The Bradley Stoke Journal

Norman Baker MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport, was in Bradley Stoke last week as part of a visit to see the the results of Bristol and South Gloucestershire’s Cycle City project.

At Bradley Stoke Community School (BSCS) the Minister saw how schools in South Gloucestershire are encouraging their pupils to cycle to school and witnessed pupils receiving Bikeability training. The school has high levels of cycling among pupils and is part of the Concorde Project – a pilot scheme to encourage cycling between school sites by 14-19 year olds.

The Minister also visited Parkway Station, where he was shown new and improved cycle routes to the station, improved cycling information and a new, secure cycle parking stand in front of the station entrance.

He also met staff at Hewlett Packard who showed him how the Cycling City project has been helping them and other local firms.

Read on for comments on the Minister’s visit by local Councillors »

Local cycling website Better by Bike is offering it readers a chance to win a year’s free swimming at Bradley Stoke Leisure Centre in a competition to celebrate the opening of two new cycle routes.

The two new Cycling City routes run from the Leisure Centre to Parkway Station (Route 3) and Cribbs Causeway (Route 4).

To be in with a chance of winning, readers are being asked to email betterbybike@bristol.gov.uk with their name and the answer to the following question:

How long will it take an average person to cycle the 3.4 km from Parkway Station to Bradley Stoke Leisure Centre?

The article announcing the competition on the Cycling City website claims the answer can be found in a press release elsewhere on the site [Ed: If you can find it - I couldn't].

One lucky person will win the prize of a year’s free swimming at the Leisure Centre. The deadline for entries is Monday 31st January 2011. Better By Bike’s standard terms and conditions apply. The competition is open to over 16s only.

Signage for the two new routes is yet to be completed, although a start has been made with the installation of prominent white pillars at a number of strategic points.

Read on to recall how the new routes featured in the news over the past year »

South Gloucestershire Council is encouraging residents to make use of a new cycle route between Bradley Stoke and Cribbs Causeway to help get in some last minute Christmas shopping.

The three mile route, which runs from Bradley Stoke Leisure Centre to the Mall at Cribbs Causeway, consists of a series of dedicated or mixed-use cycle paths and quiet roads which have been joined up in recent months with resurfaced paths, new street lighting and safe level crossing points.

The route has been provided at a cost of £200,000, funded from ring-fenced Cycling City money.

Councillor Brian Allinson, South Gloucestershire Executive Member for Cycling City said:

“This route will make it easier for cyclists to travel to Cribbs Causeway, which is timely for that last bit of Christmas shopping.”

The Council says signage for the new route will be completed in the new year. In the meantime, a map of the route is available on the MapMyRide website and a YouTube video of a cyclist following the route can be seen on the Better by Bike website.

For those looking to complete their Christmas shopping nearer home, Bradley Stoke’s Tesco Extra store is open until 7pm tonight (Christmas Eve).

Related link: Bradley Stoke Christmas 2010 opening times

Bradley Stoke Town Councillors have successfully fought off plans to install a ‘raised table’ cycle crossing on Baileys Court Road, which they claimed would have caused damage to vehicles and hindered emergency vehicles.

South Gloucestershire Council (SGC), which had proposed the feature as part of its Cycling City Route 3 scheme, has agreed to alter the crossing to use a dropped kerb design. The 5m wide crossing will now be constructed level with the existing road surface and be painted green.

The U-turn comes after one Town Councillor described the proposed crossing as an “obstruction of the highway”, while another claimed it was a back door way of imposing a lower speed limit for motorists.

SGC says it considered the alternative of installing a signal-controlled crossing but the estimated cost of £100k would have been “far beyond budget”. A zebra crossing, although cheaper, would “not be ideal for cyclists” it added.

The concession was accompanied by a request for the Town Council to contribute towards the cost of re-siting of a nearby bus stop and shelter, said to be needed to improve road safety.

That plea fell on deaf ears as the Town Clerk was instructed to inform SGC that “in the current financial climate, the Town Council would be unable to make any contribution”.

A similar ‘level’ crossing to the one now foreseen for Baileys Court Road is currently being installed in Fiddlers Wood Lane (pictured above), close to its junction near the Savages Wood Roundabout on Bradley Stoke Way.

Another crossing, this time part of Cycling City Route 4, is to be constructed across Brook Way, close to its junction with The Common (East).

Bradley Stoke Councillors have given a further thumbs down to plans for cycle crossings in the town despite compromises being made by South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) following the Town Council’s earlier objection.

SGC now says it is prepared to abandon plans for a ‘raised table’ crossing on Fiddlers Wood Lane, close to the Bradley Stoke Way roundabout, replacing it with a ‘kerb build out’ scheme.

But the District Council is adamant that a similar proposed crossing on Baileys Court Road, between its junctions with Sherbourne Avenue and Meadow Way [Street View], should go ahead.

The length of the raised crossing proposed by SGC has been increased to 6m, so that bus passengers will not experience a bumpy ride.

Cllr Robert Jones described the proposed crossing on Baileys Court Road as “an obstruction of the highway”, adding that he would object to “anything that slows the traffic below the legal speed limit”, while Cllr John Ashe said installation of the same crossing would effectively mean “introducing a [lower] speed limit by the back door”.

Councillors voted to inform SGC of their continued objection to the Baileys Court Road scheme and requested that a light controlled crossing be installed in its place.

It is likely that the matter will now have to be decided by SGC’s Executive Member for Transport.

In the meantime, construction work connected with Cycling City Route 3 (of which the crossings form part) is well underway. A new footpath/cycleway has been completed south of Savages Wood Roundabout and work has now commenced on widening the footpath along Bradley Stoke Way, north of the Willow Brook Centre.

Councillors on Bradley Stoke Town Council’s Planning Committee have taken exception to proposals from South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) to install a number of ‘raised table’ cycle crossings in the town.

As reported last month, SGC has opened a consultation on plans to install the crossings on Baileys Court Road, Fiddlers Wood Lane and across the access road to Bradley Stoke Leisure Centre.

The crossings will bring the carriageway up to the level of the footway, allowing cyclists and wheelchair users to cross the road without a change in level.

In a unanimous decision, Councillors voted to object to the scheme on the grounds of “unnecessary expense; raised tables offering no protection to cyclists; causing damage to vehicles; and slowing the passage of emergency vehicles”.

The motion was proposed by Cllr John Ashe, who also drew the meeting’s attention to a statement in the SGC proposals that claims the crossings can “help to maintain the low speed of traffic within any 20mph zone”, adding that he feared this could be the first step towards introducing unwanted 20mph speed limits in the town.

The crossings are part of the Cycling City Route 3 scheme, which will link Parkway Station to Bradley Stoke Leisure Centre.

Construction work has recently started on parts of the scheme, including the installation of a short stretch of new cyclepath along Bradley Stoke Way, close to its junction with Fiddlers Wood Lane.

It is seems unlikely that the Councillors’ objection will prevent the crossings being implemented as the current consultation is on the Highways Act notice that represents the final stage of the approval process.

A widely-publicised month-long public consultation on the whole Cycling City Route 3 scheme was held in September 2009 but Councillors failed to discuss it at any of their meetings held around that time.