Cycle lanes and paths - the downsides?

[downfader]

OK, I've been trying to make a campaign DVD to send to no10. A personal effort (though some have offered to help - thanks Ben and co) its focussed on bad driving so far.

The next part I want to focus on is cyclelanes and cyclepaths. Even shared paths. I thought I could use the newly bought camcorder to make some video of some of the problems.

So what problems do you encounter? Extra things I can look out for other than litter, pedestrians and poor surfacing... not to mention how some only last for a few feet!

This DVD is taking me ages!! I'm nearly finished though

 

[puddleglum]

Lots and lots of glass

 

[RedBike]

Around here they all seem to involve hopping on off curbs and they only run for 50 yards.

I just can't see the point in hopping on the curb to ride 50yards then sitting queuing to re-join the road i've just left.

They are clearly put in as an after thought to look green or something. There's absolutely no point to them. In fact I would like to have them removed!
They don't improve my safety in any way. In fact they make things more dangerous because I get irrate drivers pointing at the paths 'suggesting' I use them.

I would gladly use a cycle lane if someone built one I could actually cycle in!

 

[downfader]

Cheers for that, just confirmed what I already have seen.

 

[PBancroft]

The big problem for me is space. It is my opinion that they are rarely wide enough.

1. Cycle lanes running along side existing roads should be at least the width of average handlebars, plus 50% buffer space. They should be set away from parked cars with the prospect of "dooring" and avoid pinch points.

2. Cycle paths (theoretically along two way cycle traffic) should be at least the width of two bikes - again preferably with buffer space.

3. Shared paths should be at least the space for two cycles side by side, and two or three pedestrians walking comfortably next to each other.

In my experience, this doesn't happen, or doesn't happen consistently.

The other side of the coin is that cycle lanes never run for long enough. The classic picture is this one, but it speaks volumes. Whilst other traffic runs past, cyclists are often forced (or 'encouraged') to repeatedly stop along the same stretch of road to give way to motorised vehicles.

 

[Array]

Cars parked in a lot of the cycle lanes in Bristol. Have a walk around Stokes Croft or Gloucester road on Google Street view and you can see cars parked in the cycle lanes.

The best cycle facility in Bristol is the Bristol to Bath path, dedicated to pedestrians and cyclists, away from traffic. It's great, but last year and a few years previousley had a spate of cyclist attacks on it near dusk for a week or so.

 

[just jim]

Some motorists think it's ok to pass you with inches to spare if your in a cycle lane.

 

[downfader]

Cheers! I'll add the space issue into the list as thats quite important.

 

[Plax]

The only thing different that springs to mind is some of them can be quite secluded. From a female perspective this can be quite daunting at night.

 

[Bman]

IME its pedestrians (joggers, dogwalkers, etc) using the Cyclepaths as wide pavements that is the biggest problem. They seem to feel that a two-way cyclepath is not just for cyclists (and <50cc mopeds). They also dont feel they are endangering the legitimate users of these cyclepaths.

I think if there was a "40" speed limit sign painted on the cycletrack surface like there is on the adjacent dual carrageways, the peds may think again next time they decide the cycletrack was provided as a convinient way to cut 2 meters distance off their walk or so 5 people can walk side by side (I really cant think of a reason why the dogwalkers do it. Maybe it’s to foul up the grass verge furthest from the pavement for a change?).

Saying that. There are very few cycle lanes painted onto the roads where I live. Instead, the whole town has designated cycletracks situated away from the main road, running parallel to them.

One thing that does annoy me about these Cyclepaths (besides the peds) Is the planning. Ive said before, the whole town has (and was designed as such) to have lots of safe cycle routes that are not on the main roads. However with recent housing shortages, the local council have been approving planning applications to squeeze any new build into any gap they can find.

Some of these new builds have no road access, so they create a new road/cyclepath crossroads, and give priority to the cars! When the cyclepath has existed as a straight road, for 50 odd years! (I would link to google maps, but it doesn’t show the changes yet.)

 

[jonesy]

...

They are clearly put in as an after thought to look green or something. There's absolutely no point to them. In fact I would like to have them removed!
They don't improve my safety in any way. In fact they make things more dangerous because I get irrate drivers pointing at the paths 'suggesting' I use them.

...

This happens to me quite often on my commute, where the 'cycle path' in question isn't actually a cycle path at all, it is a normal pavement! Because the footway was constructed at the same time as a shared use footway a bit further along the road, people have got it into their heads that the whole thing is a cycle path... But what this illustrates is how the presence of cycle paths on pavements has changed motorists' perception of our entitlement to use the road, to our severed disadvantage. These days my heart sinks whenever I see a blue cycle path sign on the pavement as I'm cycling along, because the path will rarely offer me any advantage over using the road, indeed will usually be slower and less direct for all the reasons others have given, but I know its very existence will encourage confrontation and annoyance amongst drivers who otherwise would have given no trouble at all.

I'm afraid the widespread use of shared use pavements has been one of the most detrimental developments of the last 10 years, and has not helped by the 'flagship' National Cycle Network which makes far too much use of them and has thereby given LAs completely the wrong impression of what sort of provision we need.

 

[jonesy]

IME its pedestrians (joggers, dogwalkers, etc) using the Cyclepaths as wide pavements that is the biggest problem. They seem to feel that a two-way cyclepath is not just for cyclists (and <50cc mopeds). They also dont feel they are endangering the legitimate users of these cyclepaths.

I think if there was a "40" speed limit sign painted on the cycletrack surface like there is on the adjacent dual carrageways, the peds may think again next time they decide the cycletrack was provided as a convinient way to cut 2 meters distance off their walk or so 5 people can walk side by side (I really cant think of a reason why the dogwalkers do it. Maybe it’s to foul up the grass verge furthest from the pavement for a change?).


...

Sorry, but pedestrians have just as much right to use the cycle path as you do. The cycle path markings merely show where you are allowed to cycle, they don't place any restriction on the pedestrians. 40mph is completely inappropriate for a shared use path- if you want to go that fast then stay on the road. You might want to read this.

What your post illustrates is another bad aspect of that sort of cycle path- they introduce the attitudes of the highway environment into space that was previously solely for pedestrians, with cyclists treating pedestrians in exactly the same way that bullying drivers treat cyclists...

 

[mr_cellophane]

Come on my commute, it has it all.

Fast down hill with a narrow cycle lane - except where there are traffic islands which restrict the road width.
A Cycle Path with is barely marked, but shares a very narrow, uneven, pavement with pedestrians.
Wide road, but the CL is filled with parked cars
Further down the same road, the same council has made proper provision with the CL running between the parking bays and the carriageway.
Finally the A13 CP where the traffic lights aren't CP friendly (4 separate phases to get across the side roads). Post with crossing light button in middle of CP. Temporary road works sign taking half of CP.

 

[Array]

Further down the same road, the same council has made proper provision with the CL running between the parking bays and the carriageway.

Careful of those. They're often far too close to the parked cars and increase your chances of getting "doored" when someone gets out of their car without realising a cyclist is going past.

Its happened to me twice and is not fun. Spent a good couple of weeks picking stones out of my hands afterwards.

I stay well out from parked cars now, even if the cycle lanes suggest otherwise.

 

[Array]

The only thing different that springs to mind is some of them can be quite secluded. From a female perspective this can be quite daunting at night.

From a male perspective too. I don't use the cycle path near us after dark, especially since the recent gang attacks on cyclists in the evenings which landed a few cyclists in A&E and one in intensive care. A gang of kids had a habit of jumping out of the bushes for a week or so and pulling people off their bikes, then kicking and punching them. It's though it was some sort of initiation ceremony for the gang.