New trail another white elephant

IT’S nice to see that RCT council is once again spending money on another “white elephant”, i.e. a cycle track in Talbot Green.

I appreciate they are quick to point out that the funding came from the Government, but surely the money could go towards something that the community is desperate for, such as the reinstatement of a rail link to Cardiff.

I suppose that installing this cycleway is further proof that RCT does not want to support or further this plan and is in fact putting more “flies in the ointment”.

Only a few years ago a vast amount of money was spent on providing a cycleway between Tonteg and Treforest, funded by other agencies but still a considerable sum.

This appears to have been a total waste of resources. As someone who drives a large commercial vehicle between Tonteg and Treforest on a daily basis I find it astounding that at any time of day you nearly always find cyclists along this stretch. If they choose to put themselves at risk that’s their business, but unfortunately frustrated motorists often pull out to pass them and in doing so nearly hit oncoming vehicles. On a few occasions I have asked them why don’t they use the cycle track only to receive some sort of abuse in return, and on one occasion a threat of physical violence.

So in this age of cutbacks and a shortage of funding for just about anything worthwhile, is it sensible to go to these lengths in providing a facility for what is at the end of the day a minority group, so that they can then choose to ignore what has been provided and in fact turn it into the aforementioned white elephant?