Almost knocked Off. Why Cycle Lanes are Bad.

[wayne]

On Tue, 07 Jun 2005 03:57:23 -0700, dkahn400 wrote:

> Pete Bentley wrote:
> I'm sure the reverse is true. I believe cycling farcilities are at the
> core of the failure to meet the government's targets for cycling. They
> almost always have the opposite effect from the intended one, or at
> least the stated one. On-road cycle lanes, shared use paths,
> sub-standard off-road paths, and tortuous barely usable "cycle routes"
> make cycling less convenient, less enjoyable and less safe, thereby
> discouraging rather than encouraging it.

I'd have to agree with you. I think unless you actually are a cyclist it's
hard to appreciate that the half hearted, half baked, ill thought out so
called cycle lanes actually make cycling more dangerous as it gives
motorist's (at least some of them) the idea that we shouldn't be on the
Road.
Reminds me of a particular piece of ingenuity I have to negotiate each
morning, picture the scene, your climbing on a slowly curving right hand
bend with good visibility (no cycle lane yet) somewhere in the middle of
this very long curving road I hesitate to call bend a piece of cycle lane
appears. About a metre wide, choc full of glass, so much so that it is
tyre suicide to go through it. This fantastic piece of road design lasts
for oh about 10 yards raising you to kerb height (still middle of bend)
then stops yes, stops. You are supposed to now cross the road to get onto
a shared footpath. The lane (if you can call it that) creates a pinch
point that didn't exist, the motorist now expects you to use this glass
bed and if you don't your now in a bottleneck.

It could never have been designed by a cyclist that's all I can say.

Wayne.

 

[Terry D]

iakobski wrote:
<snip>
>
> I had a few emails back and forth with the local cycling officer, which
> ended with her stating that (a) there wasn't room on the road to put
> the cycle lane anywhere other than in the door zone for the designated
> on-street parking, and (b) she thought it better to have designated
> cycle lanes covering the door zone as this encouraged cyclists to use
> the road, rather than not have cycle lanes.
>

It seems to me that local councils have a cycle lane fixation. The requirement
for councils to encourage cycling through their respective Local Transport Plans
has generated a need for visible cycle facilities which can be counted. My own
local authority appears to have adopted the cycle lane as its only measure to
encourage cycling. The word 'measure' is itself highly significant in this
context as is demonstrated by their list of performance indicators, the first of
which is "Kilometres of cycle route in the Borough".

Should you wish to read the rest of the Guildford Joint Cycling Strategy
document, it can be found online here;
http://www.guildford.gov.uk/NR/rdon...75203B/5183/GuildfordJointCyclingStrategy.pdf

--
Terry Duckmanton.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/terry.duckmanton
A website mostly dedicated to cycling

 

[Colin McKenzie]

Terry D wrote:
> It seems to me that local councils have a cycle lane fixation. The
> requirement for councils to encourage cycling through their respective
> Local Transport Plans has generated a need for visible cycle facilities
> which can be counted. My own local authority appears to have adopted the
> cycle lane as its only measure to encourage cycling. The word 'measure'
> is itself highly significant in this context as is demonstrated by their
> list of performance indicators, the first of which is "Kilometres of
> cycle route in the Borough".

As long as it says route, there's hope. You can have a route with no
facilities except the occasional sign to keep you on it.

Ours actually measures 'length of cycle lane'. I am hoping to get this
to go down, courtesy of bus lanes being put where there were cycle
lanes before. Maybe then we can start measuring something more sensible.

[Thinks, must survey cyclists in the road with cycle contraflows both
ends, to see if they prefer the end with or without a contraflow cycle
lane. Hope I get the right answer.]

Colin McKenzie

--
The great advantage of not trusting statistics is that
it leaves you free to believe the damned lies instead!