'Necessary' work on path follows 10-year campaign
I FEEL I have to respond to Peter Dolby "Is work on cycle track necessary when money is so tight?" (Soapbox, January 21).
Firstly, this is not a cycle track. Work taking place along the B5010 Elvaston Lane is to widen the footway to accommodate pedestrians with children, prams, pushchairs etc.
This would also enable disabled people using wheelchairs and mobility scooters to safely access Elvaston Country Park.
For 40 years I have observed people struggle to negotiate this narrow, unsafe, footway, made even worse in the summer by overgrown hedges and vegetation, forcing people to walk along the road.
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Incidents in the past include one fatality, a broken shoulder, two broken arms, a man and his son knocked of their cycles and many wing mirror strikes. I have been hit on five occasions.
This road has seen a substantial increase in traffic owing to being used as a short cut between the A52 and the A50. It has problems with speeding, surface water, huge farm vehicles, caravans, etc and, despite a weight restriction, it is still used by heavy good vehicles.
All these factors made this footway hazardous to use.
Ten years ago I decided to do something about it and started a campaign to get the footway widened.
Initially, I approached Elvaston Parish Council and, with its support and the support of county councillor John Harrison, it was finally being accepted in the 2010 budget.
Although winter seems a strange time to start this kind of work, birds' nesting season had to be taken into consideration.
I would like to say a big thank-you to all the parishioners who supported my campaign, Elvaston and Borrowash parish councils, Mr Harrison, the land owners, the Highways Department and, of course, the workmen.
Mick Shaw
Borrowash
Comments
by bubbles2u2
Thursday, January 31 2013, 7:58PM
“...........and thankyou too Mick for your work. I am sure regular walkers to Elvaston to and from Borrowash will be grateful that at long last , this footway has been made safer.”