Uncategorized on mattturner.blog

Sheffield City Council spending data

Tue, 23 Jan 2018 15:25:08 +0000

Update 6th Feb 2018: The data for the missing months is now available and has been incorporated into the linked Google Fusion sheet.

The law says that local government should publish a list of payments to suppliers over £500 (and recommends publishing payments over £250). I remember looking at Sheffield’s data some time ago and giving up because the quality was so poor. Well, this time I’ve persevered and I’ve published a much more usable data set.

No more Sheffield Highways Cabinet Member Decision Sessions. No more Sheffield City Region Transport Committee.

Sat, 26 Aug 2017 07:42:57 +0000

Sheffield City Council Highways Cabinet Member Decision Session

A little while ago, the Sheffield City Council Highways Cabinet Member Decision Session meetings were cancelled. This wasn’t announced, the final meeting didn’t include any mention that there would be no more, just cancelled.

When a friend wondered when the next one would be, he was told.

Highway Cabinet Member Decision Sessions will no longer meet at the request of the Cabinet Member. Decisions will be taken by the Individual Cabinet Member as previously and future decisions will be advertised here http://democracy.sheffield.gov.uk/mgListPlans.aspx?RPId=123&RD=0

Byelaws and fining people for leaving vehicle engines running unnecessarily

Fri, 11 Aug 2017 17:16:00 +0000

Sheffield City Council has a consultation open at the moment about giving fines to people who leave vehicle engines running when not driving (idling). I fully support this, and everyone should respond positively to the consultation.

However, I’m confused about one aspect of the consultation, byelaws.

This consultation asks your views on whether Sheffield City Council should introduce and enforce new byelaws … for “no vehicle idling”

…if Sheffield City Council were to undertake enforcement and issue fines we would need to progress a local byelaw

Sheffield still keeping consultations hidden, under wraps, and suppressing responses - Adding pedestrian crossing phases to a crossroads

Tue, 11 Apr 2017 15:31:00 +0000

I’ve written before about consultations in Sheffield, how they’re not advertised, hidden away, and hard to respond to. This is another example. This time it’s about a new pedestrian crossing in Crookesmoor at the junction of Barber Road, Crookes Valley Road and Crookesmoor Road (map).

Consultation about a new crossing at Barber Road / Crookes Valley Road / Crookesmoor Road in Sheffield

A traffic count on Tonbridge High Street, 13,600 vehicles per day

Tue, 07 Mar 2017 12:33:17 +0000

I did a quick traffic count on Tonbridge High Street a few days ago.

It showed that at about 17:00, there are about 1,360 motor vehicles per hour using the road.

Using the rule of thumb, 10x hourly peak traffic = day traffic, that gives 13,600 motor vehicles a day using Tonbridge High Street.

Putting this into perspective for cycling,

London Cycle Design Standards give a critical failure to any street where total volume of motor traffic is > 1,000 vehicles/hour at peak and cyclists are not separated. Green is <200 vehicles per hour at peak.
The Welsh Active Travel Guidance gives a critical failure to any street where total volume of traffic is > 10,000 vehicles per day, and cyclists are not separated. Green, is 2,500 vehicles per day.
The UK LTN2/08 says that for > 10,000 vehicles per day, cycle lanes or tracks are required.

So, Tonbridge High Street is not a place where many people would find it comfortable to cycle.

A masterclass from Sheffield City Council in suppressing consultation responses by making it difficult to respond

Mon, 27 Feb 2017 18:38:19 +0000

Sheffield Council are “consulting” on a major public realm redevelopment (Knowledge Gateway) in the City Centre, they’ve made it very difficult to respond by hiding the details of how to respond in a pdf, in a zip file, under the business section, of the local tourist information website.

This is how the council have advertised the ‘consultation’:

Official Sheffield Council consultation portal.

Didn’t publish a consultation, or list that a consultation is ongoing.

Sheffield Council: Published a press release about the scheme on official press release page.

What WE do makes a difference. Why Sheffield Council needs to be more air aware.

Sun, 10 Jul 2016 15:26:35 +0000

How do you effectively persuade people to choose a more sustainable mode of transportation?

Is it by telling them what do to? Or are their choices influenced by our streets, our public spaces and bigger structural issues?

When we live in a country designed around the car, are people really free to make their own choices?

For the past few months Sheffield Council has been running a campaign under the title ‘Air Aware, What You Do Makes a Difference’ (Twitter, Website).

