Car Drivers Get Out and Push

If your local council proposed a road that you had to push your car along there would be an outcry in the press, so why do we accept cycle paths you cannot cycle on?



Councils and others who who create this kind of thing simply demonstrate that they are not prepared to do the job properly.

Cambridge signs

"bladder inflammation upset"

"The use of “CYCLISTS DISMOUNT” and “END OF ROUTE” signs should always be avoided unless there is a proven need."

Design Guidance
‘Cyclists dismount’ and ‘End of Route’ signs
These two signs have been used indiscriminately and incorrectly by many local authorities.
The ‘cyclists dismount’ sign (Diagram 966) is widely ignored by cyclists who understandably wish to remain on their bikes. With careful design it should be possible to design a cycle route that avoids the use of this sign and replaces it with a give way option to join the carriageway or another route (see also B.09 Obstruction of cycle track accesses).
Draft DfT guidance (LTN 3.03) states that Diagram 965 “Indicates the end of a cycle lane, track or route. Can be used with Diagrams 1057 and 1058. It should not be used for short breaks in the route. The use of this sign is not mandatory and it should be used sparingly”.

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cycling, cycle lane, cycle path, cycle track, sustrans

Connect2 in Croydon - Fairfield Path

I have just received a copy of a poster for Connect2, a Sustrans cycle project.

Sadly the proposed routes in Croydon are of the usual poor quality.

At a fist glance the biggest problem is that the design includes the conversion of the busy narrow and steep Fairfield Path into a cycle route. This is a dangerous proposal, since parts of the path are very steep and often slippery. Much better cycle routes could be achieved in this area without making life unpleasant for local pedestrians who use the path.



Satellite Image - steep part of the Fairfield Path

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cycling, cycle path, croydon, sustrans, Connect2

Suicidal cycle lanes in Lower Addiscombe Road

As a variation on your intermittent South End cycle lanes problem, here are two photos of the cycle lanes on Lower Addiscombe Road. All the way from the tram crossing to Blackhorse Lane (eastbound), past the shops, the cycle lane is intermittent (as in South End) because of permitted on-street vehicle parking outside shops. Unlike South End though, the cycle lanes don't completely stop. Instead they have suicidal arrows which suggest cyclists should keep veering across the road around the parking spaces and keep suddenly coming out into the traffic on some unachievable 90 degree turns. I think this one's worse than South End.

In the first photo (below), they suggest you turn left through 90 degrees after the "abandoned vehicle" bay to rejoin the cycle lane. It's impossible to turn that sharply if you're travelling at any speed, but it's not a dangerous manoevre.
In the second photo (below), they suggest that after passing the side road in the cycle lane, cycles should now turn right through 90 degrees as the cycle lane ends to accommodate more on-street parking (for bone idle shoppers), so that cyclists suddenly appear in the main part of the carriageway and go down the outside of the parked vehicles if they're not killed by an inattentive, speeding motorist. There's several examples of these ridiculous and dangerous cycle lane alignments along this section of Lower Addiscombe Road, so if you get lucky and survive the first one, you've got some more to negotiate before you get to the relative safety of the Blackhorse Lane junction!

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cycling, cycle lane, croydon

Helmets attract cars to cyclists

From Scientific American web site:-
Strange but True: Helmets Attract Cars to Cyclists

His findings, published in the March 2007 issue of Accident Analysis & Prevention, state that when Walker wore a helmet drivers typically drove an average of 3.35 inches closer to his bike than when his noggin wasn't covered. But, if he wore a wig of long, brown locks—appearing to be a woman from behind—he was granted 2.2 inches more room to ride.
"The implication," Walker says, "is that any protection helmets give is canceled out by other mechanisms, such as riders possibly taking more risks and/or changes in how other road users behave towards cyclists." The extra leeway granted to him when he pretended to be a woman, he explains, could result from several factors, including drivers' perceptions that members of the fairer sex are less capable riders, more frail or just less frequent bikers than men.

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safety

South End Southbound

This post is for Jonathan Law who commented:-

South End and Brighton Road are classic examples of stupidity in planning. The cycle lane is broken up with parking bays so that you can go about 10 yards before having to pull into the traffic. Pointless having the lane there in many ways.

It is an old classic too. This photo comes was taken in 2000 and was on the front page of my cycling web site for years.



Nothing has changed in the past 7 years



The cycle lane starts just south of the traffic lights, then runs straight into a parking space.



Only to reappear for a few yards before the next set of parking spaces.



After which there is a splash of green paint at the junction to the car park



The lane then is replaced by more parking spaces and a bus stop, before making a short reappearance and then disappears short of the next set of traffic lights.



Satellite Image & Map

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cycling, cycle lane, croydon

Who benefits from cycle facilities?

From Enabling and encouraging people to cycle by John Franklin

Cycle tracks originated in Germany. There and in the Netherlands, the first tracks were sponsored by car companies to get cyclists out of way of other traffic so that cars could go faster. They were not introduced for the benefit of cyclists' safety.

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cycle track

Addiscombe Road - eastbound

Inspired by The Sharp Side's overgrown cycle track post, here's a less dramatic case of overgrowth on a cycle lane.



This cycle lane runs alongside tram tracks, so it's primary purpose is to signify to the bike rider where you can cycle outside of the sweep of the tram.



Strangely it is also probably Croydon's longest stretch of mandatory cycle lane - but that's another story.



As you can see from the images the foliage is growing out from the side to push the bike rider out into the path of trams in some places.



It is also worth noting that there is a solid stone wall, and not a pavement, so you have no escape.





The lane ends as the road widens, but then comes the biggest problem, a tram stop.



Here the bike rider has no choice but to cross into the tram track and into the path of the tram. This, thankfully, is not as dangerous as it might be because all trams stop at all of the stations, so are traveling slowly at this point.

Satellite Image & Map

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cycling, cycle lane, croydon

St James's Park Road - LCN Route 5

Our first video contribution to the site:



There was a long fight to get this contraflow cycle lane, but the way in which parking bays were left in the cycle route created a problem at the junction with Windmill Road where most drivers turn in and cut the corner.

Satellite Image

P.S. Filming whilst cycling is not recommended.

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cycling, croydon

Press Coverage

A letter from Shasha Khan to the local papers included a link to this blog. This resulted in a phone call from the Croydon Advertiser and a request for a photo.

The story covers the whole of page three. They've used a straightforward photo of me riding the bike, approached the council for a comment and finished it off with some great photos from the Warrington Cycle Campaign.



Online version - Crodyon cyclists face a 'tour de farce'

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cycling, cycle lane, cycle path, cycle track, croydon

High Street - Surrey Street & Mint Walk

This is the junction between High Street and Surrey street where a cycle lane suddenly pops into existence outside the front door of the Green Dragon pub and continues north along High Street where it is always used for parking.

Anyone trying to use this cycle lane is likely to get cut up by motor vehicles turning left. Most people cycle well out into the road to avoid the parked cars.



Opposite is the entrance to Mint Walk where the cycle cut through is often blocked.



Notice how, even on a closed road, the cycle lane is far too narrow.

Satellite Image

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cycling, cycle lane, croydon