Having recently taken up cycling to work, I do wish Aztec West were equipped with either cycle paths or shared cycle/footpaths. Cycle lanes on roads that carry motor traffic are simply not safe enough except for expert sports cyclists.
Every morning I see dozy white van drivers with mobile phones to their ears and I’m terrified they will just run into me without noticing. The roads also take us a long way round the main loop to get to the other side from the shared cycle/pedestrian tunnel on the A38, and official cut-throughs are fiddly, often requiring kerb-jumping or squeezing between parked cars.
As soon as I’m off Aztec West and on my way to Bradley Stoke, there is no problem, and I can use cycle paths and ultra-low-traffic roads.
Simply allowing cyclists to share the Aztec footpaths on an official basis would be a huge step forward.
I hope I won’t have to give up and start using the car again.
It’s true that the cycle lane around the loop is worthless – it’s less than a metre wide, well below the reccomended minimum.
However, I would argue that the footpaths, particularly the block-paved ones, aren’t suitable for cycling on. They’re far too narrow for pedestrians and cyclists to co-exisit and the surfaces appear very uneven in places.
The problem is that Aztec West is privately owned, so you need to influence the landowners – does your company have a Bicycle User Group? BUGs basically further the needs of cyclists in a given workplace and surrounding area to improve communting experiences and increase cycle travel. They’ve proved useful in addressing cycling infrastructure concerns elsewhere in the North Fringe too.