Worcestershire County Council slammed for ‘wasting’ £10,000 on dangerous 500ft-long cycle lane
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Council heads have been slammed for ‘wasting’ more than £10,000 of taxpayers’ money on a 150-metre cycle path riddled with obstacles.
The cycle route in Worcester has been blown up by cyclists forced to zigzag through countless hazards.
Cyclists have to pass a lamppost, a tree, garbage cans and a speed camera right through the middle of the cycle path next to a busy through road.
It has now emerged that Worcestershire County Council spent £9,195 on the track, including £5,000 for painting white lines and installing bollards.
The cycle path on New Road in Worcester has multiple obstacles, including a speed camera cut right through the middle of the track… with a carefully painted white line around it
Despite efforts to encourage travelers to leave their cars at home, the council has not made it easy for cyclists who must dodge a number of obstacles on their way to the city center
A further £3,000 of taxpayers’ money was spent closing part of New Road for three days while the cycle path was built in June this year.
Dan Brothwell, president of the cycling campaign group, labeled the project an “embarrassment.”
The chairman of Bike Worcester said: ‘It’s embarrassing, I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.
“The coup de grâce is the effort that went into painting a solid white line around the speed camera.
“If the intention is to put Worcester on the map for comic reasons, the council is doing it the right way.
“Instead of providing infrastructure that improves people who walk and cycle, we are presented with this rubbish.
‘This does not benefit the connectivity or continuity of the already shared Nieuwe Weg user path.
“The time, effort and money spent on this is a total waste and could have been spent much more positively elsewhere in the city.”
Grandmother Janine Fowles, 58, of Worcester, said: ‘I first got on my bike when it was installed, but I was a bit surprised by the number of objects blocking the route.’
The track has been slammed by cyclists claiming it is more dangerous than the main road. Janine Fowles (pictured), who cycles from Claines to St John’s for work, said she was surprised how difficult it is to
Cyclist Jon Marshall, 23, said he nearly fell twice while using the bike path.
He said, “I actually can’t believe the council wasted ten thousand dollars on something worse than the road.
“I almost fell on the road when I had to swerve around a garbage can to see a tree in front of me.
“Another time I had to avoid the speed camera, but almost hit another cyclist coming from the other side.”
Despite widespread criticism, the council maintains that the track is a success, resulting in ‘very little conflict’ between cyclists and pedestrians.
Councilor Mike Rouse, cabinet minister for highways and transport, said: ‘Bicycle infrastructure of any kind, which has to follow strict government guidelines, is expensive and this is one of the reasons we can’t install as much as we’d like. council.
‘Someone is going to get hurt’: In addition to speed cameras and lampposts, the new cycle route is also dotted with trees, which cyclists have to zigzag around
‘At the Nieuwe Weg we received a number of complaints about the conflict between pedestrians and cyclists on the combined pedestrian and bicycle path Nieuwe Weg.
“Since the scheme was in place, monitoring has shown that the scheme has been successful and there are now very few conflicts as most pedestrians and cyclists use the separate lanes, which is really good news for both.”
The council must make up for years of lost ground in active travel after losing more than £500,000 after two ‘bland’ bids for extra walking and cycling money fell short and a third was rejected outright.
The council under fire also received the worst possible ‘zero’ rating from Active Travel England, the new government agency responsible for handling walking and cycling money.