South Yorkshire's Sustainable Transport Exemplar Programme - Update November 2015

Mon, 04 Jan 2016 21:43:37 +0000

As part of the Sheffield City Region Growth Deal, announced in 2014, a £16.3m investment allocation was made towards a Sustainable Transport Exemplar Programme (STEP). Let’s look at how that’s going. This information is from item 13 of this meeting.

STEP Funding Profiles

The full list of projects is available here. The ones in Sheffield are in the table below. As of 30/09/2015 no money had been claimed.

2015/16 Funding as 02/03/2015

Write to your MP NOW! Tell them to support the Pavement Parking (Protection of Vulnerable Pedestrians) Bill

Sun, 22 Nov 2015 22:11:08 +0000

Even Sheffield Police park on the pavements. In this case, blocking a dropped kerb which they conveniently drove up.

Please write to your MP and ask them to support the Pavement Parking Bill which is being debated in a couple of weeks in Parliament.

Click here to use the Living Streets tool to email them, or use WriteToThem.

Sheffield's Rutland Road/Pitsmoor Road Junction - Rated Zero/30 on the London Cycle Design Standards Junction Assessment Tool

Sun, 22 Nov 2015 11:57:19 +0000

Pitsmoor Road/Rutland Road

As part of Sheffield’s Better Buses programme, the Rutland Road/Pitsmoor Road and Rutland Road/Cooks Wood Road junctions have been identified as causing delays. The council’s reports are available here, and the full design is here. The junctions are next to each other, Google map link with Streetview.

“Buses are delayed due to congestion, and limited road width, along Pitsmoor Road.”

The solution is “a scheme to address the delays, which comprises road widening, revised road markings and a new pedestrian crossing point”, costing “around £300,000 which includes for design, construction, supervision, contingency and commuted sum. It is to be funded from the Passenger Transport Executive’s 2016/17 Better Buses programme”.

No More Investment in Cycling - Write to your MP now

Sun, 01 Nov 2015 11:31:26 +0000

Osbourne’s Halloween Horror - From The Private Eye

I’ve just written to my MP about the news that investment in cycling is going to dry up at the spending review at the end of this month.

You should write to your MP too, it’s easy and only takes a couple of minutes. http://www.writetothem.com/?a=westminstermp

Dear Harry Harpham,

I’m writing to you about the news that investment in cycling is due to be cut in the November spending review at the end of November as reported in The Times yesterday. http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/cyclesafety/article4601075.ece

Grey to Green - Money found for public art, but not Space for Cycling

Thu, 21 May 2015 07:06:46 +0000

We’re about to spend £160k of savings from the Sheffield Grey to Green project on public art.

This is a road scheme on an old ring road, which will narrow the carriageways, create shared use pavements, and install meadows. There wasn’t enough money to install adequate cycling infrastructure, but £160k of saving have been found and will be spent creating public art.

Our priorities are wrong.

This allocation of funding is due to be approved at the 27 May Sheffield Cabinet Meeting[pdf].

Procurement strategy for highways in Sheffield - Single Source Tendering

Thu, 21 May 2015 06:47:20 +0000

Next week the Cabinet of Sheffield City Council will make a decision about signing up to a single source tender procurement strategy for highways. See Page 71 of this document which is on the agenda for the cabinet meeting of 27th May 2015.

The value of these highways schemes is listed as £7.5million for the year.

Is this wise!? I had no idea that this is how we tendered for highways projects in Sheffield.

New Sheffield Cabinet Member Appointments - Trying to make sense of it all

Thu, 14 May 2015 06:54:13 +0000

Sheffield Council has a new cabinet! But is it clear who has responsibility for what?

Leader of the Council- Councillor Julie Dore

Finance and Resources- Councillor Ben Curran

Business Skills and Development- Councillor Leigh Bramall

Housing- Councillor Jayne Dunn

Neighbourhoods- Councillor Isobel Bowler

Environment and Transport- Councillor Terry Fox

Health, Care and Independent Living- Councillor Mary Lea

Public Health and Equality- Councillor Mazher Iqbal

Children, Young People and Families- Councillor Jackie Drayton

Cabinet Member Responsibilities, published 13th May 2015

Cycle lanes on the outside parked cars, a recipe for disaster

Sat, 09 May 2015 18:21:05 +0000

A couple of video’s of some new cycle lanes in Sheffield. These have been built in the past couple of weeks.

