's hobby on the rest of populace on the off chance that someone somewhere on the route might just ride a bike.

Headhuunter

davmaggs wrote:

It didn't seem like a good idea at all. It was so vague as to be useless. It also struck me as lazy online activism, in that no work has been done to sound out the neighbours, find out what paperwork the council wants or any particular events are planned.

If you want something like this then I suggest designing a one-off event that has a small circuit, partner with local groups to get their people to turn out and then flog the hell out of the publicity to get other people to show up and take part. If the idea works for one day, then you'd have a case to repeat it.

At the moment his is just inflicting one man's hobby on the rest of populace on the off chance that someone somewhere on the route might just ride a bike.

I don't know how this has been approached and organised, it would seem sensible to arrange something to actually happen on those days but in general I am all for this sort of local, community action. IME most of the people speeding along my little road are rat runners trying to cut round traffic on the main road which runs parallel. They bring no benefit to my road or community and only represent danger, noise and pollution..... Many of them accelerate hard between the speed humps and traffic calming shoulders in their hurry to get past other traffic on the main road...

First.Aspect

I don't know the area, but I'm a cyclist and this would annoy the hell out of me, whether driving or cycling. The streets which are part of the route are major thoroughfares if you happen to live on them.

Its a bit evangelical, isn't it?