A lot of the "dedicated cycle paths" are useless - Tixall Road, for example.
Today, on a whim, I cycled up the cycle path on the 'new' part of Beaconside, as I still think of it, from Sandon Road to Marston Lane - I would normally go there via Common Road.
Negotiating the entrance to Tollgate is not for the fainthearted. It involves crossing the entrance in four stages - at each stage,
everybody else has priority over the cyclist - it is positively dangerous. I was grateful that one of the many vehicles I had to keep an eye on, coming at me from all directions, was an ambulance.
I would be vastly safer to cycle past on the road.
The next entrance was equally difficult, but with fewer "stages" and less traffic to maintain observation on.
Crossing the end of Common Road has the added excitement of the crossing point being 'round the corner', so you have a very short, restricted view of any vehicle that is about to whizz round the corner at you.