The bridleway route between Sandpit Lane and Hatfield Road across the grounds of Oaklands College was closed, without notice, in mid-September.

A security guard posted at the Sandpit Lane entry will allow passage along North Drive to to staff and students of the college on display of a pass.  East Drive and South Drive are also closed to the public. The reason given for the closure is for public safety during demolition and building work at the college.

However, an alternative safe diversionary route for walkers, cyclists and equestrians has not been put in place. Hertfordshire County Council's Rights of Way department have advised that they are working with the college to open a permissive alternative route for cyclists.  When the application to close the bridleways was made it was understood that Oaklands College would have the permissive alternative in place before they closed the route, but unfortunately this did not happen. Three weeks on, there is still no alternative route in existence.
There is a drawing with coloured lines on it, but intrepid mountain-bike riders have confirmed it does not work even for them.  I tried to get through, on the basis that the folks from the college said they "have opened up a route” ....  Seems it's still a work in progress, as I had to climb over a couple of fences. The surface wasn't great after the bit of rain we had. A lot of it stuck to my tyres.

The on-road alternatives are lengthy and on busy roads that are hostile to cycling, compare
Bridleways route: 1.4km, 17 minute walk, 5 minute cycle
Western road route via Sandpit Lane and Woodlands: 3.0km, 41 minute walk, 10 minute cycle
Eastern road route via Sandpit Lane, Oaklands Lane and Hatfield Road: 3.5km, 48 minute walk, 12 minute cycle
The closure is especially harsh for people on foot, with a huge increase in journey time.  Doubling the cycling time is not so severe, but for all active travellers, the alternative roads are horrible to use.

This is a very poor show by Oaklands College and their project team.  The local County Councillors are pressing the college to redeem themselves.  The councillors would welcome messages from people who are affected by this closure.
John Hale (M'wick North and CH):  john.hale@hertfordshire.gov.uk
John is the Liberal Democrat Spokesman for Public Health and Community Safety
Anthony Rowlands (St Albans East) : anthony.rowlands@hertfordshire.gov.uk
For full contact details, look up Your Councillors | Hertfordshire County Council

The Marshalswick North Residents Association are also pressing the college to do better by the local community.

Cycling north from Hertford there is a quiet route from Bengeo along Sacombe Road. This road used to end at a  T-junction with the A602, a fast and very busy road from Stevenage to Ware. From here you could either cross directly over the A602 (dangerous) to access the bridleway the other side to get to Sacombe or Sacombe Green or cycle north along the A602 (even more dangerous and scary) until the right turn (more danger) along Sacombe Pound which also takes you to Sacombe.

Hertfordshire County Council have now straightened the A602 and the new alignment includes a new bridge over the river (Dane End Tributary).  Included in the scheme is a new cycle path which uses the bridge as an underpass. So you can now cycle from Sacombe Road to Sacombe Pound and avoid the A602 completely. The extract from Open Street Map above shows the new route, which was opened at the end of September, highlighted in blue. Hertford is to the south, Watton-at-Stone to the west of roundabout (top left).

From the Hertford end, the path descends below the level of the old road, which reduces the traffic noise and it has some sweeping curves. You then ascend to the level of the old road where you can cross the A602 at the same level, which might be necessary if the underpass is flooded. The new cycle path then goes down between the old and new roads and then under the bridge. It curves around to join the road to Sacombe at the pumping house. The whole route is surfaced with asphalt and about 3 metres wide.

Should you use this route, thank the late Jon Crosby of South Herts Cyclists for its existence; it is thanks to Jon's detailed and persistent objections to the initial inadequate design for the scheme that this splendid connecting cycle route has been delivered.

We acknowledge with thanks the photographs and some content above from Adam Edwards of WetHat Cycling.

Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) is proposing to introduce a 20mph Zone in the Beaumont Drives area of St Albans, an area that includes Beaumont School  and adjacent Oakwood Primary School, as shown above.   The proposals, which County Councillor Anthony Rowlands considers a priority, would be funded through the Highways Locality Budget, and the aim of which is to make it easier and safer for people walking and cycling and to improve safety for all road users by encouraging motor-vehicle drivers to adopt appropriate and safe speeds.
 
They have measured the average vehicle speeds within the proposed 20mph zone and they are low enough that additional physical traffic-calming features (such as speed bumps) would not be needed.  Zone entry and exit signs, as well as repeater signs throughout the area and 20mph road markings would be installed.

Hertfordshire County Council have Government funding to provide 20mph areas throughout the County.  The London Colney (Barnet Road) area scheme is now being implemented.  STACC gave feedback on this proposal, but our suggestion that Barnet Road, with its signal controlled pedestrian crossing, should be included has not been accepted, only the cul-de-sac side roads will now be 20mph.

