YP Letters: Our cycle lanes need to be better maintained

I DON’T know the cycle path on the A1077 that The Yorkshire Post correspondent Paul Morgan highlights, but if the surface all the way is as good as he says, there is no reason why cyclists should stick to the main road in preference. However, all too often, where separate cycle paths and lanes run adjacent to a well used carriageway, the apparent lack of maintenance can be a deterrent to regular use.

No cyclist wants to negotiate a path or lane strewn with potholes, uneven surfaces and covered in debris and glass, when the alternative route using the road has a better surface. The intention some years ago to fine those cyclists who, despite an adjacent cycle path or lane, still used the main carriageway of a road, had to be abandoned on the case put forward by the then Cyclists Touring Club (now UK Cycling) because poor or non-existent maintenance was cited as a factor.

Mind you, in the event of an accident on the road, insurance companies have made it clear that any financial consideration in any claim would be adjusted and lowered if an adjacent cycle path or lane ran alongside the road where the accident occurred, whether the alternative to the road was badly maintained or neglected or not.