Reader letter on cycling and driving in Colchester

How anyone can interpret choosing not to drive, not to pollute, not to join Colchester’s infernal jams in a car as “utterly selfish” is beyond me. It is precisely because Mr Yearling cares about the town that he uses a bike.

Sir Bob then criticises the emergency measures introduced because of the pandemic. While these changes gave room to cyclists for short sections, the primary intention was to allow space for pedestrians as part of the “hands, face, space” antiCovid campaign.

These small alterations did not create complete cycle routes. They did, however, give a glimpse of what is possible if they eventually form parts of full cycle routes.

We are working towards this with the active travel group, set up by Essex County Council.

On Headgate, if this short section was made into two straight-ahead lanes, those two lines of traffic would have to merge into one in Head Street.

Observers of town-centre traffic pre-2020 would be aware of how the ensuing mayhem blocked the crossroads and led to bus jams in St John’s Street. In addition, most cars here use the town centre as a cut-through, when it should be a pedestrian priority area.

Sir Bob seems to set great store by his cycle counts but they are pointless: we are building for the future, not the present or the past. A recent survey showed that some 70 per cent of adults will not cycle because they perceive it to be dangerous. The answer to that is to build safe cycle routes that will allow children to ride to school and more people to follow Mr Yearling in hopping on a bike to get to work. London and Manchester show how well used such routes become once established.

Finally, we issue this public invitation: for Sir Bob to join us for a ride from the Fat Cat pub in Butt Road to Colchester Hospital. We can supply a bike (or a trike or even a cycle rickshaw if necessary) and we can explore the issues from all perspectives together.

Will Bramhill

Colchester Cycling Campaign