More positively, the proposals for the London Colney (Phase 2) area include the section of the High Street between Kings Road and Waterside in the 41 streets to be 20mph.  The proposals include speed cushions, which unless very carefully designed and installed are not suitable for cycling routes.  The St Albans LCWIP notes on page 41 that 'Traffic-calming features such as speed cushions should be avoided'.  Sinusoidal humps are a preferable physical measure, they are safer for tricycles and other non-standard cycles, and remove the temptation for drivers to swerve around rather than slowing down.  Making the whole of the High Street 20mph, all the way up to Suffolk Close would be helpful, greatly improving the walking and cycling link between London Colney and St Albans via the A414 overbridge.

The St Albans District Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP) was approved by St Albans District Council and Hertfordshire County Council last month. 

The LCWIPs are prepared by HCC (with appointed consultants) for each tertiary local authority in the county.  LCWIPs are ten-year plans, and are essential if the County Council is going to bid for Department of Transport funding for active-travel projects.
86% of residents responding to the LCWIP consultation were in favour of improvements for walking and cycling in the district, as reported in the report on the consultation, Figure 3 above.
As outlined in the LCWIP Introduction, LCWIPs are an ongoing work in progress, and the current LCWIP, Revision 2, will be reviewed and updated.  In particular, it is acknowledged that auditing work for the current LCWIP was focussed on St Albans and Harpenden built-up areas.  This is largely to comply with imposed requirements to study areas with most potential, which by and large works out as areas with the most people in them.  The next iteration of the LCWIP is intended to add in the rest of the District, and to tie it with other areas of work such as rural-onnectivity studies.

We had a moan in our last newsletter about the state of the shared footway along the Harpenden Road between Childwickbury and St Albans. 
We can report that since then the carriageway has been resurfaced and the double white lines and other road markings are all bright and fresh.  The road markings had almost disappeared, so a big red sign has been placed as you head north to remind drivers what a double white line means - Rule 129 in the Highway Code explains, including that drivers should only cross the line to overtake a pedal cycle if the cyclist is travelling at 10mph or less.
The shared footway has not been resurfaced and is as bumpy as ever, although at least the verge has been cut, so the narrow bumpy path is now functional over its full (inadequate) width, except for the section between the two Childwickbury entrances, which is still unacceptably narrow, not even quite wide enough for single file.
STACC has raised the issue of the permanently muddy section with HCC officers, again.

The STACC 2023 AGM was held on 3rd October at the Cottonmill Community Centre.and Cycle Hub. The new Chair, Rona Wightman gave a summary of campaign activities since the last AGM, held online about 2 years ago. She noted that it was often confusing as to whether the District Council or the County Council was responsible for cycling issues that needed to be dealt with, sometimes one, sometimes the other and sometimes both are involved! 
The LCWIP, now approved, is an example of inter-council working by officers and councillors. It had been disappointing that two of the proposed healthy neighbourhood / active-travel schemes in St Albans had stumbled due controversy over proposed locations of traffic filters. This makes wide-area 20mph limits for our district's towns and villages even more needful. 
Good progress is being made on less controversial schemes - St Albans Market Place experimental walking and cycling zone is to be made permanent; work is progressing on the Central St Albans scheme.
Another issue where council responsibilities are a concern is in maintenance of cycling and walking routes, in particular ensuring vegetation is trimmed and encroaching verges are cut back ('sided') to maintain full usable widths of paths.
Cycle parking is another campaign area.  Provision of on-street hangars ('bread-bins') has ended up in limbo between Highways and Parking administration.
Rona noted that at the very same time as our AGM a meeting was being held by the Marshalswick North Residents Association to try and get a resolution to the high-handed action of Oaklands College closing the very important bridleway route through the college grounds.

We were delighted to be holding our AGM at the Cottonmill Community and Cycling Centre, and we heard from the manager, Mat Daniels about the achievements from first year of the St Albans Cycle Hub, including that more than 1200 cycles have been serviced, many of them very basic bikes that would otherwise have been consigned to landfill. 

Nick Truran, the Strategic Cycling Lead & Development Manager at Hertfordshire County Council then spoke on the Active Travel Strategy 2023 consultation - more than 2500 comments are currently being reviewed. A common theme from respondents was to be more ambitious in providing for active travel.  He also told us that HCC have developed an online asset map of Hertfordshire cycling infrastructure which will shortly be available to the public.  The map will be interactive, enabling comments to be placed and be visible to all, which will be effective in helping officers identify locations for attention.  Nick's role now includes Walking and Wheeling as well as Cycling - this terminology recognises that many people use wheeled assistance other than cycles, such as mobility scooters, pushchairs and wheelchairs, and the public realm should welcome all modes of active travel.

The STACC Treasurer presented the accounts, the committee was elected and the formal business closed.

 

We were then treated to excellent illustrated presentations of recent cycling trips undertaken by STACC members.
Graham Trent took us along NCN6 (and other connecting routes) from John O'Groats through Scotland, northern England and all the way back to St Albans. The answer to the question posed in our AGM mailout was revealed as.... NCN6 by Thirlmere in the Lake District.
Mike Yorwerth followed on with accounts of his cycling holidays in Puglia (Italy's heel), and Ireland. 
Two very inspiring talks!