Hurlingham Road -we have lost the battle

Shocking pictures reach us of how a rat run has been stolen

The presence of a cycle contraflow shows that this was put in by an anti-car council. Is it a coincidence that the councillors for the area are Jon Rogers and the green councillor Gus Hoyt?
 
They've even put in double yellow lines at the new parking bay.


We also hear of a petition for a safe pedestrian crossing on Ashley hill, which will add even more delays on our journeys.

When will this outrageous war on motorists ever end?

At least central government is on our side -but what use if that if road-by-road, the rat runs go away. This is even more insidious than 20mph limits, which you can ignore completely if you are on a hurry. This is total rat-run theft.

The battle for Hurlingham Road

In the on-going war against motorists, those tax-dodger loving folk at Bristol City Council, led probably by Col. Jon Rodgers, recently permanently blockaded our lovely little rat run, Hurlingham Road, allowing access only for cyclists and pedestrians.

This provocative act of madness unilaterally curtailing our right to tear up the road in the rush hour, watching cyclists, buggy toting parents, cats and dogs scatter in shock & awe, should not go unopposed. Indeed, it did not.

Some of us in the HVF (The Hurlingham Volunteer Force) tried to restore the natural order, very soon after only the kerbstones had been laid, by driving straight over them. This worked for a while, but then the enemy cemented in black bollards. So, as my 2IC reports, some of us had to resort to driving half on the pavement and half over the kerbstones.

It was fun, while that lasted, seeing the untermensch taken out of their comfort zone and only avoiding becoming collateral damage by walking in the centre of the road - the confusion in their eyes so touching.

However, the enemy counter-attacked by sinking in wooden poles adjacent to the bollards. Now, with their barricades are fully built, there is no way we can get through. However, this particular battle may be lost but with proper guerrilla tactics we can still disrupt the real enemy: the cyclist.

 

One of our soldiers, who for operational reasons will only be known as White Van Man (Rank: Superior, Number: KV08WDZ) deserves special mention in this dispatch. Using all of his field skills, he has blocked any two-wheeler from accessing their little apology for a rat run. Cleverly he has left a little gap on the left to make it appear as if there is room to get through, but when the hapless cyclist gets close he'll realise that there is no room to cycle straight through. Priceless. The fightback continues ...

(photos and text from "BK")

The Trees have stolen Happy Lane

Happy Lane, off Ashley Down Road. A nice little buildout, ideal for parking - a fact we have celebrated in the past.

And what do we see today? A tree. With a fence round it. Where we park.

We know the evening post -rightfully- denounces the council for wasting taxpayers money on providing cycle parking and routes, because they take away the space we have paid for. Yet this, tree-planting frenzy does not get covered at all.

Why are they keeping it a secret. Only we, the Bristol Traffic site, remember and warn of this outrage

All over the city

the buildout parking spots are being taken out



We shall not see them free again  


in our time

Grenville Road pavement work

Contributor RP sends us a photo taken on Grenville Road, running from St Andrews Park towards the back of the Co-op on the Gloucester Road.

 "Parking on the pavement is de rigueur along this stretch of road but DS09LXX has provided us with a particularly good example of how to do it properly and make sure your wing mirror isn't clipped by a passing car. Shame then that the passenger side wing mirror appears to have suffered instead."

While this area is being covered, know that Belmont Road -the one way road right in front of the car, and its south-heading counterpart, North Road, form a good high speed rat-run alternative to Gloucester Road for anyone important who doesn't want to be held up by buses, bicycles or pedestrian crossings. Enter/Exit onto Cromwell Road.

Hard to steer with a phone in your hand.

A lot of cyclists complain about cars passing them too closely on narrow roads, how they get in our way (technical term "the primary position") to stop the vehicle behind doing this.

The problem with this approach is that it assumes that the road is wide enough for oncoming vehicles to get past, an assumption invalid for most of the best rat-runs in the city.

Here our secretly-filmed cyclist causes delays for a driver who is not only paying road tax and fuel tax, they are paying VAT on the telephone call, plus of course the telcos paid lots of money for the 3G networks that modern smart phones like the iPhone seen here needs.




Sadly, by driving one handed without proper driving gloves, the driver cannot navigate the gap between the parked cars without potentially clipping the wing mirror. If the bicycle had correctly deferred to the more important driver, this would not have been an issue. Instead she is forced to back off, here on effingham road, though this doesn't appear to interrupt the conversation, except she may have been swearing more than normal in the call.

People complaining about drivers making and taking calls on the road do not realise that we are forced to do it because of the congestion. If the council re-instated the lost inner city motorway plans of the 1970s, we wouldn't be stuck in traffic, we wouldn't need to phone or text. It is not our fault.

Safe Lorry Reversing

The Cotham Hill incident has brought home to all the cyclists how important it is to avoid trying to "sneak past" lorries. You cannot predict which way they will go -you can only guess, and guessing wrong can kill you.

Here are pleased to see one of our cyclists-under-observation not trying to get past this lorry in Saint Andrews. There is no easy way to predict which way round the blind corner the lorry is going to go as it reversed round the blind corner on Derby Road, and again, reverses blind from Derby Road onto Sommerville Road, just near the park and the zebra crossing.

