The 2 Wheeled Wolf: Colchester

Note: there is swearing in this blog, it's to show my true feelings in this blog.

I was planning to go for a cycle ride & since it was exactly 4yrs ago I cycled to Chelmsford for the Tour De France, I thought I go cycle to Chelmsford. But as it turned out no sooner than I started cycling towards town things weren't turning out as I had planned.

I was defeated in achieving in cycling, I never managed to get to Chelmsford. By time I got as far as Kelvedon I really was not enjoying the ride. By Witham I decided enough is enough & stopped of at Morrisons for a cold drink & then got the train back to Colchester.

Now part of the reason was the heat & it's effects on my disability which was not making it easy to cycle but nothing I have not had before to deal with when cycling. No, the worst was the shit impatient drivers who simply give not give a fuck about my safety & passing so fucking close I might as well got in the car with them.

And this fucking idiot decide to brush alongside me as I am starting to get ready to go around a parked car, in such a fucking rush to endanger me but then slows when I shouted at him through his window to try get me closer to pick a fight. Yup that is one arsehole of a driver & I was not gonna go near him coz I know he is an arsehole. Likely was deliberate too!

All that was before I even left Colchester & when I finally got to Mark Tey & onto the shared path to head Eastward towards Chelmsford & should have been an easier route along the A12. But alas I haven't been along here in a while & the shared path is even worse than when I last used it.

This is the 'improvements' Highway England promised us a few years back, the 'improvements' that have in fact made the route even worse than ever & refuse to respond to my complaint to correct them (A12 survey report of the incomplete & shoddy works between Witham & Marks Tey) & even ignore all my emails since. This was supposed to be an easier route to use & it's now an uncomfortable piece of crap infra that is more hard work to use & honestly I felt I be better off cycling on the A12 itself. I would not recommend anyone use this, especially those with disabilities.

Of course going through Kelvedon was as predictable as ever, impatient drivers trying to get past me on old narrow roads with way too many cars parked on & no room to pass me. Thankfully the drivers were not as bad as London Road tho I was already tense at Kelvedon so didn't feel much better.

So by the time I got to Witham I was hurting, stressed & basically had enough & turned off onto a quieter route towards the Station & stopped off at Morrison for a cold drink then caught the train back to Colchester as I sure was in no mood to cycle back.

A quick trip to grab a pizza & ice cream for when I got home & then cycled back on a quieter route home & of course I had to have one more fucking driver choosing to put my life in danger than wait for 2 fucking seconds!!

By the time I got home I had enough, had it with all this crap thanks to the self-entitled drivers on our roads that have been created thanks to those like Essex County Council, Highway England for giving roads to drive every fucking where & NOTHING decent for those walking & cycling. And got to say a big fucking thankyou to Essex Police for encouraging this aggressive shit dangerous driving by doing sweet fuck all about these drivers when reported & happy to fob us off with bullshit lies & excuses, even the PCC is refusing to face me to discuss this like the useless coward he is!

So am I gonna give up, way things are I should but won't! Not when I have drivers like this!

But mostly one's like this & their passenger. Just look at the passenger's smile, she's loving the Cruiser & making her day.

But most of all giving up means these fucking arseholes win & I sure hell ain't gonna make it easy for them. I will relax, recharge, get my disability in check & will make Essex County Council, Highway England & Essex Police live's hell! And why not when they are failing to make our roads safe for those walking & cycling.

I am defeated today but there will be other days & I now know the route between Colchester & Chelmsford is now a no go area until I get my Cruiser upgraded to an eBike thanks to those who supposed to maintain & give us a decent cycle infrastructure are failing to do so.

Note: Updates to the blog are at the bottom of the blog, scroll to this if you just want to read the update.

As expected with Essex County Council Highway Dept, they're wasting millions in screwing up the road system on schemes like this which no one wants & to make it worse they can't even stick to their own plans & have created a God awful layout that will be dangerous to those who walk & cycle & all to benefit drivers.

