CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Infrastructure

Experimental lit up cycle paths

(14 posts)

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  1. Rosie
    Member

    Has anyone seen this? I tried to post the picture, which is spectacular, but couldn't get it to work.

    Britain Is Experimenting With a Glowing, Seemingly Self-Aware Bike Path Pro-Teq

    The spectral blue glow emitted from this British bike path looks like it should be pulsing off of magic crystals inside some miles-deep cavern. But if it saves a rider from road rash or fractured bones, then more power to the folks who made it: Let's get even more parts of the cycle infrastructure lit up like Marie Curie's lab table.

    The so-called "Starpath" is a type of solar-enhanced liquid and aggregate made by Pro-Teq Surfacing, a company headquartered southwest of London near the awesomely titled town of Staines-upon-Thames. It's in the prototype phase, with a test path running 460 feet in a Cambridge park called Christ's Pieces. (The British and their delightful names!) The material works by absorbing UV rays during the day and later releasing them as topaz light. In a weird feature, it can somehow adjust its brightness levels similar to the screen of an iPhone; the path gets dimmer on pitch-black nights "almost like it has a mind of its own," says Pro-Teq's owner, Hamish Scott.

    http://www.theatlanticcities.com/commute/2013/10/britain-experimenting-glowing-seemingly-self-aware-bike-path/7413/#.UnE-LxMZObE.facebook

    Posted 10 years ago #
  2. Focus
    Member

    Looks nice, tough I'd wonder about not being able to see ned-distributed glass on it!

    It would probably be sufficient just to put the special mix in at the edge of a path, in the same sort of way the lights are on the canal tow path (which I'd like to see in other places.

    As for the article: "In a weird feature, it can somehow adjust its brightness levels similar to the screen of an iPhone" So, like pretty much any make and model of phone these days? So much Apple-obsession in the media.

    Posted 10 years ago #
  3. i
    Member

    What about installing some cat eyes on the edge of the path?

    Posted 10 years ago #
  4. Focus
    Member

    Why not indeed? It would certainly be preferable to nothing, and a bit harder for the neds to damage compared to smashing street lights, though I'm sure they'd give it a go.

    Posted 10 years ago #
  5. cycletrain
    Member

    Aren't there solar powered road studs on the canal path?

    Posted 10 years ago #
  6. Nelly
    Member

    I want one.........just after the cooncil fix all the other pseudo cycling infra on my commute - although maybe they should be charging me for perfecting my "jesus not another mahoosive pothole" bunny hops

    Posted 10 years ago #
  7. Rosie
    Member

    A New Zealand friend on Facebook pointed out this was invented by a NZer:-

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/world/9312333/Expats-invention-trialled-in-England

    Cambridge City Council in England is testing a glow-in-the-dark coating for paths and roads that has been designed by Kiwi expat Hamish Scott.

    The trial, on a 150-metre path in Cambridge's Victorian-era Christ's Pieces park, has garnered big publicity in Britain. The Telegraph newspaper said it could be "the future of street lighting".

    Scott, 51, grew up in Otaki, north of Wellington, before migrating to England aged 29.

    He spent five years and millions of dollars developing the coating, which he has called Starpath, after selling his company in Britain that distributed playground mats made by Kiwi firm Matta Products.

    Posted 10 years ago #
  8. Focus
    Member

    "Hamish Scott".

    He's clearly Scottish! ;-)

    Posted 10 years ago #
  9. DaveC
    Member

    Currently this would be no good as 90% of the paths I ride on are covered in leaves.

    Posted 10 years ago #
  10. cycletrain
    Member

    At about £160 per sq metre to lay, and be thwarted by the autumnal leave drop!

    Posted 10 years ago #
  11. PS
    Member

    At about £160 per sq metre to lay, and be thwarted by the autumnal leave drop!

    It might add some incentive for the Council to sweep the paths a bit more.

    Posted 10 years ago #
  12. kaputnik
    Moderator

    pathside reflective studs / catseyes would be a good idea. Too much foliage cover on much of the path network to make solar viable I would think?

    Posted 10 years ago #
  13. neddie
    Member

    I agree the magic crystals look nice :)

    However, what we need is infrastructure that is functional & works (and not fluff/chocolate teapots/toe-warmers etc.)

    Please don't encourage the council to spend the precious cycle budget on 'nice to haves'

    IMO, the LED lights on the towpath are a total waste of the cycle budget - they only encourage cyclists to go faster than they should. The council only put them in because it was easier to spend the money there than do something "difficult" like a (low-cost) segregated route along Russell Rd for example...

    Posted 10 years ago #
  14. Rosie
    Member

    I agree that there should be other priorities. But it would be nice if there was some kind of fairyland cycle path area in places. Private leisure places like Center Parcs might introduce them.

    Posted 10 years ago #

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