Yes agree with the findings of the report (see today's home page of H&H website).I've spent two years working with Highways England consultants, going to workshops and meetings, representing Swavesey & District Bridleways Association (SDBA), and also with another hat on, A14NMU (NMU stands for Non Motorised User as A14NMU was a group of people from the local walking, cycling and horse riding groups), input to consultations, answered questionnaires, lobbied parish/district/county councillors and officers, visited roadshows, all to put across the need for safe crossing points for equestrians over the new A14 to be built between Cambridge and Huntingdon.Yet when the route and detail were subsequently announced, there was no equestrian bridge at Swavesey (which is the busiest road junction as it also contains the "motorway service area" as well as the junction of the new A14 with the old A14.I asked Highways England why they had only put in a walking/cycling bridge, not a bridge which also catered for ridden equestrians.They told me it was because there was no evidence of horse riding in the Swavesey locality.Erm hello, isn't there two MASSIVE clues in the words "Swavesey" and "Bridleways" in SDBA? So equestrians from Swavesey wishing to cross the A14 to get to Boxworth will have to ride to Bar Hill (4 miles away), cross there, then ride back 4 miles to be on the far side of the A14.The planners thought this was ok. Clearly because the planners think in terms of cars. 4 miles each way, 8 miles in total, in a car, is what, 10-12 minutes on a journey extra? And because horse riding is leisure, then 10-12 minutes extra is fine. Duh! A ridden horse being walked on a tarmac bridleway (the new bridleway alongside the A14 will be tarmac surfaced) is going to walk at something around 4mph. So suddenly my hack from Swavesey to Boxworth is going to take me two hours extra.But hang on a minute, I was only going to ride for 2 hours anyway as that's quite a good ride and I don't want to be out all day as I have other things to do ... so the idea of hacking from Swavesey to Boxworth (4 miles apart, separated by the A14) becomes a no-no because by time I've hacked to Bar Hill and back in order to cross the A14, my time is up and I need to u-turn and come home.
01-12-2018, 05:43 AM
H&H article: Second class citizens
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