Calls for safety measures on Bristol and Bath Railway Path after cyclists’ injuries

It is clear that the path has been sadly neglected since it opened. In many places tree roots are breaking up the tarmac, vegetation has been allowed to grow unchecked, signage damaged or missing, etc.

But the biggest problem is just general inconsiderateness and rudeness from some cyclists and pedestrians. The worst cyclists are the full Lycra clad ones on bikes costing over a grand who seem to think that this is a motorway that only they should be allowed on. The worst pedestrians are those plugged into a device blissfully unaware of anyone else and unable to hear your bell while walking on the RHS of the path.

Still, it is probably a better resource than many cities have. My friend, over recently from Buffalo, NY, was totally gobsmacked by it.

My wish list could we please have;

the vegetation cut back regularly to avoid further narrowing the path,

The leaves swept regularly at this time of year to avoid the path becoming a skating rink,

Special PCs with speed guns pulling over those riding too fast. Too fast could be 15mph around schools  when children are sharing the path. It would also be useful to have them pulling over riders & walkers without lights/high viz after dark.

At the moment it's the only half-decent continuous cycle route in East Bristol. It's been widened already. They've tried getting the police out on it with radar guns. They've tried signs, weird confusing "pedestrian crossings", and painting white lines down the middle. So here's an innovative solution: build more cycle paths.

At the moment there's nothing else in Fishponds, Easton, St Georges or Brislington worthy of being called cycle infrastructure. People funnel onto the Railway Path to commute, train, teach their kids to cycle, or just bimble to a café. Then you've got all the locals using it for jogging, dog walking, or as a route to school. It's no wonder you get the odd incident when there are so many people trying to use the same route for so many different purposes.

It’s a shining example of a cycle path that encourages more people to cycle, but ends up a victim of its own success.

Imagine having just one major road between two major cities. It would be mayhem, so that why even with several motorways and dual carriageways, people dive onto a-road, b-roads and even smaller roads. The council needs to put in more cycling infrastructure to give cyclists various routes to use rather than bottlenecking. 

Of course, those using the path need to be considerate and in control of their bikes as that will have the biggest impact.

Lots of good points made already: it's too narrow in many places for the peak-hour commuting traffic, differing speeds of cyclists means there's a need for overtaking space (though faster cyclists could, slow down, leave more time for the journey, only overtake when there's enough space and time and they can see all is clear - you know, all those things we ask motorists to do), surface is bumpy in places (I haven't personally found the leaves a problem), pedestrians, dogs, chain gangs, etc. 

There is a centre line in places. There are lots of people going for strava segments on their commute, which is galoot behaviour.  I'm not sure whether widening it would actually improve matters, the space would just fill up and be used for more overtakes. I don't really agree with the "pedestrians can use the pavement" suggestions; the roads don't really run parallel, they're not pleasant, and the whole idea of the path is to be pleasant. That it's a very useful commuting route is a bonus. You could just as correctly point out that cyclists can ride into Bath on the A4, the A431 and the lanes through Beach and Lansdown. 

The railway tracks are not disused, they're "preserved". Not a useful transport facility but are used by nostalgia buffs and families on days out. So can't really rip them up (and wouldn't help for most of the route anyway). 

We are lucky to have this route, it's great compared to most; but that doesn't mean we shouldn't push for better and more, here and elsewhere. 

"Whether it's the chain gang of roadies haring along at speed"

Would they not be a chain gang of sharedusepathies?

Whenever there are references to "the Bristol and Bath cycle path " in the local papers there's always someone who writes in to complain that it's not that, it's "the Bristol and Bath Railway Path and it's for pedestrians too, dagnabbit ".

 The problems are twofold, IMO:

Its not wide enough for the volume of traffic that uses it. Shared-use or not, for large chunks of the week it is a main commuter route into Bristol.  At "rush hour" it is very busy with cyclists, and they don't all keep to their left. On some of the narrow bits, and the odd bends, this is a real case of "keep your wits about you ". TBH if I go to Bath when I have a day off, I try to stay in Bristol until "rush hour" is well and truly passed, otherwise leaving Bristol along the Path can be pretty hairy.

And, it's shared use and people just ain't no good. Whether it's the chain gang of roadies haring along at speed, or the three women pushing push-chairs side by side, or the elderly man with a small pack of loose dogs, or the parent with a wandering group of small kids, or the kid on a rusty MTB on his phone riding no-handed on his right... I could go on: my point is there are people who really don't get that the shared-use thing means look out for others.

It would be simpler to sort if it wasn't shared-use (as others have said, the pedestrians have their own footpaths alongside every road bypassed by the Path), as you could paint up centre lines and treat it like a "cycles only" road; but it is shared, and is a popular "leisure route".

And the pedestrians are very militant about protecting their access (see all those (probably not legal) zebra crossings where people are crossing to go to their kids school).

