Diary of a Shopkeeper, 17th September

Cyclists: Goodies or Baddies?

Last week I wrote about a frog flitting on the Orphir road. This week I move on to humans flitting along our roads in unusual numbers: cyclists.

A new phenomenon has been highlighted on social media this summer, and occasionally in the local press: the release of dozens of cyclists from cruise liners, who pedal in long lines, or sometimes in shoals, along the roads surrounding Kirkwall. There’s been much discussion of the frustration caused to drivers, who find it impossible to pass these convoys, resulting in lengthy queues of cars, vans and buses building up behind the bikes. Worries have also been expressed about the safety of such mass cycling on our generally narrow roads. Especially as most of the riders seem to be from other countries with different highway codes.

I’ve seen a few hair-raising narrow misses myself, not least one occasion where 20 cyclists streamed out of Wellington Street and left onto Junction Road without pausing, never mind stopping. They didn’t seem to realise they were moving from a minor onto a major road, and one with a steady flow of traffic from the west. It’s a miracle there was no collision that day. It’s surely only a matter of time before there’s a serious injury or worse involving these mass cyclings. Our roads are just not built for that kind of activity.

‘So,’ some say, ‘We should ban the cruise bikes. While we’re at it, pushbikes of any kind are a right saddle sore.’ I disagree. It’s the roads that must change.

 One of our wisest historians, Ernest Marwick, had this to say on the subject: ‘Roads gradually adapt themselves to the type of traffic in being at the time.’ He went on: ‘Throughout most of the eighteenth century the Orkney highways were merely narrow tracks, suitable for the progress of solitary pedestrians, or of a string of pack ponies tied head to tail. By 1794 carts of a primitive type and a diminutive size had been introduced to Orkney. The tracks became wider to accommodate the carts; they had to be made more level so the vehicles would not upset; and they demanded a certain amount of upkeep.’

It’s time for our roads to undergo a similar transformation as they did two centuries ago. This isn’t to bow down to the car lobby, but to acknowledge reality. The internal combustion engine is on the way out, but that doesn’t mean there’ll be fewer vehicles on the road – just that they’ll be powered differently. In fact, with our population having increased by 3,000 in the past 20 years, and tourism booming, there are more vehicles on the roads than ever. And the vehicles are bigger: the average size of a family car has increased by a third since the 1970s. And a John Deere 7-Series is twice the size of an old Grey Fergie.

The Orkney Roads Act was passed in 1857, but some – including The Orcadian – complained about the taxes required to fund it. Several major landowners petitioned Westminster, protesting that their contribution – one shilling per pound of rental – was too high. Nevertheless, the act went ahead, though the Roads Trustees halved the landlords’ contributions. This left the road building scheme perpetually underfunded, resulting in very slow progress. Although the Kirkwall to Stromness road was largely completed by 1859 – the year Kirkness & Gorie opened – many parishes and isles were only just getting roads at the end of the century.

The powers that be must recognise the reality of 21st century road use. There are more vehicles, and they’re bigger. Cycling is more popular than ever, and that’s a good thing. There must be a strategic upgrading of roads and cycle paths to reflect current and future needs. We are, essentially, still reliant on a 19th century road network. It’s well maintained by OIC, but that doesn’t mean it’s fit for purpose anymore.

Without infrastructure, there can be no improvement.

This diary appeared in The Orcadian on 20th September 2023. A new one appears weekly. I post them in this blog a few days after each newspaper appearance, with added illustrations., and occasional small corrections or additions.