Time to give cyclists decent routes

SIR, - The front page headline (Press and Journal, June 12) says it all – cyclists are only welcome for a cheap one-day promotional gimmick (the opportunity to ride on the new AWPR), then banished back to the pot-holes and smoke belching lorries of the old worn out and very cycle-unfriendly roads.

When the UK is suffering an obesity crisis, a road traffic pollution-induced health crisis and a road congestion crisis, the last thing that Aberdeen City and Shire councils do is anything that will reduce vehicular traffic and encourage cyclists or walkers on to our roads. It is a well-known effect that more roads encourages more traffic, indeed it has been shown that on average, a 10% increase in lane miles induces an immediate 4% increase in vehicle miles travelled which climbs to 10% in a few years.

How short-sighted of our leaders to invest (waste) a projected £745 million on the AWPR with very little provision for new purpose-made cycle or pedestrian routes.

There is no doubt of the health benefits to everyone of walking or cycling to work and for pleasure. For the less fit or able, battery assisted ebikes make a daily commute of 10 miles each way easy. However there is a very large but – the main reason that stops people from cycling and walking is safety. The pedestrian and cycling provision in Aberdeen and Shire is appalling and haphazard – cycle paths are often either a very narrow strip of the road (designed for cars and HGVs) or a shared pavement with pedestrians. Cyclists often have the choice of risking a collision with a pedestrian or entering into a road-rage situation with aggressive motorists. Around 100 cyclists are killed and 3,000 seriously injured each year on Britain’s roads and, according to the Vehicle Certification Agency, 29,000 deaths per year in the UK are attributable to fine particulate pollution.

So please Aberdeen City and Shire councils – do not give us yet more roads, give our lungs and waistlines a chance. Please give us linked up, segregated and well surfaced cycle and pedestrian routes so that we can commute and exercise quickly and safely. For any councillors who wish to see how it should be done, just take a trip to the Netherlands or Copenhagen.

John Johnston, Abbey Cottage,

Fintray, Aberdeenshire