I’m a big cycling advocate and locally we have some great infrastrucure. 

But all too often see the same human condition that makes car drivers a problem displayed by people on bikes. 

Is it really that difficult to be considerate? 

people acting like impatient dicks shocker, there's a distinct set of people riding bikes who i suspect drive their cars in exactly the same fashion, what was described above was a typical MGIF/impatient fooker. yes, sometimes the environ isn't helpful but routes are are rarely dangerous if used correctly and with respect to other users who are also doing the same.

That there are collisions on cycle lanes/paths is not at all surprising because far too many don't have a fooking clue about common courtesy, safety and not being a selfish twunt, this is replicated in the streets/cities and indeed countryside by your average wannabe/noddy hat wearing strava wanker and increasingly club riders.

But at least they're not on the roads right?

There's a disused railway next to the track for the last km or so where it gets really busy and dangerous. Would be perfect to create an alternative route on.

There's definitely at least one commuter who rides his mountain bike down there like he hates everyone.

I avoid it as much as possible at this time of year as the leaves don't get cleared and bits of it are utterly treacherous.

“imaginative solutions...” hmmm, let's see.

1. Free jetpacks to hop over the narrow bits?
2. A fleet of unicorn-drawn carriages leaving every 6 minutes during busy periods?
3. Crack team of bunny hop instructors on hand to help comutors to avoid the carnage?
4. Vending machines trackside with heavy duty painkillers and bandages available?
5. Make the path a bit wider?

The path is way too narrow for the kind of traffic you get at commuting times. The Bristol end tends to be the most dangerous and that underpass is a bit of a blind corner and I don't know what purpose the posts serve.

Is there no type of road markings as you'd normally see on shared pathways?

Double broken of solid white lines at the ends of the path on the eff hand side and similar on the right side at the opposite end?

At least you could hold someone at fault this way . As why have it on some routes and not others.

Cycle in the side you would drive on, with walkers following the same time if walking in a country road. Walk into oncoming traffic and not with it at your back.

As far as the leaf situation at this time of the year. Call the local council offices and tell them. This is a Health & Safety issue for both cyclist and pedestrians as the leaves act as if you were trying to stop on Ice.

The council should be sending out one of these Twingo footpath sweepers down that route. If they don't get a claim into then for not maintaining to a safe standard and also report it go the Health & Safety Executive. They won't be long in bringing the council to task for not keeping the people's safety ad a priority.

The path is a victim of its own success, with huge numbers of users, so it demonstrates the demand but it does not have capacity for that demand and is narrow and poorly maintained in places.

There are two solutions: widen the narrow sections and maintain it properly, or make the local roads safe to walk and cycle on, so this is a political issue.  The local authorities, three of them, responsible for the path would have to stump up the money for either option, so are going down the "imaginative solutions" route so that it looks as if they are doing something, but the most that will happen is a little paint.

That said, there are some cyclists who really, really shouldn't be allowed out in public, and I met one yesterday, riding on the wrong side and talking on his hand held mobile phone, and he got rather upset and aggressive when I pointed out his errors.

The usual approach for a road which was identified as dangerous would be to make it wider and straighter, and possibly also to segregate different modes of travel. It seems like an approach that could work well in this instance too, but we will probably just end up blaming the users for being too dangerous because they are cyclists.

The bikepath is a great idea, but has been sorely neglected over the years.  There are parts of the path which are positively dangerous for cyclists.  Sustrans need to take care of their projects and not leave them to just moulder.

The track is narrow in many places.  There are certain places I will not overtake because it is too hazardous.  Yesterday someone overtook me in one of those places and moments later his front wheel seemed to slip out from under him and he was sliding along the ground on his belly like a low flying superman.

As a rule a cycle lane should be wide enough for overtaking because, unlike motor vehicles, people cannot all ride at the same pace, especially on climbs.  If the path is contraflow then it needs to be at least 3 lanes wide but preferably 4 so that there is overtaking room for each direction of travel.

It does bother me that the path is used by so many pedestrians when there is a pavement alongside most roads that should only be used by pedestrians.  To make it worse they all walk with their back to the traffic making it even more hazardous.

Considering it was Sustrans first major project, it is very neglected, the whole section between Bitton and Mangotfield becomes lethal at this time of year with leaves and mud, and the vegetation massively encroaches on the path, making it very narrow in places. Also the trees have broken up a lot of the path, making it very lumpy and uneven. There are also huge gates in the way, making access not possible in a straight line to certain sections. (more likely to fall off just getting onto it). Personally I think it needs resufacing and the vegetation cutting right back.

I think 'the last leg' on C4 has this covered - "DON'T BE A DICK".

I treat any path that's not road or cycle way as a leisure area and wouldn't use as a high speed commute, short cut etc. Chill out and expect the unexpected...