Plenty of reaction to new route - some good, some bad
18/1/12- Peter Norman from Bexhill- unhappy about the new Bexhill to Hastings cycle path
THE new cycle path has already attracted a lot of attention, not all of it favourable. One Bexhill resident says it’s a “huge disappointment” whilst another elderly gent was injured when a cyclist ploughed into him at Glyne Gap.
Peter Norman (pictured) commutes by bicycle every day between Bexhill and Hastings and says the new path is just like cycling along the beach. “Parts of the path are already covered in shingle making it impossible to cycle on.
“The Glyne Gap end is covered with a gravel type surface, the path is shared with walkers, dogs and children, if any of those were to walk out in front of a bicycle braking would be very difficult due to the loose surface.
Peter said he’d expected the new path to have a surface something like tarmac. “I was hoping for a viable alternative to the busy A259, but it would be quicker and safer to go along Bexhill Road. It’s a huge disappointment.”
Bexhill resident Richard Christmas, 78, was knocked down and badly bruised by a speeding cyclist at the Glyne Gap end of the new path a few days before the official opening and says its a disaster waiting to happen.
Mr Christmas, and wife, Mavis, had walked through the “bunny tunnel”, which provides access to the beach and café. As they emerged onto the new pathway Mr Christmas and a cyclist travelling downhill from Hastings towards Bexhill were in collision.
Mr Christmas said: “The chap was going like a bat out of hell and tried to steer between my wife and I, but he ran straight into me and knocked me for six.
“The back wheel of the bicycle connected with my hamstring and I was left badly bruised. At first the cyclist started shouting at me for getting in the way. But another cyclist stuck up for me and someone else said they had been passed on the path by this chap going at speed, and he eventually apologised.
“Fortunately I’m fairly fit and I was lucky that my head didn’t hit the ground. But if that had been a child running out of the tunnel to get to the beach, who knows what might have happened?
“I cycle on the path myself and there is no way people should be going at that sort of speed. But that point near Galley Hill is especially dangerous and I feel it’s a disaster waiting to happen.
“There ought to be a zig-zag section introduced to make it apparent and to force riders to slow down. At the moment there aren’t even any warning signs there to alert people that there’s a blind exit from the bunny tunnel under the railway.”
But Ian Hollidge, of cycle group Bexhill Wheelers, says they, and all their associated cyclists, are delighted with the path and pointed out that those who want to cycle at speed should find an alternative route. “The path has been completed on time, on budget and is already an obvious success in terms of walkers, parents with pushchairs, children and all types of cyclists.
“It is great to see the many new cyclists both young and old able to practice traffic-free on such a beautiful part of our coastline.
“There have been comments that the headland is too steep, the stones are washing up onto the path and the surface is not as smooth as one would like.
“But from what I understand the path could not be too near the sea so had to be constructed over the headland with the gradients made as practical as possible.
“It is a coastal path and it is to be expected that the sea and stones will wash over. It is built adjacent to the Department of Environment sea defences that will hold off most of the stones but defences will be breached and corrected form time to time.
Mr Hollidge pointed out that not one group has priority on the path - it was designed for shared use between cyclists and walkers.
“If a confident cyclist wants a fast route the A259 is available. Let’s be grateful for what we have and work forward from that.”
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Weather for Bexhill-on-Sea
Monday 28 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 13 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: West
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 11 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: South west
