The Details
Unlike the majority of chapters in this book, this one is less about cycling than about accessibility and equality. The Caledonian Cycleway provides a safe, direct traffic-free route from Locharbriggs and Heathhall into Dumfries and is well used. However, in contrast to Heathhall and the new housing at Summerpark, Locharbriggs has very few step-free and accessible accesses onto the path.
In some places, there are steps because the path is high above the road, but that’s not always the case. For instance, the entrance from Catherinefield Crescent, which would provide a large number of houses with easy access to the pathway, could easily be a ramp.
Further along we find an access point that has a gravel surface, making it hard to use wheelchairs and buggies.
The steps to Locharbriggs primary school would be challenging to turn into an accessible step-free access, but not impossible. The wheeling channel – which is intended to allow (non-disabled) cyclists to push their bikes up and down the steps – is far too close to the handrail to be usable with most bikes. It’s certainly not a viable option for anyone with a laden bike, a child-seat, a trailer or cargo bike (for instance to transport children) or anyone using a trike, a wheelchair or pushing children in a buggy.
It’s clear that the population of Locharbriggs would like better access to the path because all along the route you can find ‘desire lines’ – pathways created informally by people simply making their own way. For instance this path here joins the Caledonian Cycleway to the shops and other amenities. At the moment it’s only accessible to determined non-disabled pedestrians (and mountain bikers) but it’s clear evidence that a proper path is needed.
Making the Caledonian Cycleway more accessible to the population of Locharbriggs is first and foremost a matter of equality. The current situation means that anyone reliant on a wheelchair, parents with pushchairs, and anyone unable to negotiate steps or scramble up a bank has less access to this key route into town, or to a path which many people use for recreation as well as transport.
Fortunately, the solution to these missing links is pretty clear: just upgrade what’s already there, including the paths people have made themselves. Converting the sub-standard accesses and existing desire lines into usable step-free entrances would be a straightforward and relatively cheap way to increase the usability of the town’s traffic-free network.
