John Lamont MSP calls for Borders disused rail lines to be made into bike paths

Judging by the state of most cycle routes off road I would rather take my chances with the Emma Ways of this world.

Difficult to know from the press coverage as we all know that the context and actual wording of his quotes can be quickly lost, but it does strike me that he could be missing something here.

I live in the Borders, and the back roads are fantastic. He mentioned the A7, but that is one of only a small handful of 'main' roads in the borders ... the miles of minor roads are generally deserted.

One problem here though are the hills that are often between main towns, and the old railway network could provide an excellent option for helping avoid these for cyclists, as well as in some cases shortening the journey length a fair bit.

Rather than calling for a blanket upgrade of railways to cycle paths, which with the best will in the world ain't going to go anywhere, perhaps it would be better for Mr Lamont to select a few key sections to champion - sections that would have a large and pretty immediate impact (e.g. Hawick to St Boswells), following which the case for others would be easier to make.

I ride out north of Carlisle regularly towards Newcastleton and the Borders and encounter very little traffic. Marvellous! The road between Newcastleton and Langholm is a wonderful, largely traffic-free adventure. Great to see the MSP supporting the growth of cycling, and for many new to the sport converted railway lines would be a more enticing environment to get used to its attractions. It is somewhat ironic, though, in the context of the horrors we read about on this website.

I used to live in Dumfriesshire and always really enjoyed riding across through the borders, didn't seem that bad at the time, especially compared to where I now live on the edge of Salisbury, which in my opinion is WAY more dangerous!

The introduction of stricter liability, as part of a package of safety measures, would help to ensure that all road users understand the responsibility they have on the road whether in a car or on a bike. Ultimately, this should lead encourage mutual respect, greater awareness and make the roads safer for the more vulnerable road users. Take a look at http://www.cycling-accident-compensation.co.uk/strict-liability.aspx

Makes no sense that you can't get from Berwick to Carlisle without having to go through Newcastle or Glasgow(!)

This might be a bit radical, but you could try turning those disused railway lines into working railways, which would take a lot of heavy traffic off the roads. They could also provide easy access to the borders from the towns and cities of the central belt for people to take their bikes out for day trips.

Also with less heavy traffic it would also be possible to free space for safe cycle routes along the major road routes into and cross the Borders, which follow the course of least resistance. Currently, cyclists are pushed off to the minor roads, which often have far stepper inclines and are not always suitable family cycling (or long distance commuting).

Or you could sort out the motorist problem, oh but it's easier to just try and ignore the problem it seems.