Like the cycle lane heading Eastward from the roundabout & straight into a step out point on the crossing which shouldn't even have been built as shown in the plans, so cyclists will have to pull out of the cycle lane into the path of motorists to get around it. Thus Essex County Council Highway Dept have created a conflict point which never should have been built. Then there's the narrow bus stop which will create conflict & squeeze cyclists between parked buses & speeding drivers trying to get past them or bus drivers overtaking them & pulling in, left hooking them. Easily could've done better & ignored words of advice to make it safer.

And still they have the stupid sign up telling those who are cycling to get off & frigging walk when there is no need for this sign at all & they refused to move the frigging thing & showing their arrogance & dislike to those who cycle as don't want them to use the roads even when the works have been practically finished.

As for the access to Crouch Street from Lexden Rd, they have some obscure logos on a road junction which means sweet FA to anyone turning in or out of that side road & TBH I can see this will become a conflict point as no clear indication there meant to be a cycle lane here. Then as you turn onto crouch street, then you're quite likely hit the non reflective low visibility bollard, especially at night time coz if you're like me you're trying not to slow too much when turning due to drivers up your arse as you slow. Again Essex County Council feels we all can turn 90 degrees like a Tron cycle. Could they have done a better way to feed those cycling onto the shared path, yes they could. Did they want to, like hell did they!

Then there's the shared path, just think if you're visually impaired or a child & had to use this. Could you tell it is a shared path or even a road as it all looks the same. Just look at that bike logo! Was there even a point in bothering wasting paint on this?

Even getting off the bus you're using low visual steps that put you straight into the road which you can easily think is a pedestrianised area & how long before we see motor vehicles parked on the pavements?

And it sure hell doesn't look as pleasant as the artistic drawing implies, again no benefit to those walking & cycling as no clear indication what is what & multiple levels not shown in the artistic impression drawing & definitely no fancy cycle parking as shown. And how long do we give it before we see bollards all around it to stop drivers parking everywhere they like coz there is no clear indication or kerb? When someone is run down?

Then there's the other side of the road where clearly Essex County Council Highway Dept don't want you to go as directing you to the left & up a hill than use a more direct & level route, which of course still has no protection added to stop drivers parking on it as clearly no longer visible as a cycle contraflow coz they couldn't be bothered to paint back in the faded markings.

After all Essex County Council's & their contractors couldn't care less about the safety of those cycling & trying to use the contraflow. Again could they have done better to do this point of access to shared path beside Tesco, yes. Did they want to, like hell did they!

Nope they really don't want to encourage you to cycle here, it is all about increasing traffic flow for the benefit of the drivers & sod everyone else who use this area. Expect conflicts & accidents to follow & all thanks to Essex County Council.

Update May 2018

In the 2 months since I originally posted this blog, it has had over 2,000 view & seem to hit home with everyone that lives around this area & all in agreement whether they walk, cycle or driver that it is awful for all.

And just last month I got just the example of the issues with the contraflow that Essex County Council failed to address & which Essex Police & Colchester Borough Council failed to enforce the parking regulations & law. Here is the video of that incident & shows just why it is so bad around here.

And as yet, those responsible at Essex County Council have not admitted that they fucked up & want to discuss with the public how they are going to rectify it.

Update June 2018

To my surprise I found out that Essex County Council have been back to do some more of their 'improvements' & I use that term very loosely. Something I didn't notice was missing before, the road is supposed to be raised to help those walking & cycling go across Rawstorn Road that cuts across Crouch Street.

Now have a look at what is there...

Now this was supposed to be raised to make drivers slow down as they come down the hill or rush along Crouch Street & was supposed to be red tarmac with stone ramps to indicate drivers to slow down as passing through a pedestrian zone as shown in example below.

