How does so much broken glass seem to end up on cycle lanes? Do people do it deliberately?

yep

It’s just the collection point for everything pinged off the road! Do your not get swept by a Thai virgin?

cars do sweep roads by chucking stuff to the sides. then you get the council road sweepers cleaning gutters.

Then you get the pissed up dropping litter on cycle paths breaking bottles for a laugh etc.

Cyclists are just scum so why would a council ever bother to clear the crap that will accumulate?

Stick to the roads, most cycle paths aren’t fit for purpose*,

* i know GrahamS has a lovely well maintained path, IME the exception not the rule.

One of our local cycle lanes runs alongside a main road and the other 50% of the ‘pavement’ is for pedestrians.
As well as most pedestrians walking on the cycle side, 99% of the glass (along with most of the bus stops) is on the cycle side.

Can’t possibly be an accident – stupidity, yes, but not an accident

There’s lots of glass in the roads as well, just that all those cars and lorries grind it up quite quickly. Bikes don’t do that it requires someone to sweep it up regularly. Maybe you could be public spirited and sweep a section?

broken glass, meh

i know GrahamS has a lovely well maintained path, IME the exception not the rule.

🙂

I’m well aware it’s the exception, sadly.

And I suspect it is only well maintained because there are a large number of volunteers (Sustrans and others) looking after it, cutting back encroaching greenery, picking up litter, clearing glass, mending signs and reporting issues to the council.

If there is a problem with glass on a path then the first stop is to contact the local council and request that they sweep it. Many councils will have an official channel for doing this and you should get a reference number to make sure it is followed up on.

Oddly enough I was on a Sustrans Work Day last month and we were specifically briefed NOT to pick up broken glass due to the “risk”. 🙄 Instead we had to just sweep it to the side as best we could.

Couldn’t help thinking the rotting bags of dog poo and the assorted drug paraphernalia posed a greater health risk!

if theres a particular route that has a problem whats the way to get it officially cleaned up? county council?

there’s one section in kingston that is seperated from the road that I use and its litered with glass and debris. its shared with drunken pedestrians dropping bottles looking at it.

How do you get it cleaned?

Report it on http://www.fixmystreet.com/

Probably wont get anything done though!

thanks officialtob, logged the issue and set my expectations low!

Worth seeing if the council have an official channel as well ti_pin_man.
I tend to find that the more direct the contact the harder it is for them to fob you off. 😀

I’ve reported the specific section to the council (kent). They have quite a good reporting system using detailed GIS maps to pinpoint the location and it automatically gives you a reference number that you can track online too. I’ve used it before when trees have needed cutting back and it has been effictive.

I just wondered how glass gets on cycle paths so regularly – I see it so often! I have images of oiks throwing glasses out of car windows in a grenade toss fashion.

I could understand it on road level paths, but they always appear to be quite clean – presumably due to road sweepers. However raised cycle paths on pavement level seem to be covered in glass so often, it’s not like it’s easy to sweep glass up a 6″ curb!

Booze is the most likely answer. Pissed up pedestrians just dropping bottles or smuggled pint glasses as they go.

On that work day I’d say that about two thirds of the rubbish we cleared was empty booze cans and bottles.

cars actually do us a favour sweeping the crap into the gutter, at least it leaves the ‘usual’ riding position pretty clear on non cycle routes. the more segregated the cycle sections are the more debris and glass there will be. I’m not one for segregation as you can probably tell.