Let’s be honest, you’d have to be insane to think that this is even remotely safe.

http://vine.co/v/eZYMPLAY0EW

http://vine.co/v/eZYJLv5AT7g

This road has 6 lanes for driving, one for parking, 4 for driving along and one for turning. The people in charge have decided that the best place for people cycling is in-between parked cars, and traffic.

The latest on 20mph in Sheffield, Hackenthorpe, not outside Rainbow Forge Primary School where over 50% of traffic already breaks the 30mph speed limit

Mon, 26 Jan 2015 13:17:42 +0000

A 20mph area has been proposed for Hackenthorpe in Sheffield and the final decision on it was taken a couple of weeks ago. Local councillors, presumably responding to discussions with residents, asked for the speed limits of two main roads in the area to be included.

Sheffield Road and Beighton Road, one of two through routes that divide the area (the other being Birley Spa Lane) were originally omitted from the potential 20mph area. Local ward members felt that residents should be consulted on their inclusion. A further letter was delivered to all properties in the area explaining this additional proposal.

Crossing the road in Tilburg

Mon, 20 Oct 2014 06:08:11 +0000

Last week I was in Tilburg in The Netherlands. There is a pedestrian crossing which has all the good features every crossing should have and I thought I’d share a few photos and a video of it. Streetview link.

I was immediately struck by the width of the crossing, as well as the long crossing phases and the short time people had to wait before being able to cross.

In summary, it is direct, convenient and responsive.

Institution of Civil Engineers - State of the Nation: Infrastructure 2014 - Active Travel

Thu, 26 Jun 2014 12:39:45 +0000

Today the Institution of Civil Engineers has released their State of the Nation: Infrastructure 2014 report and it calls on the UK government to embrace cycling as a mainstream travel choice. It is well worth reading the section on Local Transport Networks, it makes rather depressing reading.

Well done ICE for highlighting and supporting these issues.

Both walking and cycling have an important role in shorter trips for joining up public transport journeys, alongside associated health and well-being benefits. Traditionally most of the benefits of transport infrastructure projects have been associated with reductions in travel time; however, studies suggest that active travel should be considered as a positive aspect in infrastructure appraisals. Walking is often neglected in transport debates yet still accounts for around one-quarter of trips and is the second most common mode of commuting. Environments that are attractive to pedestrians are often also attractive places to live, work, shop and socialise. ICE would like to see walking promoted through better streetscape management, including wider, better-lit and better-maintained pavements and public realm. There should also be a reduction in unnecessary street furniture, traffic-calming and other measures to make existing environments more pedestrian-friendly.

Government bans use of CCTV 'spy cars' for on-street parking

Sun, 22 Jun 2014 13:36:09 +0000

Use of closed circuit television spy cars on their own to enforce on-street parking made illegal. In a victory for drivers and shoppers, the government will make it illegal to use closed circuit television (CCTV) ‘spy cars’ alone to enforce on-street parking ending the plague of parking tickets by post, Communities Secretary Eric Pickles and Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin announced today (21 June 2014).

gov.uk press release

We’ve been campaigning for tougher enforcement of parking offenses for a long time. Banning the use of CCTV, discounts for appeals and freezing penalty notice fees reduces our ability to protect infrastructure designed to enable people to use a bike.

Leigh Bramall's Standard Reply to Cycling Contacts

Thu, 01 May 2014 08:35:59 +0000

I’m just posting this here for the record!

In Sheffield, including the implementation of new 20mph areas, we are spending over £1m in the coming year making improvements to our cycle infrastructure.

We have set out a policy that will ultimately see all suitable residential areas have a 20 mph speed limit, and the Streets Ahead programme to bring all our pavements and roads up to a good standard will make the cycle offer easier, as well as offering the opportunity for further improvements to our cycling infrastructure. In addition, we are developing plans for a network of Green Routes that will provide off road cycling routes using our green spaces and parks to provide safe cycling paths along key corridors for commuting and leisure uses.

"The [bikeability] course is not aimed at encouraging children to cycle to school alone"

Wed, 02 Apr 2014 12:14:37 +0000

Freedom for families - Postcard courtesy of Cycle Embassy of Great Britain

Bikeability training is due to start later this month at Dobcroft Junior School in Sheffield. A letter was sent to parents of children taking part which includes advice on allowing children to cycle to school alone.

Please note that the course is not aimed at encouraging children to cycle to school alone. Because of the heavy traffic conditions and parking problems surrounding our school, we expect parents to accompany their children who may wish to cycle to school in future.

