Is walking the poor relation?

"Steve Jones" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

As I was negotiating a way across the bog, I could see the raised line of the track ahead. I must
say that I was very suprised when I reached it to find a tarmac surface in pristine condition, a
little out of place in the surroundings. My map shows it to be a cycle path and I saw no evidence
of it being used as a road (unless someone knows better?). How much did that cost to put there? I
can only asssume that it was paid for by European funding. This is to be applauded, but why do
footpaths not merit the same level of priority and funding? I am not advocating made up paths
every where we go, but there is huge scope for improving our network, particularly in joining gaps
and acquiring land for opening routes to take walkers off dangerous stretches of road. Great
strides could be made at a fraction of the cost of the National Cycle network.

Well you could say I paid for part of it with my monthly donation to Sustrans, the charity behind
the National Cycle Network, probably. I don't know whether any European money is involved because I
don't pay much attention to that side of the literature they send me every so often. I expect their
website would provide details. I seem to remember hearing it before as something like for every
pound they raised from public donation the government would give them an equal amount towards the
project. Lots of tarmac traffic free cycle paths have popped up around Bristol over the past few
years. Sustrans are very high profile and well organised and there doesn't appear to be anything
similar for walkers (though walkers can use their paths as well as bikes ofcourse).

In a recent message <[email hidden]>, Steve Jones
<[email hidden]> wrote.

[...]

Quoted message said:

As I was negotiating a way across the bog, I could see the raised line of the track ahead. I must
say that I was very suprised when I reached it to find a tarmac surface in pristine condition, a
little out of place in the surroundings. My map shows it to be a cycle path and I saw no evidence
of it being used as a road (unless someone knows better?). How much did that cost to put there? I
can only asssume that it was paid for by European funding. This is to be applauded, but why do
footpaths not merit the same level of priority and funding? I am not advocating made up paths every
where we go, but there is huge scope for improving our network, particularly in joining gaps and
acquiring land for opening routes to take walkers off dangerous stretches of road. Great strides
could be made at a fraction of the cost of the National Cycle network.

[...]

I don't know about this particular case, but as I'm sure you know, Sustrans put up some of the money
for the national cycle network and they have been funded in turn by the lottery. But there is a
limit on what proportion of any scheme they can finance, about a third, I think, the balance has to
come from other sources, local authorities, the landfill tax, et cetera.

I think 'Sustrans' is some sort of contraction of 'sustainable transport' which ought to include
walking, but all they seem to be concerned is the interests of cyclists, to the detriment of walkers
in some cases.

There, that's dropped the Mills-bomb in the septic tank <g>.

Regards, Nick.

--
Nick Hopton and Anne Hopton Caversham, Reading, England <[email hidden]

Steve Jones said:

paid for by European funding. This is to be applauded, but why do footpaths not merit the same
level of priority and funding?

Because riding through bogs requires specialist equipment and walking through bogs doesn't, cycling
is far more limited to existing routes (even for "all terrain bikes"😉 and a very large subset of
cycles aren't really much use to anyone off a formal surface, which is not the case for feet.

Which is not to say there isn't room for a better "National Footpath Network", though ISTM there's
little advantage to tarmac over such a thing except for *very* busy sections.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch University of Dundee Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Medical Physics, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK net [email hidden]
dundee.ac.uk~pjclinchOpen ↗