Improvements to “unsafe” roundabout shelved as major cycle route scaled back

Why not?  The Liberals were in government with the Conservatives.  With councils the individuals may be more important than the national party policy.  Or rather who's giving them dinners and golf trips.  With the main parties my impression is none favour cycling particularly - the differences are in the form of "encouragement" or "pennies and kind words" you get.

Your point being? Somerset West and Taunton Council was created in 2019 by combining Somerset West and Taunton Deane Councils, the latter of which, I imagine, would have been responsible for building this particular death trap. Taunton Deane Council - with the excpetion of a breif spell in the 90's - were either Tory or joint-Tory controlled from 1973 to 2019.

I don't know about this one and can't recall traversing cobbles in The Netherlands.  I'm aware they do exist in Belgium at least though!  What I did experience in NL were paved / brick surfaces.  I'm not a particular fan of those but they are (at least in NL...) much more pleasant than cobbles, if that's what you're thinking of.  At least where I stay in Edinburgh we (proudly...) have large expanses of historic cobbled streets.  I actively avoid these.  In grippy conditions they're really unpleasant at any normal speed (Edinburgh is hilly so half the time everyone is speedy).  Control feels impared - if nothing else you will have visual issues as your eyeballs vibrate!   That's on a bike without suspension but not super thin tyres (700 x 32 or 35).

Being historic (but in most places because heavy motor vehicles) the cobbles are themselves not flat - there are larger bumps, cambers and sometimes craters.

I believe the normal advice if you have historic streets like this is to make things safer by turning the cobbles upside-down - apparently they'd have flatter lower surfaces.  I believe Edinburgh has done this so goodness knows how pleasant it is to cycle where they haven't!

In wet / freezing conditions these seem worse than tarmac.  Oh, and they amplify road noise from vehicles.

I suspect that the concentric circular layout leads to tram-tracking of the bicycle tyres. Several of the comments below attest to this. And one comment also reveals that the cobbles are not so historic a feature after all...

Comments from cyclists in Taunton about the Market House cobbles
Comments from Facebook
Adrian Boliston The cobbles leading up to the roundabout are not so bad but ones on the roundabout itself are laid with deep linear ridges designed to trap a bike tyre, especially when it is wet.
Chris Kurton Dangerous for thin tyres.
Suzy Amys Kinsman It may look pretty but for safety’s sake it needs to be tarmac’d. I’ve hated it since the day the council came up with the stupid idea of cobbles. It’s so slippery in the wet especially for small thin tyres.
Eddie White I avoid it if I can. I remember when the T O B came to Taunton a few years back, the race leader crashed on them, he limped in about 20th after that.
Martine d'Hotman de Villiers Dangerous for thin tyres, especially when wet.
Ryan Hobbs Hideous to cycle over, especially for little wheels bikes aka Brompton which are common sense for people working in towns / kids’ bikes!
Evelyn Honywill They are dangerous for cyclists. Yr wheels seem to go in different directions. Horrendous when wet. I'm surprised there hasn't been more accidents!!! Council need to change back to tarmac ASAP.
Sam Cornwell In 2013, my husband fell off his bicycle on the cobbles when they were wet and broke his arm.
Mandy Clements These are really slippy when wet.
Helen O'toole I hate cycling around here I always get off at the registry office and back on at TK Max, I’m always worried my wheels will go between the cobbles and I will come off, but it’s all down to personal safety and choosing to get off and walk is my choice and I really don’t mind doing it.
More here (PDF):
https://thetacc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/TACC-Comments-about-Market-Hou...

Alas this sort of thing is often "form over function" without much thought.  Lack of thought is understandable in some ways - motor vehicle use and designing for it is just so "normal" and ingrained.  We just make it work for cars and it'll be fine for everyone, right?  We simply can't see it as it is.  We just assume it must be there and we don't see how it might be problematic.

But this looked so nice in the artist's impression on the plan!  Of course artists so commisioned rarely show infrastructure hidden under the daily traffic jam, or the condition after 6 months of lorries using this route plus a winter.

And it's more "rustic" - it makes it look more like a "place" than a traffic artery - that'll fix things!  Despite the fact that while drivers do respond to some infra cues they'll ignore "places" when getting from A to B.  Sadly this isn't helped by some designers who seem to have misunderstood "place" and "shared space" - ignoring the differences between different modes.  Likely due to the "can't see the elephant" effects of motoring being ubiquitous and normalised.

Yep, not a fan of Prins Hendrikplein here in The Hague. Roundabout with a narrow lane that includes an operating tram track. 

PaulvH wrote:

I used to use this route on my daily commute until recently. The roundabout is lethal. Most mornings I would avoid it and cut down a pedestrian area to rejoin the road further along. In wet or icy conditions it is almost impossible to stay upright.

I wonder if that's what the council means by "the impact of parallel activity assessed"?  ie. "Why spend money fixing this roundabout when we can just let the cyclists take a diversionary route?"

PaulvH wrote:

I used to use this route on my daily commute until recently. The roundabout is lethal. Most mornings I would avoid it and cut down a pedestrian area to rejoin the road further along. In wet or icy conditions it is almost impossible to stay upright.

Presumably it'd be possible to sue the council for the dangerous surface if you slip and break something.

hawkinspeter wrote:

PaulvH wrote:

I used to use this route on my daily commute until recently. The roundabout is lethal. Most mornings I would avoid it and cut down a pedestrian area to rejoin the road further along. In wet or icy conditions it is almost impossible to stay upright.

Presumably it'd be possible to sue the council for the dangerous surface if you slip and break something.

theoretically yes, but the position of many councils is that a road defect is not a defect until it is a danger to cars, cyclists are no considered.

Wycombewheeler, I am an independent highway consultant and undertake many investigations and reports into accident claims.  Whilst it is true that most council road inspectors only appear to consider defects in the way you suggest.  The law takes a very different view, as does the code of practice which councils have signed up to "Well managed Highway Infrastructure Code of Practice".  Defect categoriasation has to be undertaken using a "risk based" approach, where the type of traffic ( what affects a cyclist severly may not affect a car at all) , likelyhood of an incident and potential severity of any injury are scored.  Given that councils are supposed to be promoting active travel, there is a huge training need within their inspection teams.

Looking at the roundabout above, I would consider the construction to be a major issue.  laying the blocks out in concentric circles on a roundavout means that the grooves between the blocks continue all the way around.  This is extremely dangerous for anyone on 2 wheels.  It would be worthwhile, taking measurements of the width and depth of the gaps between the blocks, contacting the council via their online defect reporting system and also via an independednt website such as fixmystreet.com.  This way the defects are logged and the council has no defence in the instance that a cyclist or motorcyclist comes off if they have not taken action once drawn to their attention.

We had 2 cyclist fatalities at a roundabout close to my home in the sapace of a few months.  In the first instance, I offered the council a quick fix solution, and got no response.  After the second, I was contacted by our local cycling organisation and pushed the council into action, suggesting how a Dutch Roundabout could be installed.  2 years later, we are waiting on them installing the first phase ( half a dutch roundabout), but will be pushing for the full scheme to be implemented quickly after that.

That'll have them change things quick sharp!  Oh... it doesn't always work like that?

The fact that the gaps between the bloscks will trap a tyre all the way round is extremely dangerous.  Draw their attention to it, explaining that just because it may not affect a car, it could be extremely dangerous for a cyclist.  If anything does happen, then the council cannot deny liability.  They have to manage the road system for ALL road users.

Fresian wrote:

They have to manage the road system for ALL road users.

Well, yeah, but do THEY know that?