Multi-use paths

The right of access, established by the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003, applies to walkers, cyclists and horse riders, so your paths may need to be suitable for multiple uses.  However, designing a path that’s suitable for all activities, all of the time, can be a costly business.  You should try to design or upgrade a path so that it’s suitable for the activities which can reasonably be expected to take place there.  So if it’s a path that links to an existing cycle path, it’s reasonable to assume that cyclists might want to use it and you need to design the path accordingly.  On the other hand, if it’s miles from the nearest road then, although it might be used by occasional mountain bikers, it doesn’t need to be suitable for a family on road bikes.  The path you design should be fit for its likely purpose – no more and no less.

Avoiding conflict

There’s a lot of discussion at the moment on the issue of illegal use of paths by motorbikes, quad bikes and mini bikes. Providing a barrier that stops these users will also prevent the majority of legitimate users using a path. Even if an effective motorbike barrier is installed, illegal users may well vandalise adjacent fences in order to gain access to the path.  In general, it’s more effective to use a fully accessible gate and rely on the resulting increased path use to police the path and deter illegal use.  You can also identify problem hotspots and encourage the local police to make a few high profile visits to discourage use. In many cases illegal motorbike users are local people who are simply looking for somewhere to bike round and only use paths because there is nowhere else.  You might want to try meeting up with them and encouraging them to set up their own group who may have better luck finding an appropriate area to use.