Now, theoretically reversing from a side road onto a main road is a highway code no-no, rule 201, "Do not reverse from a side road into a main road. When using a driveway, reverse in and drive out if you can." That's for cars, as well as lorries. But the Keyline Building Materials lorry had no choice: with only one driver there was no way a spotter could walk out a clear the way, so it had to do next best thing: put on its flashing lights.

Remember: with your hazard lights on, it's OK to reverse large vehicles round blind corners.

update: video is now visible

Control Alt Debate

This just in from a concerned St Werburgher:

Dear Friends

You may be aware of the recent campaign by a few local residents against
trucks, vans and caravans parked in Easton, St Pauls, Montpelier, St Andrews
and St Werburghs.

This activity has extended to vandalism, personal threats and serial complaints
to the police. Local PCSOs at Trinity and Newfoundland have responded by
issuing obstruction tickets to legally parked vehicles, along with threats to
tow and/or destroy them. The people committing vandalism or threatening
behaviour to owners of vehicles have not been challenged.

As a friend of a truck owner and St Werburghs resident, I have been
alarmed by the language of the attacks, which have included stickers
reading 'you're not welcome here'. My friend is often afraid to approach
her vehicle out of fear of attack and harassment.

I believe we need to broaden representation of the issues involved beyond a
vocal minority whose prime objection to the vehicles appears to be aesthetic.
As residents we should be able to park legally in our own neighbourhood without
fear of aggression or harassment.

Festival, surfer and camping vans have been part of the economic and cultural
life of one of the UK's most diverse and progressive areas for decades. If the
complainers and threateners succeed in clearing these vehicles off the streets,
your own way of life might potentially be the next at risk.

There is a meeting being held at the Jack Brimble Hall, on Lynmouth Road, St
Werburghs tomorrow Tuesday 24 November 2009 at 19:00.

Please come.

Keith Hunting


(Real name withheld for reasons of National Security)

Protecting our children on Belmont Road

Here in St Andrews, we can see that WR56WHV clearly has a selfless owner.

Not only have they parked their shiny car across the exit from the footpath between Effingham Road and Belmont Road but they have also taken the trouble to mount the pavement.



Their careful positioning should prevent children, wheelchairs and buggies coming out too fast onto Belmont Road; in fact he should prevent buggies coming out at all.

(photos and text from "R")

Probably didn't see the signs

That or didn't understand the language

WU58KNA outside Sefton Park school, midday, on a school day.

Breakdown on Hurlingham Road

Regular contributor KL sends in this photo of someone pushing their bike up the hill, past the car J417LFJ parked entirely on the pavement of Hurlingham Road, St Andrews, just off Ashley Down Road.

From the front of the vehicle, you see the sign "Sorry, broken down, "

KL asks "why is it more acceptable to block the pavement than to block the road? Or was the car already parked on the pavement when it broke down?"

Actually, that bit of Hurlingham Road is a pavement that the cars have to drive up and down to get past the cars in the other direction. It was probably driving up the hill when it broke down, much to the annoyance of all the cars driving up the pavement behind it.

Incidentally, we hear a rumour -just a rumour- that Hurlingham Road is likely to be closed to through traffic, and that the closure will be at the top of the hill, not the bottom -which must mean near the junction with Cromwell Road. More details on this would be welcome.

Superminis are more considerate

One nice aspect of the mini and supermini categories of cars is that they are narrower. they are easier to pass. Even when parked, they cause less problems.

Here is the car LL08VXJ, for example, parked on the pavement between St Andrews Park and Sefton Park School. Lacking the clearance of a big 4X4, it has had to gently ease onto the pavement on the dropped kerb.

When you compare it with the VW golf parked behind it, you can see the difference in width

This smaller car barely pokes into the road, so leaving plenty of room for passing cars -maybe even two cars to pass, if they too were both such svelte vehicles.

Snow brings chaos to Bristol #1

It's been a bad day out there.

Here we can see a car that must have spun out of control on a blind corner and ended half-way up on the pavement. Lucky nobody got hit on this path between St Andrew's Park and Sefton Primary School.

In London, TfL cancelled all their bus services. In Bristol something worse happened: FirstBus offered a normal weekly service. This is worse, because at least when TfL cancels every bus you know you need to come up with an alternative plan. Whereas when FirstBus are running their normal service, you get to stand out in the freezing cold for an hour or so before concluding the bus is just "missing"

While the snow kept the local bus service on its knees, it did at least provide an opportunity for Lockleaze residents to use alternate transports to escape from the suburb.

They have apparently been waiting for eight years for this snow, as finally they could make their attempt to get over the hill and in to that place their grandparents had told of -now they too will be able to tell their own grandchildren in years to come about the day they visited Stapleton.

Given the choice between waiting for FirstBus or rolling in the snow and pushing your friend over the fields, it's pretty clear which option makes sense.

Darker

October 17, MA02WVX enjoying their private piece of pavement off Ashley Down Road

Three weeks later. It's a bit darker, isn't it? More to the point, the flash makes it hard to read the registration, which ruins the whole datamining aspect of the project.

