"X" marks the spot - North End

This set of road markings are at the junction of North End and Tamworth Road/Station Road. It is an example of road markings which defy logic and safe roadcraft.



Worse than that the marked cycle lanes emerge from the pavement. If you are traveling east along Tamworth Road and want to turn right then you should already be on the right hand side of the tram tracks before entering the junction.





You can't see the full scale of this from the ground so take a look at the satellite image.


View Larger Map

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cycling, cycle lane, croydon

Uneven drain covers - Wellesley Road

As featured in the LCC's magazine, London Cyclist, recently, these dire drain covers (see below) are in the centre of Croydon on Wellesley Road. As the variable surfacing around the drain covers shows, at least one unsuccessful attempt has been made to repair the problem, but that was some time ago, and the condition of the covers continues to worsen.

To identify their position more clearly, the photo below shows that they are on the nortbound side of the road, before the Whitgift Centre bus stops.

Satellite Image

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cycling, croydon

Wickham Road in Shirley

Here's an example from the A232, Wickham Road in Shirley (westbound, just west of the Hartland Way junction). After passing an old garage forecourt, the cycle lane inexplicably veers left before running into the corner of a parking space (occupied in the photo) and the corner of the bus stop cage, where it abruptly stops. Instead, the cycle lane SHOULD continue straight-on and go down the RHS of the bus stop cage!
Photo taken on 16 Aug 2007.

Satellite Image

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

More Press Coverage

Croydon Guardian this time

Deputy ‘best man’ to check out bike lanes

The leader of the council has refused to take a bike ride around the borough to see what improvements could be made to cycle lanes.



Shasha Khan, a member of Croydon's Green party, invited Councillor Mike Fisher on the trip in July....

Now to work out a route which shows as many the problems as possible...

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Previous council leaders have got on their bikes, for example Hugh Malyan



Croydon Guardian March 2002

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

"Crap Cycle Lanes - 50 worst cycle facilities in Britain"

Coming soon, "Crap Cycle Lanes - 50 worst cycle facilities in Britain", the book inspired by the web site "Cycle Facility of the Month" by Pete Owens of Warrington Cycle Campaign. Look out for my Croydon photos, there will be one or two in there.

Where the editor Dan Hiscocks got the idea for the title from I just cant imagine...

Two minor victories

Firstly, Croydon Council have now backed down on their plans to put a cycle route along the Fairfield path, and have accepted that it would be better to direct bikes along an alternative route.

Secondly, the council have now cut back the overhanging foliage on Addiscombe road. However, they had not cleared all the dirt and cuttings from the cycle lane.

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cycling, croydon

Cycle-Friendly Infrastructure

If you want to know what good cycle facilities should look like then get a copy of "Cycle-Friendly Infrastructure: Guidelines for Planning and Design".



http://www.iht.org/publications/technical/cyclefriendly.asp

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cycling, cycle lane, cycle path, cycle track

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