Standards for Cycle Route Maintenance

From Pedalpushers

Standards for cycle route maintenance

All cycling schemes that come up for approval should also include an adequate plan and commitment for maintenance - including sweeping and an acceptance of the budget implications.

All public rights of way from motorways to footpaths are part of the highway system and the managing authority for each has to maintain them to a standard that allows them to be useable by the primary user. Dedicated cycle paths and tracks are the only routes where the cyclist is the primary user, as horses have bridleways and motor vehicles have county and trunk roads. Cycle routes should therefore attract a cycling specific maintenance schedule, funded from the overall highways budget.

Potholes.

Potholes are defined as holes in the road with a depth of more than 40mm, and constitute a major hazard for cyclists. In addition to the “Action Line”, which should be replaced with a freephone number, the Council should issue postcards enabling road users to report defects. The instructions on the card should state that the following defects should be reported:

Roads: 40mm trips or potholes; dangerous slippery surface

Pavement: 20mm trips or potholes; gaps, rocking slabs, slippery surfaces

Kerb: 20mm trips in damaged or loose kerbs

Ironwork: Missing covers; surrounds breaking up; 10mm movement in covers.

These should be circulated to all the local cycle clubs to encourage their members to report anything that falls within these parameters, as well as the usual distribution points (libraries, universities etc)

It should also be possible to report maintenance issues by email, web-based form and SMS. The Council should make it as easy as possible to make a report, since road users are far more likely to call in at the time when they are at the scene of a problem than when they have completed their journey. The cost of such measures will be more than offset by the savings made on compensation claims.

These further measures should be considered.

A few years ago the City of Edinburgh Council produced a small plastic card (a bit bigger than a credit card) marked at 20mm, 30mm and 40mm for people to measure potholes.

Give away free water bottles designed to measure potholes with a scale on the outside to measure pothole depth, the magic depth being 40 mm (4 cm). Just insert the water bottle into the hole to measure.

"Breed Lines"

These are cracks in the tarmac where it has been laid in strips. They can be wide enough for a cyclist to catch a wheel in, similar to tramlines. Attention should be paid to filling these in, or avoiding their appearance in the first place. .

Drop and flush kerbs.

Ideally there should be flush kerbs at all crossings used by cycles, but if drop kerbs have been installed they should have no more than a 6mm upstand Inspection of these should be on the strategy, and these can create even more of a problem to wheelchair users than cyclists as we can usually get up and remount our cycles after a fall.

Establish a priority scheme for maintaining roads to benefit cyclists. This will prioritise the maintenance of the roadways in the "line" where cyclists rode, and on cycleways. e.g. a pothole 4" deep in the centre of the road would be deemed a high priority, but on the same road a pothole 1" deep but 2 feet out from the kerb would attract the same priority because it was in the "line" where people would cycle

Hedge Cutting

Hedge cutting is to be carried out on a regularly basis, not reactively, and particular attention to be paid to periods of rapid growth. This affects rights of way, canal towpaths, cycle ways and the like as well as roads. In the latter case the cuttings get swept away very quickly but in the former cases they can remain for months, especially on rights of way and canal towpaths.

Maintenance performance contracts should insist on the use of hedge cutters with the appropriate device to prevent cuttings flying everywhere and the immediate removal of cuttings from the surfacing used by cyclists.

Where it is landowners who are responsible for hedge maintenance ensure that they do not illegally leave the trimmings so they obstruct the road or endanger or delay legitimate road users. Ensure that the police prosecute landowners who leave these dangerous trimmings on the road. If the highway authority sweeps up the hedge trimmings they should recover the cost from the landowners or contractors.

Consideration should be given to the presence of wildlife, and maintenance schedules may need to be amended or suspended during the breeding season.

Drains and covers

Ensure Drainage gullies are cleared and are flush with the surface and DO NOT have slots in the direction of travel.

Inspection covers and other lids are flush with the surface and are not sited on sharp corners or junctions where they can induce skids to any two-wheeled vehicles.

All trench reinstatements to be checked and re levelled.

Other issues

Thick tar bands should not be used for single or double yellow lines, particularly in cycle lanes as these can deflect bikes and also often hold a puddle. Use paint and renew as required.

On single-track roads ensure that mud and rubbish is removed from the middle so that detritus and vegetation does not build up and become a hazard.

Cycle ways should be gritted in cold weather.

Urban cycle ways should be properly lit and lighting checked on a regular basis, with increased coverage in winter.

Signing

All signing to be regularly monitored to ensure it is not fly posted, twisted, or removed. Consideration should be given recruiting local groups of riders who ride regular routes to report maintenance defects along the lines of the Sustrans Ranger Scheme, or the Trans-Pennine Trail Wardens. GIS based systems should be used to assist in the preparation of an inventory of infrastructure to enable ongoing maintenance checks.

AS Sheffield is a University town there is a particular need for attention to be paid to all routes just prior to the start of the Academic Year, which also happens to be a period of rapid growth of vegetation. Travelling habits that are picked up during this period will stay with the academic community for three to four years if not longer, and the perception that Sheffield’s cycles routes are poorly maintained and potentially dangerous, once acquired, will be hard to dispel. As, regrettably, much damage to street furniture takes place in first few weeks of term; enhanced maintenance should continue to take place during this period. The Universities should be asked to contribute to funding during this period.

All of the aforementioned maintenance recommendations to be clearly identified in maintenance contracts, with financial penalties for contractors who fail to deliver.