Cycle signs?
- Thread starter davidphilips
- Start date
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mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
Yeah, that's one where GB (and possibly other countries we influenced too) messed up use of a Vienna convention road sign. Normally, a blue circle means something you must do (think of the turn left and keep left arrows) and a blue rectangle means something you may do, so a blue bike circle means bikes must use that bit of the highway and a blue bike rectangle would somewhere bikes could be ridden, but GB uses the circle for optional and the rectangle for any old road that is part of a cycle route where the council can't be bothered to put up a proper route or direction sign.
Two other odd/annoying things: 1. GB cycle direction signs are limited to the smallest standard sign size or two, even where other road signs are 4x as large, making them relatively difficult to spot among other road signs. 2. the end of an optional cycleway need only be marked by not putting up a sign after the route crosses a road junction. Best practice is to put a give way directing cyclists back onto the carriageway not near a junction with a 'cyclists rejoin carriageway' rectangle, but that's still rare.
ebikeerwidnes
Guru
- Location
- Widnes
Round here the "end of cycle path" sign are quite small
and about 9 foot up in the air
how they expect a cyclist to see them is a mystery
mind you - the bit of road I am thinking of has no "cyclepath" signs on any kind on most of it
except for the zebra crossing where it has 2 signs - one on each side of the white lines on the road
one is "no cycling" the other is "start of cycle path"
If is rather dumb expecting anyone to take any notice of it
they are about 10 foot apart - if that
mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
If you mean the blue bike circle with "End" underneath, then they've also not been a legal sign for at least 30 years. There's a few still hidden around Cambridge, but I've not seen them anywhere else for a long time.
Maybe they've just been shoved up the pole because they're no longer legal but it's easier to move them than remove them?
Well, that's completely unenforceable because obviously it's reasonable to ride from the end of the cycleway to the nearest low kerb, which seems to be the zebra crossing, and then to access the other cycleway from the nearest dropped kerb, which is the zebra... what a waste of council budget! And I bet it came from a cycling budget not general highways.
Alex321
Guru
- Location
- South Wales
mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
That's not an end of cycle route sign. That's a no-cycling sign and should only be used where there is an order or similar prohibiting cycling on the whole road, according to the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2016 SCHEDULE 3 PART 2 Item 21 - the final column indicates Schedule 3 General Directions 1 and 2, and 1 is "The sign must only be placed to indicate the effect of an Act, order, regulation, bylaw, resolution or notice which prohibits or restricts the use of the road by traffic".
I very much doubt that the highway authority has made any order banning cycling on that road for the length of the crossing, and if so, the sign has not been placed lawfully and no offence is committed by ignoring it.
A few years ago, I got a similar sign removed from the eastern junction of the A1076 and Winston Churchill Drive and replaced by the correct triangular warning sign. You can see the difference between the 2019 and 2021 Streetview pics if you want. I suspect that many such signs are placed unlawfully by people who don't know the difference between prohibition and warning signs.
mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
Rectangular blue signs are information, not requirements, so there's nothing to obey on that one, while it's obviously impossible to obey both the other two at the same time. I wonder what cock-up led to that mess.
It leads to a smidge over two person wide bridge over a railway. So a dismounted cyclist is potentially going to cause an obstruction to someone coming the other way. Most cyclists consequently stay on the bike and stop or propell by foot on the ground pass someone coming the other way.
mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
Ah, so I suspect the local council signed a cycle route across the bridge, then Notwork Rail trying to refuse permission for people to cycle across and putting their own prohibition sign up, probably unlawfully, rather than do whatever's needed to make it safe, whether making the side rails higher, or putting up give-way signs at each end so people give way to those already on the bridge.
There's a similar problem near me with NR festooning even the simplest level crossings with anti-cycling signs, such as the misleading "cyclists dismount", or even incorrectly signing them as "No Through Road" just because motorists are no longer allowed.
ebikeerwidnes
Guru
- Location
- Widnes
Last week the road that goes past our estate was closed for long overdue resurfacing
The whole road was closed
The biggest and most prominent sign at the barriers was a massive rectangular sign with a blue background and
"CYCLISTS DISMOUNT" on it in large white letters
Thing is - the pavement down the side is a wide shared path
and it was totally open and in use
joined up thinking does not seem to have been a requirement in some of the planning
new surface is a lot smoother and nicer than the old ones!
The whole road was closed
The biggest and most prominent sign at the barriers was a massive rectangular sign with a blue background and
"CYCLISTS DISMOUNT" on it in large white letters
Thing is - the pavement down the side is a wide shared path
and it was totally open and in use
joined up thinking does not seem to have been a requirement in some of the planning
new surface is a lot smoother and nicer than the old ones!
