Call for action to reduce cycling on town’s pavements

A MAP of the town’s cycle routes and information about where cyclists can legally ride their bikes was discussed by the town council as one of the potential ways to combat cyclists riding on pavements in town, following a complaint from a local resident.

The issue was discussed at a meeting of the town council’s economic, development and planning committee meeting on Monday 12th December. In the letter to the town council, the resident said, “There have been several letters in the Melksham Independent News regarding cyclists on the pavements in town. I don’t know why this is a specific problem in Melksham, but it appears to be.

“I know there are ‘dual use’ pavements in Melksham, but these mostly stop as soon as cyclists get to Snowberry Lane. I have a copy of the Connecting Wiltshire Cycle map and it shows that none of the pavements in town are dual use, except for a small section outside Cooper Tires, but this seems not to be known by cyclists, who continue to cycle on the very narrow pavement over the town bridge.

“By far the most troubling spot is the high pavement area where not only pedestrians, some perhaps partially sighted or elderly with mobility problems, have to negotiate street furniture, they also have the added hazard of cyclists often coming up behind them at speed.

In response, Cllr Saffi Rabey said, “I really support the person complaining about this as it really is an utter pain through the centre of town.” Cllr Rabey described how often, “when walking across the town bridge and getting confronted with cyclists, you end up either on the railing or in the bridge wall, and it’s the same on the high pavement. We do seem to have a big problem with [cyclists] and there seems to be an entitlement from cyclists that they can cycle anywhere and everywhere.”

Following a discussion about the issue among councillors, town clerk, Linda Roberts, agreed that one solution could be to “eventually come up with a map of cycle routes throughout the town centre with an education bit saying if you want to cycle into town, these are the best routes to take.”

Councillors also explored the idea of introducing a ‘traffic order’ on the town bridge to request cyclists to dismount, as well as working with Melksham Oak Community School to educate students about the importance of using specific cycle routes.