Bike is back from repairs so it's time for a Leicester city cycle tour, first one in a while. Also first winter ride of my adult life I think! The gloves went back in the bag after the first hill however.
#leicester #cycling #cycleinfra #ActiveTravel
This is the A563/A5630 Anstey Lane rbt. Despite Leics CC recently upgrading it, only one arm is signalised although the cycle route crosses at least two. 3 lanes of busy traffic on each arm. Less confident or mobile users have absolutely no chance.
Towards Strasbourg Dr the path goes behind the bund. Like most New Town developments more land was used to futureproof the ring road. Now it makes a reasonable path along with 70s segregated track heading into the estate
Checked out the A6 Birstall popup lane. A dropped kerb has now been installed at the start. Apart from that not much other improvements despite feedback exercises, backlash etc. Got close-passed at one of the refuges by an Aygo who thought their car was smaller than it is 🙄
New temporary ped crossings, with signs in the cycle lane. Inbound unprotected cycle lane blocked by concrete pump & mixer doing someone's extension. If you had a buggy or wheelchair you'd have no chance. I was forced into the lorries and buses. @LeicsCountyHall
Sock Island footbridge coming along nicely after main span installed the other week. Parapet guardrails concreted this morning by the look of it, this should be open by Christmas hopefully!
Burleys Way cycleway can't be too far away now either, NAL sockets are in for the signal posts.
The new arrangement on Churchgate/Savoy St. My gripe with zebras in busy areas is they're open to abuse. Lots pushing their way across. Until the buses got stuck trying to turn in as one didn't pull up at a stand close enough (that's for a different rant about Leicesters buses)
Loving the building art paying homage to the former cinema Savoy St is named after. Churchgate taxi rank coming along with the old bus stands now being used for social distancing walking space.
Christmas Tree is up at Clock Tower - and what else do we have - Santander Citycycle docking station in the flesh! All it needs is power connection, bolted down to the pavement, very easy installation. Can't wait to start trialling the bikes.
Pocklingtons Walk cycleway started - and another sign in the cycleway 😑
Another docking station on Lancaster Rd, and then over to Putney Rd to see the completed junction rebuild- not much difference IMO. Some decent cranes going up as part of Uni of Leics expansion
Great Central Way NCN6 shut for widening works on weekdays so first time I've followed the diversion; 95% perfect, see older modal filters/LTN around Noel St. Siemens on Upperton Rd repairing crossing damaged by some idiot driver no doubt (one pole deffo knackered)
Diversion continues west under the Burton rail line & rejoins at Evesham Rd. Very easy to follow, quite impressed, better than some road diversions !
Finally; Middleton St canal bridge resurfacing/waterproofing; Great Central Way veg clearance & Aylestone Ramp works started, @CRTEastMidlands at Blue Bank Lock lifting on new gates, and Everards Brewery very nearly finished! 👏 (can't wait). That's it for today!

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More from @russiankiwi3

30 Oct
Ooh shiny! Another bridge opening this week, Pooley Bridge in Cumbria, replacing an 18th-century stone arch bridge that was washed away by Storm Desmond in 2015. The new bridge features an interesting construction detail (image: newsandstar.co.uk/news/18818020.…) 1/ Image
The bridge is the first highways bridge in the UK to use structural stainless steel! To avoid the new bridge being washed away again, no piers in the river were permitted, so the bridge needed to span 40m - and also needed to be built over winter to avoid the tourist season 2/ Image
To be built over winter required an efficient design to permit speedy construction. Ordinary structural steel would be too heavy to lift the bridge in one span, it would have to be split into two halves requiring a temporary pier (and piers were banned by the Environment Agency)
Read 5 tweets
23 Oct
Some recent discussion has prompted me to do a quick thread on some UK road gantries (Disclaimer: Not A Designer). You may have noticed the latest road gantries have different designs and look bigger, & bulkier, than previous designs 1/ #roads #motorway #gantry #construction Image
Pic 1 is of a cantilever MS4 (large square matrix display) gantry, has been around for 10yrs+, it looks very sleek, slender and unobtrusive - contrast to pic 2, also for an MS4, which looks far bigger and bulkier 2/ ImageImage
The main reason is the tech - old 1980s road gantries were designed as accessible - there's a ladder access on the left gantry leg - to allow maintenance. However they didn't really get used except for by trespassers to unfold banners from (Remember the M1 in 2016 anyone?)3/ Image
Read 24 tweets
16 Aug
I've had some time to digest the recently-released Leicester City Street Design Guide, thread 1/: #leicester #cycleinfra #streets leicester.gov.uk/media/186708/l…
Streets are often our first interaction with the built environment, its what you step out into when you leave your building. Streets can make or break a nice place to live, and form many functions - providing some open space, allowing transport, and carrying utilities to homes 2/
Thanks to various planning changes and desperate developers, many modern streets are flawed - being uninviting for users, difficult to navigate especially for the more vulnerable, failing to promote active travel or a healthy lifestyle, and with high maintenance costs 3/
Read 27 tweets
5 Jul
This weekend #engineering talk on....cranes! Cranes are used widely however they are generally used for lifting heavy/awkward things, so their use is strictly controlled & planned to ensure it all happens safely 1/ Image
Lifting operations in the UK are legislated by the Lifting Operations & Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 - this is a UK law that governs how lifts are carried out, and places legal requirements on suppliers of cranes & those planning lifts 2/
LOLER has two main requirements 1) that the lifting equipment is safe for use, and 2) that the lift is planned & managed by competent persons 3/
Read 30 tweets
8 Feb
Lots of angry people in Nottingham currently due to delays caused by the #A52 #CliftonBridge emergency closure over the River Trent, so a quick thread to help explain why these sorts of things happen (and why we can expect more of them) 1/ Image
There are two bridges over the Trent at Clifton; the west bridge (on left in photo) opened in 1958. The east bridge (closed) opened in 1972. It is an unusual arrangement in that on the northbound A52, the lanes split with lane 1 using the west bridge & lane 2 using the east! 2/ Image
The west bridge is made of post-tensioned concrete and due to its age was strengthened in the late 90s due to over 25% of the tendons being corroded. Put simply, tendons are long steel strands fixed under tension to pull the bridge together 3/
Read 21 tweets

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