Fifty Plus (50+) - Sustrans win £50,000000 lottery funding

A company over here promotes and Builds MUPs for the masses. That company is Sustrans and they put one of their earlest Paths through Hailsham, the town where I live. It is called the Cuckoo line and runs along an old railway line linking the coast to a town 12 miles inland. Sustrans have been building these paths all over England and I participated in the Scotland to Dover Ride along the paths they had built about 12 years ago. Since then they have been building new paths linking communities and villages and building a network of trails so that you can go north to south or east to west on trails that are good for cycling, walking or even just for a family stroll on a Sunday afternoon.

Sustrans is a non profit organisation and their aim is to provide good safe cycle routes for the whole of England. They were one of 4 projects chosen for a £50 million grant to help them and the winner was chosen by vote on the TV and internet. I did not think that it would get the funding but it won by a handsome margin with 47% of the votes cast. Just goes to prove that the will of the British people is behind Sustrans so look for a big improvement in the health of the population of the UK.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7140621.stm

- great news!

- over here people either yell at you, "Get on the sidewalk!" or try to run you over...

:-(

(in reality, bike lanes are being expanded, and the county is preparing to develop an additional 40 miles of MUP to give us an 80-mile+ loop through the peninsula)

If you really want folks to exercise you must give them an opportunity to do this in an enjoyable, positive environment.'

The average person has absolutely no interest in bicycling or walking on the street with cars, trucks, exhaust, etc. Our 600 miles of cement and asphalt trails around here are well used, yet there are enough remote ones that I can also go for a "lonely" ride. There are also more rugged mtn bike and true hiking trails. All in or near the "city."

Congratulations for Sustrans and the folks in England for voting this in.

All of our lottery money also goes to trails and open space.

Hi Stapfam - friends of ours just bought a house in Horam and the Cuckoo line runs along their back garden. We took a short walk along it. Very nice, but not for skinny wheels!

All of our lottery money also goes to trails and open space.

This is true now. In spite of the law past politicos regarded the
moola as equivalent to general funds. IIRC, it was used for prison
payroll for a while.

Hi Stapfam - friends of ours just bought a house in Horam and the Cuckoo line runs along their back garden. We took a short walk along it. Very nice, but not for skinny wheels!

If that short walk had been longer- I would have offered you a cup of tea. Horam to Hailsham along the Cuckoo line is 5 miles. And it is advisable to use MTB's in preference to Road bikes.

The Cuckoo Line got its name from the number of Cuckoos heard in the area in spring and I can asure you that there are still alot about. Attachments are of the Cuckoo line and it is famed for its Sculptures out of local resources. lots of seats and benches made from the cut down trees and my Daughters house backs onto the trail. Outside her rear gate there is a totem pole. Why I don't know but all the bridges have a railway theme on the balustrades aswell.

And if you are feeling hungry after a ride- at Horam there is a bikers Cafe- Motorbikes. Order a big breakfast and it should keep you going for the rest of the week. Only ever been brave enough for the standard but even that is some breakfast.

I wish bike trails like that were more common in the UK. Much of the so called badly designed cycle paths over here are downright dangerous. Plus of course the traffic is so dense that cycling is not as pleasureable as it used to be. I really envy some of the US empty roads surrounded by beautiful scenery that I see on this forum. Also most of our lottery money that was supposed to be for good charitable causes is creamed off by our corrupt government for no hopers like the forthcoming Olympics. I wonder how much of the Sustrans money will be wasted on administration and useless consultancy?

Jim

I wish bike trails like that were more common in the UK. Much of the so called badly designed cycle paths over here are downright dangerous. Plus of course the traffic is so dense that cycling is not as pleasureable as it used to be. I really envy some of the US empty roads surrounded by beautiful scenery that I see on this forum. Also most of our lottery money that was supposed to be for good charitable causes is creamed off by our corrupt government for no hopers like the forthcoming Olympics. I wonder how much of the Sustrans money will be wasted on administration and useless consultancy?
Jim

Got to Plug Sustrans now- The office staff is very small and as such the overheads are minimal. The current Plans are for 79 routes to be covered by these cycle trails and the only one I know of is the one from Bexhill to Hastings along the seafront. It will take cyclists and walkers off the busy main road and give them their own specific trail. Another part of Sustrans and is for road cyclists. They have sorted "BackRoad " routes to get cyclists away from heavy traffic and the route is well signposted to warn Car drivers to expect cyclists and for cyclist to easily keep to the route. Locally we have Cycle route 2 that goes from I believe Dover through to Brighton and I know locally it is well sign posted and a "Safe" route.

Most of the building of the trails uses local resources, such as volunteers- local building firms that can do the job at an economic rate and using local materials to save on heavy Tarmac costs. The surface may not be perfect but it will be well drained and safe.

Stepfam
You seem to only talking or aware of activity in pretty quiet areas of southern UK. I would rather see work done within more urban areas that are more dangerous for cyclists. There seems to be little Sustrans activity here in the North of the UK [Manchester] or London inside M25 where road traffic is a dangerous nightmare. A friend of mine has given up, reluctantly, cycling for the winter as he has been knocked off his bike four times within a couple of months. I don't think we have an independent voice here if you work for them.

Jim

Jim

Stepfam
You seem to only talking or aware of activity in pretty quiet areas of southern UK. I would rather see work done within more urban areas that are more dangerous for cyclists. There seems to be little Sustrans activity here in the North of the UK [Manchester] or London inside M25 where road traffic is a dangerous nightmare. A friend of mine has given up, reluctantly, cycling for the winter as he has been knocked off his bike four times within a couple of months. I don't think we have an independent voice here if you work for them.

Jim

Jim

All I can tell you is that I have been impressed with what Sustrans has done in my area. They have turned Muddy paths into Mups that link one community to another and set up "Safe" cycle routes for the more serious riders. Great for Cycling Commuters and I even know of 4 people that use the Cuckoo trail to Run 6 miles each way to work. At weekends you cannot cycle the Cuckoo trail for family groups out walking. In general they have given the local population a safe place to get out and walk- cycle or even run- away from traffic. This is not a local enterprise- it is Nationwide. Now trying to get Safe cycle routes in London is a bit difficult And probably the same in other large cities- but I did a ride from Scotland to Dover and it was mainly on Cycle routes instigated or set up by sustrans. That was 12 years ago. Plans are to increase the cycle routes all over England.

Now as to the work being concentrated in the South- There is a map (See link Below) showing the areas where proposed routes will be worked on and you can see that it is nationwide. Each of the dots is where they are going to be working and I have noted 6 are in London- heck of a lot in the midlands and a good few in the North. But if you expect a cycle track to be set up in every part of every city- Then there is no chance.

And I do not work for Sustrans- I just admire what they are doing.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/12_12_07ConnectUKmap.pdf

And I do not work for Sustrans- I just admire what they are doing.


I apologise. The way your post was worded, I read it that you were an employee. However my question therefore still stands. How much of that funding is wasted [as in most public organisations] ever gets down to actual cycle paths. Sustrans is a laudable scheme. I just wish it was better. However we are probably boring our USA friends and maybe worth transferring this discussionto a UK bike site.

Jim

Jim

Don't know the details of this situation, but I'd rather see funds channeled to an inefficient organization making bicycling more accessible to more people than to an inefficient organization building more highways.