But as you can see Essex County Council again have failed to do things correctly or keep to the design again, the ramps are so shallow & no changes to the tarmac which will result in drivers not slowing down & eventually will result in someone getting hit whilst crossing the road as there is NO formal crossing point for those walking or cycling to Crouch Street. And also as you can see in my photos of the new tarmac area, there is yet more drivers who has parked their cars in the Cycle Contraflow as Essex County Council will not put measures in to prevent it.

And of course Essex Police or Colchester County Council refuses to deal with the illegal parking on it. And quite honestly it could easily be fixed if the thick headed Essex County Council Highway Dept actually used a brain cell.

Yup, not exactly rocket science now is it?

Update July 2018

First of the month of July I got a tweet from a fellow Colchester resident who was in this area on the Sunday & he was appalled on the fact drivers had parked their cars all over the pedestrianised area, pavement & the cycle contraflow. So as I predicted this area is really a no go for safe use for those walking & cycling due to the selfish drivers who feel they can park where they fucking well like & as usual the Colchester Borough Council & Essex Police still not enforcing parking regs & laws to keep these areas clear & ignore complaints from us who wants to use this area. Here are the photos the Colchester resident took on the afternoon of Sunday 1st July where you can see cars on the cycle contraflow as well as the pavement next to it & in the other photo you can see cars parked on the pedestrian zone.

If you see any of this sort of thing happening, please contact me as I would love to have a record of this happening & photos to add to this blog to document the problems on this newly created debacle of a scheme.

And on today the 6th July, I was down visiting town & had to cycle through here. It comes to no surprise when Essex County Council built a poorly designed layout that put people at risk when walking & cycling we will continue to see drivers simply don't give a shit how they treat the area. Cutting corners, driving into the newly placed racks which no surprise are not being used due to risk of damage to cycles. And the usual daily obstruction of the contraflow tho not as bad this time but look how close I get to the car. Rate its gong I would not be surprised if racks are gone by end of year & pavement is damaged due to drivers driving on the pavements.

And just over 2 weeks later, I popped to get a bit of shopping at Tesco on way home from work on a Sunday evening & to no surprise I watched how driver upon driver parking & blocking the cycleway to go visit Tesco & simply did not give a shit where they park. Nope, their parking to get shopping in Tesco is way more important than someone's safety & of course our local council & police turns a blind eye on this every day!!

No sooner one leaves, another goes & park on the cycle contraflow...

Even as I leave to head home, they still continue to park & obstruct the cycle contraflow...

Can you see the Cycle Contraflow? No? That is coz it is under all those cars...

ZERO Enforcement, ZERO Protection, ZERO Cycle Infrastructure!! Time Colchester Borough Council, Essex County Council & Essex Police pulled their fingers out & get this fixed & stopped!!

Update November 2018

Despite passing the evidence of the parking on the shared path & cycle contraflow, Essex County Council & Councillors as well as Essex Police still choose to ignore the illegal parking by drivers who clearly give lil regards to public safety for those who walk & cycle.

And still it continues...

September

Oh & 'Professional' drivers choose to illegally park & block cycle infrastructure.

And here we have a Bookers delivery where the driver has deliberately driven backwards on the shared path & gone as far back as possible & obstructing pedestrian access.

October

November

Bookers again!

Clearly you can see there is zero enforcement.

And last week I saw a tweet from @WeSupportWFMH, a residents group which supports the Waltham Forest Mini-Holland programme & they shown something they have which could easily have been done with the area that have been repaved & made barren.

And here in Enfield we can see another fine example what could have been as part of their mini Holland project at Winchmore Hill. Looks lovely for people to be at & those cycling free & safe to do so & not barren too.

Compered to this which we have...

If only Essex County Council had some vision to give proper walking & cycling infrastructure which are clearly defined & have greenery in it than the carcentric barren landscape they have created.

February 2019

No surprise to find when down in Crouch St to find the cycle contraflow completely blocked as still zero enforcement of the law from Colchester Borough Council or Essex Police!