Vote red, go green...

They did get the new section of cycle route finished in time for voting on Thursday ;-)

Still looks a mess at the N end - possibly because of the on-going works rebuilding the wall (in the right of the picture).

It is slightly worrying that the route appears to run on the section of road closest to the Presto building. Running away from the building will give far better sightlines from the building entrance & exit.

Down with the red!

The first hundred or so metres of the new Upper Don Cycle route are nearing completion. As I cycled along Penistone Road this morning, the lads were laying down the red tarmac topping for the route. I guess with a little white-lining and signage, this section may be open just in time for the green vote in Thursday's local elections...

...except that nothing's happened at the north end; it still looks like you are intended to bunny-hop the kerb. I'm trying to find out more about that for those of you who asked.

Still - good work by the Council, and nice to see work still progressing.

Cookson Park open

Cookson Park, at the bottom of Wordsworth Avenue, got a BMX/skate park last year. There's been a lot of work going on since then, and last weekend the cycle speedway track opened.

There had been a very primative track there for many years, but this has been completely rebuilt and landscaped, and looks to be an excellent facility - the BMX park has certainly encouraged the local kids to get on two wheels.

And just in case you were wondering, all this has been funded by Neighbourhood Renewal Fund Grants, not from the council's cycling facility budget.

North Sheffield cycle news - April

Work on the route north of Rutland Road has started in earnest now - there's work on about 150m of path. As you might be able to see from the photos, pedestrians get around one-third of the path, furthest away from the road, cyclists get the rest.

However, at the risk on sounding churlish, you have to ask are FIVE sets of tactile paving really necessary within this distance? I know we complain about cheap and cheerful facilities badly installed (usually outside Sheffield), but is this overengineering?

And what's going to happen at the N end near the Hydra Tools building? There's a useful drop-kerb that presumably would have lined you up nicely with a contra-flow lane outside Hydra Tools itself. Instead it looks like a new drop-kerb is going to be built about a metre away (hopefully a new drop-kerb is going in here !!)

There's no progress further N yet - I was hoping that the route as far as Hillfoot Bridge would be open by the summer, providing an attractive and visible alternative that might just tempt some people from their motorised sofas when the weather finally gets warm.

Apologies for sounding like a grumpy old cyclist ;-)

Work finally starts on Upper Don Valley Cycle Route!

After months, well - years sat around in meetings and committees, I'm glad to report that some physical activity is finally starting to provide cycling facilities in the N of the city. The StreetForce signs for the first section of the "Upper Don Valley Cycle Route" went in at the weekend:

Men have been seen working on the pavement section near Rutland Road...

Nothing earth-shattering as such is happening yet - this is a shared-pavement section just running between Neepsend Bridge and Rutland Road, but it's a start and there will be a highly visible off-road route right next to Penistone Road by the summer which may well tempt a few cagers to enjoy the finer life...