South Yorkshire Police endangering vulnerable road users YET AGAIN

Sat, 08 Mar 2014 10:15:00 +0000

Photos taken at 10:00 this morning.

Labe (Guinea) to Mamou (Guinea)

Wed, 22 Jan 2014 16:47:37 +0000

It’s been a while since I’ve written a blog post, I survived the Guinea mountains and have now descended back to sea level and am in Sierra Leone.

I left Labe back on 7th January and headed for a town called Pita. I really liked Labe, the place I stayed was nice and quiet, with good food, cold beers and little tweeting birds in the trees, but it was a little bit expensive, especially for Guinea. But they did have hot running water! Each room had a hot water tank fed by a home made boiler, copper piping inside an old oil drum filled with water, and heated by a big charcoal fire underneath.

Bissau (Guinea Bissau) to Labe (Guinea)

Mon, 06 Jan 2014 20:37:05 +0000

Leaving Bissau I grabbed a coffee and egg sandwich for breakfast. It was Christmas day and everything was quiet, but the street vendors were already set up for serving food.

I was running short on local currency and had heard that there were ATMs that would accept international visa cards. The first two didnt work. One only took local cards, the other was out of service, but the third worked flawlessly. Its now easy to get cash in Bissau city (and also up country in Gabu where I got some more before crossing to Guinea).

Ziguinchor to Bissau

Mon, 30 Dec 2013 16:42:48 +0000

I felt really anxious about leaving Ziguinchor but I shouldn’t have been worried. Cycling south from Ziguinchor through The Cassamance region of Senegal. was great. Lovely scenery, friendly people, and lots more bikes than I’d seen in a while. I saw signs warning me of landmines, a legacy of the seperatist movement in this part of Senegal, however I’m not too sure how current these warnings are, the signs looked very old.

Kaolack(Senegal) to Ziginchor(Senegal)

Fri, 20 Dec 2013 22:08:22 +0000

The past week has been a mixture of highs and lows. I’ve made good progress, got some important visas, but Gambia was hard because I encountered so much tourist hassle.

The repair to my seat post survived the dirt roads south of Kaolack. The villages south of Kaolack on the way to Sokone seemed more traditional compared to those I’d passed previously. There was much less litter, more thatched huts/houses, less begging from children, although they still seemed to get very excited, shouting ’toubab! toubab!’ at me and waving wildly as I passed.

Thies to Kaolack - Bike trouble...

Thu, 12 Dec 2013 16:57:03 +0000

Senegal seems to have changed over the past few days. The countryside has become a lot more rural, with small villages full of thatch huts. The towns have been further apart, and people much less used to seeing visitors.

I’m becoming acustommed to hearing people calling me ‘white man’, children pestering me for money, and even adults asking me for gifts or money if I stop for a rest or to buy something, or even as I cycle past. Its a strange feeling, I feel harassed by it, but I never feel in danger or that I’m not safe.

Dakar to Thies

Sun, 08 Dec 2013 14:06:46 +0000

I’ve had a great couple of days. Leaving Dakar was fine, apart from the motorway esque road I needed to take. There was a big shoulder though and plenty of slower vehicles (horses and carts!)

I was invited in for tea by some agriculture company workers. They had a little bag of charcoal and a small metal tea pot. They showed me the sorts of things they grew… bananas, carrots, fish.

Sheffield to Dakar

Thu, 05 Dec 2013 19:05:03 +0000

I’m now in Dakar, the starting point of my journey. I’m sat on the roof of the hotel, nice a cool now that it’s dusk.

I flew from Heathrow after a night spent on the terminal floor. I was able to fly with my bicycle in a big plastic bag. Air France made me sign a waiver form for it’s safety!

The plane was delayed for 1 hour taking off (security problems with a piece of luggage that had to be removed). When we arrived, at about 21:30, the airport seemed overwhelmed. I queued for about 2 hours to get a visa. It was taking about 10 minutes per person, with 5 people working for a full 777 jet!

Sheffield's New Bike Kitchen - Community Bicycle Workspaces

Sat, 09 Nov 2013 19:40:49 +0000

Today I spent my afternoon at Sheffield’s newest community bike facility - Recycle Bike’s, Bike Kitchen, a community DIY bicycle workshop.

