At 10am on Sunday morning some locals were standing in the Market Place socially distancing and displaying messages of hope. The world has changed dramatically in the last two months due to a global pandemic. The old ways of doing things, ways that were not sustainable for the planet, could be made to change for the better.
Thanks to Tim for these pictures.
There have been a lot of people out cycling during the lockdown, particularly young families for whom the roads are not always felt to be safe. A new cycle lane has been put in along Bath Street during the lockdown. The cycle way to Milton Park and Didcot is being improved. Car drivers are being more sympathetic to cyclists at the moment.
Today, I went to Pedal Power – the bike shop on the Vineyard. They are open to one customer at a time – at the times specified on their website. There could be a small queue outside. This was a chance to get things needed to keep our bikes on the road. I could have sent off for the same things from ebay or amazon but I saved money by going to Pedal Power and shopped local.
What a waste of paint that cycle lane is – nowhere near wide enough for safe cycling, and will only encourage people in motor vehicles to think that can pass cycles in the lane without needing to move over to give adequate passing distance. It would have been better just to paint large cycle symbols in the centre of the lane, to remind people that cycles should be treated like any other vehicle – only passed when safe to do so, and not consigned to a gutter ghetto. Even the green Extinction Rebellion effort is disappointingly half-hearted.
That cycle lane is so narrow it is dangerous and the cycle logos on the other side of the street encourage riding too close to parked cars, if you don’t know why that is dangerous you are not a cyclist and you shouldn’t be driving.
So glad to see that Davids efforts to make a change are so situation are so high profile and effective.
What might also help would be a 20mph speed limit across the centre of town.
Another area that needs attention is National Cycle Route 5 along East St Helens Street as you are not permitted to cycle along it.
When you arrive at Bridge Street the junction is designed so that cars have to give way to vehicles from Stert Street, but approach the junction on foot or by bike you have to take your chances to cross the road.
It feels like cycle provision around Abingdon has been, at best, installed as an after thought with absolute priority always given to people in cars.
20mph speed limit, you would be lucky to be able to get that fast in abingdon