On Wednesday 26th November 2014, ChiangMaiCityNews.com reported on the issue of bicycle lanes for Chiang Mai. That very same morning I took a half hour walk from the Sathorn area of Bangkok, near the now gone Lumphini Boxing Stadium to Sukhumvit Rd emerging there at Soi 10.
I found it surprisingly pleasant in the morning cool and there were places where trees or workers flats provided some welcome shade.
Then half way along the journey, to my astonishment I came across a very expensively built Bicycle & Pedestrian Way as these pics below illustrate.
Walking along this pathway and up and over two big bridges around 9:30 am I only met 3 cyclists and no other pedestrians, and it appeared little used. This raises questions about the advisability of this kind of heavy investment.
A bike path, and likewise a bike lane, which does not link in well to the other streets and lanes which cyclists use for their journeys is unlikely to be well patronized. Does this path lack good connections? One recent article in the Bangkok Post complained that although there is now a bike path around the perimeter of Suwanabhumi airport one needs to put the bike in the boot of the car and drive there to ride.
Or perhaps few people own bicycles or are confident enough to ride in the city, or the path is not publicised? I saw no signs directing traffic there.
Were any of the above issues raised with the Chiang Mai governor by the Sunday Bike Club?
From the Chiang Mai Sunday Bike Club:
Thank you for sharing me your in formation. We are interested in making bike-facilities with attractive traffic system providing safety and shortcut to bikers for daily commuting in CM-city. The governor may informed about on-going new bike-lane between the Convention Center to HuayTueng Tao which costs for this alone 10 mil Bht. In the city is more important because there are many destinations for residents to go towork, to school and for tourists to visit interesting sites of historical and cultural importance. The expenses to invest in what we recommend to the governor would be not expensive in our opinion. We told him that we like to share 20,000 – 30,000 Bht to contribute some temporary traffic signs to provide clear understanding to drivers other traffic vehicles. The governor said that our contribution is very small. The city has already enough budget for implementing bike-infrastucture before April 2015. I like to give a link to what we recommended to CM-governor here.
http://www.cmcycling.org/index.php/article/559-summarized-recommendation-to-governor-of-chiang-mai-november-24-2014
Nirandorn