They won’t do the work for you, but they’ll give you a hand and point you in the right direction if you need help. There are maintenance courses on some evenings, I understand the first one was about setting up brakes - perhaps I should have gone along…

Our children’s freedom is compromised by lack of transport choice

Fri, 08 Nov 2013 11:27:17 +0000

Today my local paper have published a brief opinion piece about how our children’s freedom is compromised by lack of transport choice. I wrote it after being inspired by work from Judith and David Hembrow of The Campaign for Childhood Freedom and The Cycling Embassy of Great Britain. I hope you agree with the sentiment.

Source: The Cycling Embasy of Great Britain

It’s hard to dispute that children today have less freedom than their parents did when they were young.

National Cycle Network in Sheffield - Increasing HGV traffic with no provision for cycling

Fri, 18 Oct 2013 12:24:17 +0000

If Sheffield is serious in its plans to get more people cycling then National Cycle Network routes need to be protected from heavy industrial traffic. Planning applications which increase traffic levels on designated cycling routes need to be rejected if they fail to incorporate adequate protection for cyclists.

Some time ago I wrote about a National Cycle Network route in Sheffield which was under threat from industrial development.

Today we hear that planning permission has been granted for the doubling in size of a recycling facility which will significantly increase the level of HGV traffic through the area.

Removed - Sheffield's most dangerous cycle facility

Tue, 17 Sep 2013 13:11:45 +0000

About a year ago I highlighted a problem with a new cycle facility in Sheffield. A cycle lane which allows cyclists to turn right at a normally left turn only junction.

This video shows the problem, there just isn’t enough space for a large vehicle and a bicycle to use each lane at the same time.

Urban Cycling Guide DVD - Unintentionally highlighting problems with UK city roads

Sat, 14 Sep 2013 16:25:16 +0000

Leeds City Council have commissioned and created a DVD called the ‘Urban Cycling Guide’. You can watch some parts on their YouTube channel.

Urban Cycling Guide DVD

It covers how to cycle in a busy urban environment, covering common scenarios like roundabouts, multi lane roads, dual carriageways, side roads, cycle lanes, advanced stop lines and gyratories.

It has been filmed on the roads of Leeds, York and Sheffield by two cyclists with video cameras showing multiple angles. It seems like a very good way to teach good cycling technique. I’d recommend watching it, you’ll certainly get something out of it if you cycle on roads like these.

National Cycle Network 627 under threat from industrial development

Tue, 10 Sep 2013 19:40:11 +0000

We need to protect existing cycle routes from industrial development and increasing traffic levels if they are to stay safe and be successful. Problems with planning on the Sheaf Valley route have recently come to light, NCN627 could be the next cycle route under threat from conflicting planning policies. Big investment in Peak District National Parks cycling funding could be wasted if we get this wrong.

Clay Wheels Lane and Beeley Wood Lane form part of the National Cycle Network route 627.

Will my MP [David Blunkett] attend today's cycling debate?

Mon, 02 Sep 2013 07:30:28 +0000

I doubt it

Early in August I wrote to my local MP David Blunkett asking him to attend today’s debate on cycling in the House of Commons,

I never received a reply. [update - a reply was sent by letter but I’ve been advised that it must have been lost, David is not able to attend]

The least we should expect from our MPs is representation in the House of Commons.

Recycling Money - How the Department for Transport reannounces funding for cycling yet again

Mon, 12 Aug 2013 13:03:25 +0000

Today the Department of Transport have re-announced £42 million of cycling investment previously announced in January, and lay claim to a further £54 million of local council contribution. Be honest with funding and stop re announcing investment.

Today the Government have been making announcements about funding for cycling.

The Prime Minister announces the biggest ever single injection of cash for the country alongside plans to make roads safer for those on two wheels.

Cycling Funding Announcements - Cycle City Ambition Grant and Cycling in National Parks Grants

Sun, 11 Aug 2013 11:31:29 +0000

12/08/2013 - There is an update to this post with more information here.

Tomorrow we’ll see the winning bids for the Cycle City Ambition Grants and Cycling in National Parks grants announced. From the press stories it’s not clear that £42m of this was already announced back in January 2013.

“PM to pump record £80m into cycling The prime minister will reveal plans to turn three big urban areas into cycling cities as well as investing in a network of bike lanes in two rural areas” The Times on Sunday, 11/08/2013

Irresponsible and dangerous workmanship on Sheffield tram track replacement

Mon, 05 Aug 2013 22:25:14 +0000

A few weeks ago I wrote a post about the dangers posed to cycling from tram tracks. I quoted from a Sheffield Council investigation into the safety of cycling around tram tracks. The report mentions the need for good quality road surfaces around tram lines.

