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Letter: I Am Not a Naysayer, I’m a ‘Whysayer’
Published on: 12 Jul, 2023
Updated on: 12 Jul, 2023
A four-metre-long cycleway on Worplesdon Road.
From: Jane Hepburn
In response to: If the London Road Naysayers Have Better Ideas Let’s Hear Them
I cycle everywhere so I’m not a naysayer to safer cycling. But I do think of myself as a “whysayer”.
My question is why does one of the safest roads for cycling, with a perfectly well-marked cycle lane, need to be re-vamped when there are at least eight routes around town with nothing for cyclists at all?
A simple question which, so far, has not been answered.
The London Road scheme is going ahead regardless it seems. I’m sure it will be lovely when all the fuss has died down but when will money ever become available again for the roads that actually need cycle provision?
This is another question that no one has answered.
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Responses to Letter: I Am Not a Naysayer, I’m a ‘Whysayer’
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Howard Smith
July 13, 2023 at 9:25 am
That is a perfectly good question on “why”. I’m not involved in the project but I travel mostly by bike, and in and out of Burpham regularly, and have tried to follow the project closely so here’s my view.
The first section of the cycle lane up to the AA roundabout will connect the cycle lane to the one along the by-pass. That would mean residents from Burpham will be able to get half the way to the town centre but all the way to the amenities of Spectrum and to the Lido and Stoke Park. It will enable students from George Abbot to cycle safely from interconnecting roads to and from the school hopefully reducing traffic by replacing many car drop-offs. It will also help shoppers locally to travel by bike to the parade of shops, Aldi and Sainsbury’s.
The second section will enable residents from Burpham to cycle the whole way into the town centre, again reducing traffic on the roads and encouraging the many people who would cycle except for the safety aspect to now do so.
Burpham is one of our larger surrounding villages. I would think the London Road route is one of the simplest and most direct routes from a village into the town. Hopefully when realised other routes in and into and around the town will follow.
I agree that inevitably there will be some short-term inconvenience to drivers, but the long-term benefits will be for everyone.
Howard Smith is a Labour borough councillor for Westborough Ward
Jim Allen
July 14, 2023 at 12:06 am
Cllr Smith needs to be better informed about Burpham.
First, it is not a village it was a hamlet and is now an urban political ward.
He fails to understand the reason it’s called London Road because it was the main road from London to Guildford and still carries traffic matching those destinations. So the assessment of traffic reduction is fatally flawed.
Carrying a family of four’s weekly shopping on a bike is not so easy and cycling to Send and Garlick Arch is not mentioned in his narrative, nor does his narrative cover age or disability.
In short, if he wants cycle paths in his ward, Westborough, I am happy to support his wish.
But might I suggest he assesses all the technical facts prior to commenting on an area of which he clearly has a tinted glasses view?