Cycling route freeze fears

CONCERNS have today been raised about the safety of a key cycling route in Kesgrave amid icy conditions brought on by the current cold spell.

Scores of students at Kesgrave High School use the cycle path on the A1214 to get to and from school and the route is listed by the county council as “priority two” for gritting.

Despite this concerns have been raised that the cycle path was treacherous throughout yesterday, placing in danger both students and other cyclists who use the route.

Suffolk County Council say the route was gritted twice and are advising people to take extra care in the adverse conditions.

However Stephen Read, who cycles to work on the A1214 cycle path said it appeared to him that the route was not gritted yesterday.

He said: “It was treacherous, considering it's supposed to be a priority two route. Kesgrave High School has the most children cycling to school in the UK.

“Being a regular commuting cyclist on this route, I rarely see the small tractor that is used for the job.

“Jeremy Pembroke reckons he is aiming to make Suffolk the greenest county. Well he is not going to achieve his goal by not keeping the cycle paths clear.”

Headteacher at the school Nigel Burgoyne said he had concerns about the condition of the cycle path.

“I couldn't make a judgement on all the cycle paths but around the school and down the road certainly weren't gritted - I fell over on it. It was very glassy. We certainly had our concerns as it was treacherous.”

A spokeswoman for the county council said the cycle path had been gritted twice, firstly at 6am and again during mid-morning.

“We are sorry that this person experienced problems but the path was gritted first thing in the morning and when we were made aware the path was still slippery we sent gritters out again.”