In most documents regarding on-street cycle lanes it is specifically recommended that maintenance of the surface should be of primary importance, as cyclists are particularly sensitive to the quality of a road surface. Whilst in practice this is rarely implemented due to financial constraints, throughout the tram route the road has been remade and the surface re-laid and so is generally in good condition and can be expected to remain so for a number of years to come.

Aldgate gyratory and a separated cycle track gone wrong

Wed, 24 Jul 2013 21:09:47 +0000

A few weeks ago I joined the London Cycling Campaign protest ride in London to call for dedicated space for cycling. The ride happened because a lady was killed while cycling along Whitechapel High Street.

London Cycling Campaign Space For Cycling Protest Ride

On my way to the ride I encountered Aldgate gyratory for the very first time (I’d read about this junction and plans to improve it but had never paid much attentio n). My initial reaction to encountering the junction was to get off my bike and push around.

Sheffield City Region LEP announce preliminary list of Major Transport Schemes

Fri, 19 Jul 2013 12:24:49 +0000

_source: http://www.sheffieldcityregion.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/SCR-LTB-26-07-13-Full-Papers.pdf_![logo-960](/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/logo-960.png)Today the Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership has announced their preferred list of major transport schemes.

This has come about because the Sheffield City Region has secured devolved powers to develop and fund major transport schemes in the area from the Department for Transport. We (the Local Transport Body) now gets to choose the major transport schemes in it’s area with far less control from the Department for Transport.

The Local Transport Body (LTB) is the body responsible for making and overseeing key infrastructure investment decisions in the Sheffield City Region.

Sheffield fails to bid for Cycle City Ambition Grant money

Tue, 09 Jul 2013 11:31:16 +0000

In January 2013 Norman Baker launched the Cycle City Ambition Grants, £30 million (later upped to £77 million, later upped by £114 million more) of funding for cities that showed the ambition to “make cycling easier and safer for people throughout England”

Sheffield was the only large city that failed to submit a bid.

What does this mean? Are Sheffield City Council and our Regional Transport ITA just not interested in cycling? Are we not ambitious enough? Do we already have enough money? Or are we just incompetent?

Cycling and the Sheffield Tram Network - A match made in hell!

Sat, 08 Jun 2013 08:55:46 +0000

Update: Have you crashed on the tram lines? You can now report it online, here, at tramcrash.co.uk

TramCrash.co.uk Report your bicycle crashes on tram lines here

We have a tram network in Sheffield known as the Supertram, it opened in 1994 and has 35km of track with about 50% of this on normal streets shared with normal vehicles.

Rotherham Pool Green Roundabout Redesign – Cycle lanes

Fri, 31 May 2013 12:38:32 +0000

Just a quick post, Rotherham Council has just been awarded £3.4million from the Pinch Points Fund to convert Pool Green Roundabout into a signalised crossing.

The road is a standard crossroads, it has 6 lanes in the north south direction and 3 lanes in the east west direction. Cycle facilities consist of in carriageway lanes and advance stop lines.

Is this really the best we can do for cycling?

(I’ve highlighted the on carriageway lanes in red below, the original is here)

Abuse on the road - an open letter from a young woman

Tue, 28 May 2013 17:20:38 +0000

An open letter from my girlfriend.

To the two fully grown men who thought it was OK to shout abuse at a young woman….

I am so sorry to have delayed your obviously urgent journey by 30 precious seconds by choosing to ride into town on my bike on a brilliantly sunny bank holiday. You don’t want me to be on the road? That’s fine, well neither do I. The reason I was waiting at the lights with you is that is the only way to get onto the cycle path, where I would much rather be! There is no other place I could have been – what did you expect me to do?!

A letter to my local councillor

Wed, 22 May 2013 21:33:28 +0000

Dear Bob Johnson,

I’m writing to you because I’m concerned about the lack of progress I see in encouraging people to use bicycles to travel in Sheffield.

At yesterday’s Council Cycle Forum we heard from Dick Skelton, a highways planning officer, that all the council’s cycling schemes had been used up with the Local Sustainable Transport Bid. It was explained that the council are working on a Green Routes project and that this will provide more schemes to begin work on but these won’t be designed fully until next year (let alone built). The LSTF schemes in progress do not include any projects to improve the roads in Sheffield for cycling, they only include off road paths, river routes and railway line conversions.

