Cycle lane improvements

[naked_draughtsman]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/north_west/6242299.stm

Sustrans are giving Lon Eifion a 'facelift':
"The refurbishment will mean closing a 2.4 mile (4 km) stretch between
Caernarfon and Dinas as tarmac is laid down instead of the present dust
surface."

I haven't been along their for years - is there a problem with the dust
surface because I found it really comfy and easy to ride along. I hope
tarmacing it won't result in it being covered in puddles every time
there's a bit of drizzle.

peter

[Paul Boyd]

naked_draughtsman said the following on 09/01/2007 09:05:

> I haven't been along their for years - is there a problem with the dust
> surface because I found it really comfy and easy to ride along.

I used that section last September, and I certainly didn't see any real
problems with it. The biggest "problem" is the random swervy bits that
Sustrans like to put in to make sure cyclists stay awake. There were a
few puddles, but tarmac won't sort that unless they lay a proper
cambered surface on it with appropriate drainage off the sides, which is
highly unlikely.

> tarmacing it won't result in it being covered in puddles every time
> there's a bit of drizzle.

Drizzle? North Wales? Nah!!!!

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/

[[email protected]]

Paul Boyd wrote:
but tarmac won't sort that unless they lay a proper
> cambered surface on it with appropriate drainage off the sides, which is
> highly unlikely.

It's not that hard to drain c cycle path. As long as its slightly
higher than the surrounding grass, there is no problem. When I worked
in Dumbarton II used the tarmac surfaced cyclepath fro Dumbarton to
Bowling all year round with no problems from puddles. And the west of
Scotland gets its fair share of rain.
In contrast the ash surfaced towpath on the Forth and Clyde Canal
turns to mud for 3 months a year and is almost unusable in places.
Iain

[Mike Sales]

"naked_draughtsman" wrote in message >
> Sustrans are giving Lon Eifion a 'facelift':
> "The refurbishment will mean closing a 2.4 mile (4 km) stretch between
> Caernarfon and Dinas as tarmac is laid down instead of the present dust
> surface."
>
> I haven't been along their for years - is there a problem with the dust
> surface because I found it really comfy and easy to ride along. I hope
> tarmacing it won't result in it being covered in puddles every time
> there's a bit of drizzle.
>
> peter

This is one of the few unfarcical facilities. Most of it was always tarmac,
as it was surfaced for lorries taking waste from the pump storage scheme.
The junctions with real roads are badly done, and the humps are a pain, but
it avoids a fairly hard set of climbs, and since it was a rail line it is
well graded.
I dislike the dust surface, it makes braking and cornering less secure
and when wet sticks to legs and bike.

Mike Sales

[Peter Scandrett]

naked_draughtsman wrote on 09/01/2007 09:05:
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/north_west/6242299.stm
>
> Sustrans are giving Lon Eifion a 'facelift':
> "The refurbishment will mean closing a 2.4 mile (4 km) stretch between
> Caernarfon and Dinas as tarmac is laid down instead of the present dust
> surface."

That's the bit I used last August. It seemed in good condition to me -
certainly a lot better than a lot of the canal towpaths and old railway
tracks I'm used to riding on (and indeed Manchester roads!). However, I
was doing it, as I say, in August when it wasn't exactly sodden. Still,
nice to see that someone's investing in this sort of thing.

Peter

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