Excessive restrictions

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Chris Bertram
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Re: Excessive restrictions

Post by Chris Bertram »

Bryn666 wrote: Fri Jun 18, 2021 13:28Lincolnshire is identical to the Netherlands but has virtually no cycling. Why might that be? Using your logic it should be riddled with cyclists. Our obsession with cars was nothing to do with ensuring that our American 'friends' profited from North Sea Oil of course. Now compare us to Norway, and see what they did with their oil money.
That's a bit of a stretch. The Netherlands are densely populated, towns and cities are close together so it's routine to cycle from one to another. Lincolnshire (which is flat in parts, but actually rather undulating in the main) is somewhat sparsely populated with its towns miles from each other, with just tiny villages in between. It's easy to be fooled by the presence of canals, drainage ditches, windmills and an area called "Holland", but there really is nothing in Lincs to compare with the Randstad of Amsterdam, The Hague, Rotterdam, Utrecht and so on which pretty much blend together.
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Bryn666
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Re: Excessive restrictions

Post by Bryn666 »

Chris Bertram wrote: Fri Jun 18, 2021 17:21
Bryn666 wrote: Fri Jun 18, 2021 13:28Lincolnshire is identical to the Netherlands but has virtually no cycling. Why might that be? Using your logic it should be riddled with cyclists. Our obsession with cars was nothing to do with ensuring that our American 'friends' profited from North Sea Oil of course. Now compare us to Norway, and see what they did with their oil money.
That's a bit of a stretch. The Netherlands are densely populated, towns and cities are close together so it's routine to cycle from one to another. Lincolnshire (which is flat in parts, but actually rather undulating in the main) is somewhat sparsely populated with its towns miles from each other, with just tiny villages in between. It's easy to be fooled by the presence of canals, drainage ditches, windmills and an area called "Holland", but there really is nothing in Lincs to compare with the Randstad of Amsterdam, The Hague, Rotterdam, Utrecht and so on which pretty much blend together.
Another canard, the rural bits of the Netherlands are no different.

https://goo.gl/maps/ktAcXyh85MPFHb9XA cycle infrastructure here.
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jervi
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Re: Excessive restrictions

Post by jervi »

Bryn666 wrote: Fri Jun 18, 2021 17:44
Chris Bertram wrote: Fri Jun 18, 2021 17:21
Bryn666 wrote: Fri Jun 18, 2021 13:28Lincolnshire is identical to the Netherlands but has virtually no cycling. Why might that be? Using your logic it should be riddled with cyclists. Our obsession with cars was nothing to do with ensuring that our American 'friends' profited from North Sea Oil of course. Now compare us to Norway, and see what they did with their oil money.
That's a bit of a stretch. The Netherlands are densely populated, towns and cities are close together so it's routine to cycle from one to another. Lincolnshire (which is flat in parts, but actually rather undulating in the main) is somewhat sparsely populated with its towns miles from each other, with just tiny villages in between. It's easy to be fooled by the presence of canals, drainage ditches, windmills and an area called "Holland", but there really is nothing in Lincs to compare with the Randstad of Amsterdam, The Hague, Rotterdam, Utrecht and so on which pretty much blend together.
Another canard, the rural bits of the Netherlands are no different.

https://goo.gl/maps/ktAcXyh85MPFHb9XA cycle infrastructure here.
Pffft, Lincolnshire has cycle infrastructure - https://www.google.com/maps/@53.0134431 ... 312!8i6656

But we are really lacking cycle infrastructure, especially linking towns and villages in a rural environment. In Sussex there are the towns of Haywards Heath & Burgess Hill. They are only 2km apart, people work in the neighbouring town, kids go to school in the opposite town but there is no traffic-free route between the towns to cycle. While there are plans in the works for two cycle-friendly routes between the towns, it will likely be more than 5 years until anything happens.
Connections between the towns to neighbouring villages are non existent as well, with a small exception of a shared cycleway beside the A272 towards Cuckfield and a shared space is currently being built between Burgess Hill and the former NCN Route 20 beside the A2300.

So many roads have really wide verges, which could have a cycleways fitted and cause practically 0 disruption to anyone, plus provide a traffic free emergency route for emergency vehicles if required.
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