"Confident cyclists can just use the road"

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 17:43:14 +0000

Today I was speaking to someone about a proposed highways scheme in Sheffield. I said that the bicycle route was inconvenient because to turn right into a side road from a main road there were five toucan crossings on the bicycle route whereas the road has a slip lane with one traffic light.

The response was:

Confident cyclists can always use the road

Installing a cycle route that is less convenient than the road will not be used by existing cyclists who are used to convenient routes and dealing with hostile traffic.

Brook Hill Roundabout - Sheffield's Urban Motorway

Sat, 09 Mar 2013 16:00:31 +0000

The Westway, the ultimate symbol of how the urban motorway tore up our cities, will become the ultimate symbol of how we are claiming central London for the bike.

Boris Johnson - The Mayor’s Vision For Cycling In London

Sheffield’s Brook Hill Roundabout - The ultimate symbol of the urban motorway.

Described by The Times in 2012 as “a nightmarish experience for all but the most advanced cyclists…There are no concession to cyclists here – no cycle lanes or markings — and cyclists have to race to match the speed of oncoming traffic.”

Cycling in the door zone - Injury statistics

Thu, 07 Mar 2013 12:58:36 +0000

Source: Scott Ehardt

Statistics for cyclists injured by ‘car door incidents’ have just been released for the last few years. I’m fairly sure that this information has been available previously but this is a nice summary in response to a Parliamentary Question.

Between 2009 and 2011 1587 incidents have been recorded resulting in injury, 2 resulted in death.

Mr Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what information his Department holds on (a) the number of pedal cyclist casualties attributable to the opening of a vehicle door in (i) 2009, (ii) 2010 and (iii) 2011 and (b) the severity of the injuries received in each case. [145360]

New A57 Dual Carriageway - Cyclist facilities and provision

Fri, 15 Feb 2013 08:00:57 +0000

The A57 between Sheffield and Worksop is one of those roads you dread to come across as a cyclist. It is a very busy single carriageway road with very little room for vehicles to overtake.

There is a scheme currently being constructed to make this road a dual carriageway, a couple of the ojectives in the planning statement are:

Promote and improve safety for all road users
Improved facilities for pedestrians, cyclists and equestrians

I’m interested in this as a cyclist, so what are the improved facilities for cyclists and how will safety be improved?

Road Safety - Not a priority in South Yorkshire #GetBritainCycling

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 11:39:04 +0000

Today in the Get Britain Cycling inquiry on Safety, the MET police said

Metropolitan Police CI Ian Vincent tells inquiry that road safety is a high priority for the Commissioner and the police #getbritaincycling

— APPCG (@allpartycycling) January 30, 2013

South Yorkshire Police

How about locally in South Yorkshire? Well recently at the Police and Crime Panel Shaun Wright, the new Police and Crime Commissioner said

Whilst the remit of road safety fell under the remit of the Police and Crime Commissioner, unless there was a particular road safety issue, traffic policing would not be high on the list of priorities as some other issues.

Gritting/clearing of icy cycle paths - The twitter perspective

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 12:54:26 +0000

For the past week I’ve not been cycling to work, I’ve been using the tram. I cycled in on Monday but the cycle path alongside the dual carriageway was icy so I used the road. It wasn’t much fun. Many cycle paths in Sheffield are still not cleared/gritted, even the ones adjacent to trunk roads. The cycle path is still covered in ice.

How about the rest of the country? Here are some perspectives from Twitter.

We’re at the Sheffield on the Move forum - having a go at poor snow clearance on footpaths & cycleways. #sotm

— cycleSheffield (@cycleSheffield) January 24, 2013

Argh! Icy cycle paths, hasn’t snowed in Sheffield for ages! Look at the alternative, This is why I’ve not been cycling twitter.com/Mattturner86/s…

— Matt Turner (@Mattturner86) January 25, 2013

The scene on Upper Hanover Way, Sheffield tonight. Roadway nice & clear:peds & cyclists sliding about. twitter.com/cycleSheffield…

— cycleSheffield (@cycleSheffield) January 22, 2013

What is being done to reduce the number of cyclist injuries on the roads?

