Paul Troop

Medlar both autumn leaves, fruit, and spring flowers.

This weather is messing with the poor medlar tree! Autumn colours, fruit, and spring blossom!

Very cheap price list. Eg beer is €1.1!

Buffet prices on the Regiojet #train between #Vienna and #Budapest are beyond reasonable!

Can anybody who lives in a hot country share what (if anything) vegetation is planted in the verges, particularly narrow verges?

Star wars meme: 'I'll make London Road accessible when I close the crossing' / 'With stops and turning areas for buses?'

Have #EastWestRail overlooked public transport accessibility in their designs for the closure of the #LondonRoad #rail #levelCrossing in the centre of #Bicester? Stops and turning areas either side will be necessary as buses won't be provided with a means to cross the railway.

✋

Was asbestos in the building, and has the advice for residents to stay indoors until further notice been lifted?

In a pressure cooker?

Seriously deformed front bike wheel.

Hit by a driver not paying attention. Fortunate the consequences were not more serious. A reminder that bikes and vehicles don't really mix.

Is that millions? Or €2.8 per person who cycles a km? Or something else?

The 'Class Sketch'

Looking at it again there are two obvious issues: both parallel crossings are the wrong way round (cyclists should be closer to the junction) and there is curious mix of segregated and shared (better to make more shared).

Paul Troop https://mastodon.green/@paultroop on X: "Email received today shows why @OxfordshireCC are far from a #cyclecounty2023. Let me explain... @bricycle @cycloxoxford @OxonCyclingNet @Chris_Boardman @activetraveleng @BicesterBug @RantyHighwayman @Phil_PJA" / X Email received today shows why @OxfordshireCC are far from a #cyclecounty2023. Let me explain... @bricycle @cycloxoxford @OxonCyclingNet @Chris_Boardman @activetraveleng @BicesterBug @RantyHighwayman @Phil_PJA

That's horribly complicated! Analysis of the old design is available at the other place: x.com/paultroop/st...

From the designers...

Google Maps Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

maps.app.goo.gl/Zzph7PMsgqh5...

@rantyhighwayman.bsky.social @phil-pja.bsky.social @roadcc.bsky.social

Overall, a curate's egg. Much better than it would have been, but significantly worse than it could have been, despite a massive lobbying effort from us. This was mainly due to being a legacy project from the former Conservative administration, picked up late by the new 'Rainbow' OCC coalition.

Sharp cycle slip lane off highway, forcing cyclists to slow down in the middle of the road.

Another issue that was not addressed, despite being reassured that it would be, was the sharpness of the exit slip lanes. These are quite oblique, requiring cyclists leaving the highway to slow down in the teeth of the traffic, rather than on the slip lane. So frustrating!

The while lines are already trapping water against the gradient, this will freeze, it will not be gritted, and it will be a serious slip hazard.

White line separation

A massive bug-bear is the use of non #LTN1/20 compliant path separation. Despite raising this with the designers and #OCC repeatedly, we were left with painted white line separation. The justification was claimed to be that 200m of Cambridge Kerb would cost £500,000 to install!

Vehicle driving on road next to cycle path with coloured white area distinguishing the two.

Instead, we get a narrow coloured area marking the edge of the path. Fine for adult cyclists, but troubling if you are a parent cycling with vulnerable young children. Another issue is that the coloured area obscures the kerb, such that a partially sighted user might not be aware of the kerb.

Extra £1.3m approved by council for roundabout project An extra £1.3 million in funding has been approved by Oxfordshire County Council for the Banbury Road Roundabout improvement project in Bicester.

Another massive frustration was the lack of buffers or horizontal separation between the paths and the highway. Again, these were removed for cost cutting, but never reinstated despite OCC subsequently approving more funding: www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/2459124...

Shared path next to wide earth area.

Not so good is the unholy mix of shared and segregated provision which we were told was unavoidable due to lack of space. Unavoidable? Judge for yourself...

Wide corners on access from shared path to public right of way.

We lobbied hard for small improvements, such as access to the public right of way having smooth corners suitable for cyclists and this was delivered.

Pedestrian and cycle crossings across junction.

Another good point is that cyclists can make both crossings in a single movement while pedestrians are making a single crossing. This will vastly expedite cycle crossings and make them as quick as a vehicle movement.

A positive point is that thanks to @andrewgant.bsky.social 's intervention, the pedestrian and cycle paths orientations are of an orthodox Dutch arrangement with bikes staying closest to the vehicles. This avoids a massive amount of unnecessary conflict envisaged under the previous #CYCLOPS design.

Cycle and pedestrian crossings across junction.

Thus, while initial designs had pedestrian and cycle crossings over each of the 4 arms, 2 lower demand crossings were removed to increase vehicle capacity. This is tolerable now, but short sighted given that demand to cross the other arms will increase when the new developments are built.

Cycle and pedestrian paths approaching a signalised crossing.

Quick review of @oxfordshirecc.bsky.social 's brand new half-Dutch junction, something that #Bicester Bike Users' Group has been campaigning on for years. It opened this week. First point is that it's primary purpose is to significantly increase vehicle capacity in advance of new development.

Thanks! Even for wild flowers? I understood that they prefer low nutrient soil, and weeds seem to grow out of any nook or cranny!

And some of the constructing drawings themselves: amandataylor.focusteam.org/files/2015/0...

Cambridge Cylceway Improvements - Sedum Mat Border Project Cambridge cycleway £4 million improvements. Sedum Supply supplied and installed a sedum mat border on the Hills Road Cycle route. Our sedum matting includeds 6-10 species of sedum, providing great bio...

www.sedumsupply.co.uk/sedum-supply...