Ice and snow clearance on non motor vehicle roads?

ericmark

ericmark

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Llanfair Caereinion, Nr Welshpool
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We are being encouraged to use push bikes, and special cycle tracks, specially going to/from work, often the tracks are shared with pedestrians and horse riders, clearly bikes have only two wheels, so ice or snow is far more likely to cause accidents, so more important to grit these tracks to motor vehicle roads when being used for essential transport not just recreational cycling, I have not seen any cycle track gritters around here, are they being used in other counties.
 
Around here, the priorities are main roads and bus routes. When we get snow and ice in this street, it can sit there for days until it melts away.

From what I remember of two wheels, they were extremely risky to use in such conditions.
 
But spending money for the benefit of the nation means taxes.

This does not fit with our current government's beliefs.
 
ericmark said:
have not seen any cycle track gritters around here, are they being used in other counties.
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You do find these used in in towns and cities in France, Germany and Switzerland in my experience. Probably other countries too 2
 
It seems the government wants us to use electric vehicles, I have an e-bike, but does not want to put in the infrastructure required. Not found a single e-bike charging point, although some cafes will allow you to charge batteries, but clearly not on the bike.

This however means you need to carry the charger with you. To date when battery has become discharged it has been a phone call and a car ride home, which kind of defeats the whole idea.

Can't catch a bus with it, and not easy with the train, it will not fit into most of the carriages, only the one adapted for wheel chairs, and it is slightly too long for the veranda, so have to fold it, and it is darn heavy to carry up the two steps onto the train.

I use it for pleasure, so for me not really a problem, but for those who do use one to get to work, it needs the bike racks on the buses, they did start fitting them in North Wales, but now gone again.

The electric car not much better, Rhyl was proud to have 30 charging point, the most in any town in Wales, but Rhyl is a holiday destination, with 1000's of cars used by holiday makers, since it takes 10 times longer at least to charge an electric car to fill one with liquid fuel, should be looking at 100 car recharging stations, not 30, clearly it is just a pipe dream.
 
In Austria (probably lots of others) there is some form of obligation for home/business owners to keep the paths in front of them clear -- like a community effort type thing. I don't know if it's legally-enforceable or not.
 
ericmark said:
We are being encouraged to use push bikes, and special cycle tracks, specially going to/from work, often the tracks are shared with pedestrians and horse riders, clearly bikes have only two wheels, so ice or snow is far more likely to cause accidents, so more important to grit these tracks to motor vehicle roads when being used for essential transport not just recreational cycling, I have not seen any cycle track gritters around here, are they being used in other counties.
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Im sure when I was young, the gritters were out far more and ice on anything but minor roads was rare.

Nowadays its seems far less roads are gritted. I went to a dentist appointment in Horley and nearly crashed - because the driver in front of me braked due a car turning right, then skidded broadside, luckily I was keeping a big difference + the ALB kicked in.
 
I started my working life working for a county council, and there were always problems keeping roads clear, specially when some thing went wrong with a gritter, so road treated for 5 miles then last mile no treatment.

I know my father-in-law who had lived in Canada said better if the snow left on the roads, then one can use snow chains, however we never get enough snow to be able to travel a whole run with snow chains, and this is the problem, if all roads are snow covered you can use special tyres or chains, but not just for ice, or when some roads cleared and others not.

We when I worked for the county had a snow blower for the pavements in Mold town, rarely used, but we had one, but pedestrian controlled snow clearance is dangerous, we lost one guy who fell into the tractor mounted snow blower, it stalled not like the James Bond film, but still killed him, and the blower was altered so it could be controlled from the tractors cab.

I well remember driving a TK Bedford gritter/plough and doing a 360, lucky did not hit anything, but maximum speed with a plough down was 22 MPH, over that speed, if you hit snow, it ended up obscuring ones view as it ended up on the windscreen. At these speeds clearing is slow, but most other council duties were suspended due to the snow, and many farmers were also paid to help with clearance. But as the council started to use contractors for traditional council jobs, the labour pool shrunk, and so they were unable to respond as they did.

Yes there were no drivers hours for snow clearance, but that does not really help, there is a limit to how long anyone can work.
 
ericmark said:
At these speeds clearing is slow, but most other council duties were suspended due to the snow, and many farmers were also paid to help with clearance.
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Back in the day, all the local council employees around here would be diverted to snow duties, even if the duty was shovelling snow off the back of a flat bed, to grit roads and pavements. As in your area, farmers would muck in with the clearance. Now, there is no one to grit pavements, even in the main shopping street, they are left, just the road gritted and no grit at all in my street - all we get is a grit bit, and help yourself.
 
ericmark said:
It seems the government wants us to use electric vehicles, I have an e-bike, but does not want to put in the infrastructure required. Not found a single e-bike charging point, although some cafes will allow you to charge batteries, but clearly not on the bike.
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It might have been better if eBike makers had either come up with a single standard for batteries, or possibly have used one or two pre-existing battery designs, such as those used for power tools.
ericmark said:
Can't catch a bus with it, and not easy with the train, it will not fit into most of the carriages, only the one adapted for wheel chairs, and it is slightly too long for the veranda, so have to fold it, and it is darn heavy to carry up the two steps onto the train.
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As a regular rail traveller one of my pet peeves is cyclists with full size bikes. At peak periods they are are a damned nuisance.and often insist on putting their bikes in disabled areas, etc - at least in this area (and yes, I do cycle)
 
I am an active member of the local train service, and if there was a problem could leave bike at the station. But one I have bought the ticket, really don't want to use car.

The charger is a big lump to carry, so if battery too low to return by road I would just take battery home, and return next day.

In the main first train is nearly empty, and last train, so unlikely to be a problem, but being outside on the veranda the bike gets coated in ash when they are using the lumps which replaces the steam coal, but notice they have a new supply of real coal, not sure where it came from.

At least coal does not wax up in cold weather.
 
Verandah and ash? Welshpool & Llanfair, Tallylyn or Ffestiniog?
 
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