Dear Danny,

Thanks for your interest in the changes we are making to the footpath crossing of the Railway Path at Oldland.

The problem we had, as I am sure you will appreciate, was that the speed humps were presenting a serious danger to cyclists, especially at night. The only warning was two signs which were unlit and often vandalised. At night it was perfectly possible to ride straight over the humps without seeing them, with a fair chance of bringing the cyclist down.

The problem was how to get rid of the humps without allowing cyclists to pass the footpath crossing at high speed, and without putting in barriers which would unduly impede a cyclist's journey.

We chose a solution which has been used sucessfully elsewhere of bollards placed at about 45 degrees with a gap of 1200mm. We used 3 bollards to create a pair of such gaps.

We decided to try using red solar powered lamps mounted on the centre bollards to warn approaching cyclists. I think this worked very well - for about 24 hours. I have now removed the specially adapted centre bollards and replaced them with standard bollards with reflective material so at least cyclists will be able to see them if they have lights.

The contractors were instructed to make the base sockets of the bollards flush with the path in case a bollard was left out by maintenance crews or removed by vandals. This they failed to do and so I took the opportunity to move the bollards back a few feet to give cyclists more time to see pedestrians a concern of yours with which I have some sympathy.

We now have a situation which, although not perfect, is in my view somewhat better for cyclists without putting pedestrians at risk. Cyclists have no humps to go over and the bollards are far more visible than the humps were, even without lights. I am now looking to install a street lamp to illuminate the whole scene and finally achieve the levels of convenience and safety that both cyclists and pedestrians deserve.

The contractor has admitted that his crew should not have left the job half done since any cones and barriers were bound to disappear. Obviously the technology has to be far more vandal proof than it is at present before we will consider using solar powered bollards again.

Thank you again for your comments - please let me have any other concerns you may have.

Best Wishes

John Richfield
Cycling Engineer