Some time ago I posted about some really iffy road “features” put in place in Devonport, Plymouth.
Basically, the roads have many cobbled strips inserted that span the full width of the carriageway. The gap between the cobbles is in places well over an two inches, and in places perhaps of that depth, too.
This doesn’t show the worst! |
This means it creates an uncomfortable, potentially lethal surface for cyclists.
I contacted the local ward councillor for Devonport, Mark Coker, seeing as this was on his patch. By pure coincidence, he’s also the cabinet member for Transport on Plymouth City Council. My first email was sent on the 31st of January, 2013. So far I haven’t yet received a straight answer from Plymouth City Council about this matter.
Oh, I’ve had a few replies. I’ve been told, on the 5th of February, that they’d be “in touch soon”. On the 11th of February, I received an email that consisted in it’s entirety simply of one (partial?) word – “Wed”.
This I followed up on the 12th of February and waited patiently before again following it up on the 4th of March.
To my delight, I received an answer! That answer referred to an email I had never received, but stated that there was a meeting about the matter at the end of February, with action to be taken by the end of March.
On the 10th of April, given that I had seen no more responses and certainly no action, I emailed Councillor Coker again, sending him this:
“Given that you mentioned in your last email to me that action on issues raised will be by the end of March, and considering that there simply is no action at all regarding the cobbled strips across the carriageway, am I to assume that the council refuses to rectify the appalling manner in which it is actively discriminating against cyclists by failing to provide a safe, decent riding surface?“
On the 7th of May, having heard nothing in the meantime, I emailed Councillor Coker again, to ask why he was ignoring me. I received the following as a reply:
“Dear William
Mark“
On the same day, I also received this email from Clive Perkin, the Assistant Director for Transport & Infrastructure:
“Dear William,
Asst Dir for Transport & Infrastructure“
This was looking good! I had an email from the Assistant Director for Transport & Infrastructure saying he’d get back to me “in the next couple of days”. Surely things would finally get moving. After all, a couple means two, doesn’t it?
Apparently not.
On the 13th of March, having heard no more, I sent this email:
“Dear Clive,
Kind regards,“
On the 20th of May and close to four months after first having emailed Councillor Coker, I was no closer to getting any answer. As a result, I sent this email to the Assistant Director of Transport and Infrastructure:
“Dear Clive,
Kind regards,“
Disappointingly, but given their track record, not unsurprisingly, I have had no response whatsoever.
Newer cobbled strips in the same neighbourhood appear to have been better built and do not have similar gaps between the cobbles, which shows either infrastructure is built in a random fashion, or they’ve realised that they’ve messed up. If the latter, at least that’s a step in the right direction, though of course it doesn’t fix the dangerous cobbled strips across the road.
The sad reality that I’ve been forced to accept is that Plymouth City Council is discriminating against cyclists by either putting in place, or knowingly allowing to be put in place road infrastructure that is dangerous to cyclists. When asked about it, they avoid any straight answers and play delaying games, perhaps hoping I’ll forget about the matter.
Only, the trouble is I ride these roads daily, and I’ve already had to replace a rear wheel that was less than 5 months old. The ONLY reason why I’m not pursuing Plymouth City Council for the cost of that wheel is because it would be a bit hard to conclusively prove their cobbled strips had broken it.
However, should I suffer another wheel failure, I will pursue it as by then I’d be able to show a pattern.
Equally, should those cobbled strips cause me to fall, I will of course explore every legal option open to me. After all, roads are public infrastructure, and should be fit for purpose for ALL users.
In this instance (as with other examples) Plymouth City Council has again succeeded in discriminating against cyclists and that should never be allowed.
I have had dealings with Clive about the state of the roads in Plympton and guess what no action by PCC to sort out pot holes or even a resurface road. so the next step is to email the lazy council pictures and ask is this road safe? This say nothing of amery who actually do the work which is shoddy to say the least.
I normally report potholes on the http://www.plymouthonamap.co.uk site – it takes some time, but it does seem that they eventually get round to fixing it. When reporting a road hazard there you have the option of uploading pics.