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 12:57:54 +0000

The following is taken from a written answer on 15th January 2013 in the House of Commons, source is here Stephen Hammond is a Conservative MP for Wimbledon and is Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to reduce the number of cyclists seriously injured on roads. [136631]

15 Jan 2013 : Column 641W Stephen Hammond: The Government takes the safety of cyclists very seriously. In 2012 the Government announced a £15 million fund to improve safety for cyclists outside London, by tackling dangerous junctions. This was in addition to the £15 million fund awarded to Transport for London in March for the same purpose. Furthermore, part of the recently announced £20 million in cycle funding will go towards tackling dangerous junctions.

A commitment to cycle audits in Sheffield

Thu, 10 Jan 2013 12:49:39 +0000

In Sheffield we’ve seen a number of transport schemes that have not adequately taken cyclists requirements into account. The council conduct Road Safety Audits on most highway schemes but these do not have a specific section where cyclists needs are considered.

Sheffield Council have committed in many places over the years to conducting cycle audits for highways projects however this has never been implemented and none have ever been done.

The DFT have published guidance on how to integrate cycle audits into the normal RSA process (already in use in Sheffield), and I beleive Sheffield council should use this guidance.

The standard of brand new cycling infrastructure in Sheffield

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 13:06:10 +0000

Sheffield City Council has in the past given cyclists assurances that they will design new infrastructure for cycling in line with best advice.

At a full council meeting on 4th April 2007 the following motion was passed.

x) requiring the design of cycle routes and facilities to be in accordance with advice and recommendations contained within the Draft Local Transport Plan.

UK Investment In Local Sustainable Transport - The vision (or lack of!)

Thu, 27 Dec 2012 15:17:11 +0000

A few years ago the Department For Transport announced £600 million investment for the Local Sustainable Transport Fund, the LSTF.

The biggest funding source for local transport authorities for Sustainable Transport is the LSTF, the fund was designed to pay for projects from 2011 to 2015, there are 96 projects across England. What did the Department for Transport hope to achieve with this? They set out their vision for ideas in this helpful illustration. The suggestions for cycle infrastructure don’t give me any confidence that the LSTF will have much of an impact on cycling.

How much does investment in cycling cost?

Thu, 27 Dec 2012 09:00:55 +0000

I’ve been reviewing a few documents from the South Yorkshire Integrated Transport Authority (which cover Sheffield) and was shocked at the cost of some of their cycling initiatives. I’ve collated most of the examples I could find from the LSTF funding bid from 2011, most of these schemes will be constructed/run in the next 2/3 years.

All of these figures come from the LSTF Bid documents which are available here but they’re pretty tough to read! Annex 01 has maps/descriptions and Annex 02 has detailed costings.

Sheffield - Time for a transport revolution

Wed, 12 Dec 2012 09:31:39 +0000

Census figures released yesterday show that 1 in every 3 households in Sheffield do not have access to a car.

You’d never think that looking at the design of Sheffield, everything is catered to the car.

Lets shake things up and invest in some real cycling infrastructure for the 3rd of households in Sheffield who do not have access to a car.

Sheffield: Number of Households: 229,928 No cars or vans in household: 75,968 (33.0%)

Lord Taverne - Two wheels good four wheels bad

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 13:16:23 +0000

Lord Taverne: My Lords, does the Minister accept that the bicycle is the most efficient machine ever invented for converting energy into motion and that the bicycle could be accurately described as a green car that can run on tap water and tea cakes and has a built-in gym? Does he therefore agree that it makes sense to base policy for private urban transport on the motto, “Two wheels good; four wheels bad”?

Modern Sheffield Junction Design. Safety? What's that then?

Sat, 08 Dec 2012 23:12:52 +0000

I couple of months ago I highlighted the dangers to cyclists of a new junction in Sheffield City Centre at Furnival Gate/Pinstone Street.

The problem is clear for everyone to see, there isn’t enough room to use both the cycle and road lane with the result that cyclists next to vehicles are dangerously squeezed out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzQpMB3AtUc

Warning! This story is long and winding and may induce a feeling of disillusionment and hopelessness. Take a deep breath and prepare yourself before reading, we’re entering the mysterious world of local council highway design!

Camping in Denmark - Overnatning i det fri

Sat, 07 Jul 2012 14:06:50 +0000

Overnatning I Det Fri is a book listing over 1000 basic camp sites in Denmark. They are set up on spare pieces of land by private owners, organisations and local authorities. They range from small patches of grass next to harbours, to clearings in the woods, to sea side lookout points to lakeside plantations. The sites are for use by walkers and cyclists, some accept dogs, horses and boats! Many are completely inaccessible by car.