Less photos=less fun; expect a cut back on content. Unless we get more contributions. Photos to traffic at railwaypath.org please, or embrace the idea and take ownership of traffic and parking issues in your area, as Southville Parking have done.

Maybe if I park over it, it doesn't count?

This is on the road between St Andrew's Park and Sefton Park school; there's a zebra crossing a few metres away; this pavement is nearby.

And what is on it, a Renault Clio ML51TZV, seemingly parked on top of the sloping bit of the pavement that is there to make pedestrian crossing easier -the bit where the parking rules say it is an offence to block.

But here's a thought. If you park your vehicle atop the sloping pavement, well, the slope goes away, doesn't it? Because the bit of the car that is left on the road is no longer blocking a dropped kerb. The bit that you aren't allowed to park against has ceased to be, and so, presumably, the parking offence?

Parking near the school entrance is dangerous and selfish

Jah P has sent in a link to one of his photos: the school run outside Sefton Park School.



The sign says that "Parking near the school entrance is dangerous and selfish". This is why one of the parents is clearly unloading in the middle of the road. It leaves the pavements clear, stops cars speeding past the school and acts as a form of traffic calming that encourages cycle dropoffs.

(for more details, see the Ashley Grange Residents Organisation)

Crash Roadworks

There's some roadworks on all over St Andrews right now; traffic lights, bits of green in the middle of the road; someone has been running new power lines all the way from Locleaze. Currently bits of Ashley Down road are undergoing work. Work that leaves squares of the road fenced off for weeks on end.

Mostly this makes for some interesting traffic calming. Because the two directions of traffic are forced to take turns, you get lots of quiet time cycling followed by bursts of cars. Its good. But is it safe? Not here.

Here's the problem. When heading towards St Andrews, your way is blocked, by a big green barrier. The barrier shows that you have the right of way over oncoming vehicles. Which means it is OK to pull out; they will give way.


But look on the other side. There's no sign saying oncoming vehicles have right of way. All you get is a keep left sign, which means "keep to your side of the road". Which implies you have right of way unless otherwise stated.

This is a mess. If there was a contact number painted up I'd have photoed it and complained.

As it is, all I could do was move the barriers enough to create a bike lane, so when going towards St Andrews it was slightly safer. It's still pretty dodgy cycling in the other direction though.

Pavements are for vans

This is the junction of Happy Lane and Ashley Down road. Happy Lane is a little bike - and foot-path that connects up to Sefton Park school; it is so busy with kids in the morning that you can't cycle down it between 8:30 and 9 am. To increase safety for pedestrians, at the end of the lane, the pavement has been widened.

This is to provide visibility for pedestrians crossing the road, and presumably make it easier for bikes and cars to avoid hitting each other when the bikes go onto the road.

As an additional benefit, it provides parking for two or more cars.

These vehicles can park on the pavement, knowing that no passing bus will clip their wing mirrors. It's like private parking for the residents. {van: G2UNT; car: P610SEU}

Rain Work

If you drive to work in Bristol, you have no idea how long it is going to take. In your head, you have that "17 minutes", the fastest it ever took, some time at 7:15 in the morning during school holidays. That "17 minutes" becomes a goal, one you never quite see again, as instead you get to take that long getting through two traffic lights somewhere near Filton or the A4 towards Bath.
Not being able to predict arrival time means you have to set off early, or compensate for delays by driving extra badly.

If you take a bus, well, you not only have the same unpredictable journey time, there's no way to compensate once you run late. Which leaves the trains, walking and cycling. Trains support a few routes, while walking works well if you live near where you work. Only cycling offers long-distance travel with predictable journey times.

Unfortunately, in exchange for that predictable journey time , you gain a different bit of uncertainty: how wet you will be when you get there. And today, with agressive showers running across the city during the morning, there was a lot of uncertainly.

Here is Saint Andrews roads and the park, all shining in the sun, but shining because of all the surface water, standing out against the black clouds of the next shower.

Still, some people seemed to be out enjoying their ride. You just have to accept that although it is mid-August, hence technically "summer", a waterproof is something you need to wear. At least at this time of year, once your legs get wet, they don't get too cold.

Walking Lessons

The growth in numbers of schoolkids being driven to school not only increases congestion, it means that the children grow up not knowing how to walk round a city. To correct this, some schools are providing lessons in how to walk.

Here a class from Sefton Park school are being given a walking lesson up Hurlingham Road, St Andrews, practising walking along a pavement with cars parked on it. then crossing the road itself. As it is so unusual for children to be on a pavement, they are all equipped with high-visibility yellow tops.

This may seem an admirable exercise, but note how the teachers are actually blocking cars from getting down the road while the children get across.


This creates an unrealistic expectation for the kids: that cars will give way to them, and inconveniences car drivers, who get needlessly delayed.
There must be a way to provide these lessons without inconveniencing cars. Maybe there is a Nintendo Wii "walking" game, or perhaps a special part of school -the playground- could be set up to resemble a Bristol street. That way the children could get their lesson in without making the commuters late.