Campaigning against dodgy cycle lane what do I do?

[Banjo]

Around my area the dangerous painted cycle lanes tight outside lines of parked cars are appearing.

IMHO these are worse than having nothing at all. They encourage cyclists into the door danger area of parked cars while offering no real protection from car drivers overtaking.

They al;so encourage car drivers to abuse cyclists sensibly chosing not to use them.

For these reasons I would like to contact the local government dept responsible for them first then start a campaign against them in the local press.

Anyone know who in the first instance I should contact.Is it a town council officer or seperate transport dept in charge of this type of thing?​

 

[AnotherEye]

Feel free to use this if it's useful.
If you ask I can send you a high quality copy.

Good luck

 

[Banjo]

View attachment 6582
Feel free to use this if it's useful.
If you ask I can send you a high quality copy.

Good luck

Excellent, thanks. I would appreciate a high quality copy, I will send you my email in a private conversation.

 

[snorri]

Perhaps there is a local cycle campaign group who could help, or if you are in the CTC contact the local RtR rep.
Otherwise,find out which authority is reponsible for the road, then look on the authority website for contact details. There will be a roads department, also a road safety department, there just might be a Cycling Officer too. It is often best just to write to the person right at the top, (Chief Executive or similar title) that person will pass your complaint down to the appropriate department.
I would give them a chance to respond before contacting the Press who unless you have a local press person with a knowledge and interest in cycling affairs may not be of little help.

 

[Red Light]

Download a copy of the DfT's Cycle Infrastructure Design and ask them why they are not following national guidelines:

7.5.2 Cycle lanes can be marked on the offside of a line of parallel parking bays (see Figure 7.5). A buffer zone between the bays and the cycle lane of between 0.5 and 1 metre is generally recommended. The angle between the cycle lane and the kerb on the approach to the parking bays should be 1 in 10.​

 

[MrHappyCyclist]

You could write to the highways department of your (or the relevant) local council, though you might not get anywhere. I did that and discussed the unsatisfactory results in this thread.

You're welcome to borrow anything from my letter if you wish.)

 

[dellzeqq]

suggest that if a cyclists gets 'doored' he or she will sue....

 

[growingvegetables]

The local councillor's surgery might be a place to start? Any clubs? Cyclenation says there are campaign and bicycle user groups in Cardiff and Swansea? Worth a contact?

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Ask to see the Highway Authority's formal risk assessment for the infrastructure. Get fobbed off. Ask again. Get fobbed off again. Stick in a FoI request. Get fobbed off. Appeal the decision. Get a redacted, for Data Protection reasons, copy of the risk assessment. Ask how this risk assessment was carried out. Ask what the heck the DPA as got to do with anything. Get fobbed off. Ask again. Get fobbed off. Ask yourself why they find it so difficult to answer your simple questions. Ask again. Get fobbed off. Ask yourself why you are getting annoyed. Write to the cabinet member for Transport and your local councillor. Get a note explaining the flawed method used to produce the risk assessment. Compare the flawed output from a flawed risk assessment process with your view of the risks caused by the infrastructure. Write it all down. Ask what the HA have to say about this. Get fobbed off. Ask again copying your MP. Get invited to an on-site meeting. Meet with some men in suits who don't look like they ride bikes. Share your concerns politely and reasonably. Get fobbed off to your face. Stay calm. Restate your concerns in their language. Observe the furrowed brows. Receive reassurance that plan will be changed. Die of 'not surprise' when the contractors build it as originally proposed.

Take a deep breath...

...start over again.
...start/join a local cycling campaign
...start spending a lot of time in meetings not achieving much
...start to realise that they think bad provision is better than none (so it is in the reports they write which are all about how many 100's of metres of cycling lanes there are)
...start seeing tiny changes in attitude (like pro-active consulation)
...start being listened too
...start to 'win' more than you lose.


YMMV.

 

[Red Light]

[QUOTE 1701978, member: 45"]Go to the local authority website. There will be a fault reporting form on there. Report it as incorrect signage and that it's dangerous. Wait for the response and take it from there.

There will be a councillor responsible for highways, and hopefully a chair of a cycling committee on the council. The latter is the one you will likely get the best response for.

I'd give them a chance to sort it out first before you go in with all guns blazing. These errors are usually a result of stupidity or ignorance.[/quote]

Not worked in what? 15 years in Cambridge. The Botanical Garden and Mitcham's Corner cycle lanes still run through the dooring zones.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Not worked in what? 15 years in Cambridge. The Botanical Garden and Mitcham's Corner cycle lanes still run through the dooring zones.

Once that paint goes down the fires of hell won't burn it off round here, and no one from the LA/HA will ever admit that the provision is flawed. It is all about yardage not suitability.

 

[Richard Mann]

Download a copy of the DfT's Cycle Infrastructure Design and ask them why they are not following national guidelines:

7.5.2 Cycle lanes can be marked on the offside of a line of parallel parking bays (see Figure 7.5). A buffer zone between the bays and the cycle lane of between 0.5 and 1 metre is generally recommended. The angle between the cycle lane and the kerb on the approach to the parking bays should be 1 in 10.​

The document is LTN2/08, available here: http://www2.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roads/tpm/ltnotes/ltn208.pdf

The bay should be the width of the typical vehicle (1.8m for cars, 2.0m for vans, 2.5m for lorries) +0.5m (or more if there's room)

You are unlikely to get anything more than that. 0.5m is probably adequate for a 30mph road; probably not enough if the 85%ile speeds are higher (so it may be sensible to ask what the 85%ile speeds are...)

If you can paste a link giving more detail (Google link to the location?) then we may be able to say more

 

[Banjo]

Thanks for all the replies, at least I know where to start now.I dont hold much hope of getting these removed but if it at least raises awareness it will be worthwhile.

Got one pic before my camera battery died. As you can see even a medium size car parked close to the curb is intruding into the cycle lane. There are several more issues I can see but will get more photos etc when I can in between doing a 60 hour work week this week. (off next week so not complaining).

It looks quiet in the pic but thats unusual, its more often than not nose to tail traffic, its a main route in and out of town.

 

[Richard Mann]

Cripes. However, they've made it quite easy to fix: the outer line should be the inner line of a new cycle lane. Or just paint some cycle logos outside the outer line. The traffic lane is plenty wide enough to sacrifice a bit more width (if it's anything more than 3m wide then you've probably got a speeding problem).

 

[jugglingphil]

From your picture, that cycle lane is certainly a danger.

If you have a car, drive it and park it on the street. If you don't ask someone who does.
open the door and take pictures. It should be obvious why it's stupid and dangerous.

As said already, check if there is an existing cycle campaign group. If so, find out is they were consulted first. Or if they have done anything about this stupid lane.