Crap cycling in Exeter

Michael Woodman:

Riding on the roads is more hazardous now than at any time in the past 20 years. No significant on-road improvements for cyclists have been made in a decade. The start made by Cllr Lloyd on routes to the city centre has now stalled. The green paint peels; the 20mph signs are all but scuffed off the roads; cycle lanes are used as car-parks.

It galls me that I now ride miles out of my way because direct road routes have become so dangerous, and I then get tallied at off-road counting stations as if I were another new recruit to bolster Cycle Exeter's bogus statistics.

Actually I am a veteran cyclist on the point of jacking it in before I get myself killed.

It is the humbug of 'Freedom of Your City' that gets to me more than anything. The misguided policies adopted by Cycle Exeter have whittled away my freedom. They have sent me a message that my freedom to cycle applies everywhere except on the roads; and don't a lot of motorists just agree?

It is time that governments, local and national, stopped rushing to pick up the tab for the motoring lobby. It is time to explain that they are a busted flush. A lot of motorists have already figured they have been taken for a ride. They should have the practical choice of a better vehicle open to them.