| Re: Old rail routes and canals to be used
"dennis lawson" <service@mick.com> wrote
> There will be more bike routes than car routes in the UK by 2020,
There already are. I only know the stats for England though.
There are about 170 000 miles of road. Essentially all of them are
bike routes, except for about 2000 miles of motorway, and have been
since their status was clarified in 1883..
There are about 20 000 miles of bridleways - public highways for
horses - on which bikes have been allowed since the 1960s
There are some byways and "RUPPs" (roads used as public paths).
Motor vehicles are losing their right to use these roads, but our
vehicles don't have motors, and will not be affected.
There are about 2000 miles of canal towpath. These are mostly
private property, and not public highway, but bikes are allowed on
most of them, nevertheless. Besides the working canals, there also a
number of disused canals with usable towpaths.
On the 120 000 miles of footpath - public highways for pedestrians -
bikes are not allowed. On the other hand they are not actually
forbidden either; it's up to the landowner.
Sustrans plans announce ever larger figures, but I don't think that
means a great increase in off road routes. Usually it means existing
roads, already perfectly usable by bikes, are designated Sustrans
routes. The core of the Sustrans system is their railway paths, I
think about 2000 miles. They, rather like canal towpaths, tend also
to be usable private property. Sometimes bikes get allowed on
sidewalks/pavements adjacent to the roadway.
There are some forest tracks, also private property, and various
routes in parks etc., usually not public highways even when public
property.
Jeremy Parker
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