Long straight roads with painted cycle lanes / Snaresbrook Road

[pansy]

Hi

What's it like cycling on long straight roads with painted cycle lanes like Snaresbrook Road? Better or worse than your average commuter route?

I'm thinking of moving to near Walthamstow and since I'm a pansy and not a real cyclist my route would take me just down Snaresbrook Road from Woodford New Road, and around the corner to Snaresbrook tube station.

Going west there's a cycle lane painted on the pavement, so segregated from traffic by the kerb. Going East though it has a painted cycle lane on the road.

Of course it does vanish from time to time for no sane reason. Just for those zig-zag lines at the crossing, Mr(s) planner? Really?

I would have thought there are rarely cars parked there, so maybe it's not so bad...

 

[mr_cellophane]

Horrible road. Fast cars with barely enough room to pass if you stay on the road and too narrow a pavement to have a segregated cycle path so you will be forever asking people to move out of your way.
Definitely a no win route and one to avoid if possible.

 

[jarlrmai]

In my experience it's worse because if you are not in it you'll get punished for not being in it, primary with oncoming cars is also no fun. If you are in it then you'll get close overtakes anyway due to the "magic paint barrier."

 

[Markymark]

I sometimes cycke the road west of the park alongside Whipps X. It would be a longer route and there's also the nasty RB but there's subways for that.

 

[Frood42]

Long straight roads like that can invite speeding motorists, the cycle lane is too narrow IMO.

As someone here has mentioned, as there is a cycle lane some drivers will think it magically means they don't have to give you passing room

If double yellows can take up the cycle lane, as here http://goo.gl/maps/3V09v , then it is not wide enough, so be careful in places.

I mean looking at it in Google Maps, that is an inviting road, but I would be inclined to find another route if travelling within peak hours...

I cycle along Woodford Rd and Holybush Hill every day, but have never bothered with Snaresbrook Rd, so it could be ok, but I don't like the look of it...

Not sure where in Walthamstow you would be starting from, but if heading that way something like this might be more tempting, I don't know:
http://goo.gl/maps/ejsIq
.

 

[pansy]

Long straight roads like that can invite speeding motorists, the cycle lane is too narrow IMO.

As someone here has mentioned, as there is a cycle lane some drivers will think it magically means they don't have to give you passing room

Damn, I can't really hide from the consensus here. Plus there's that amazing bike parking at Snaresbrook (1 space). Narrowly beaten by Wood Street (0 spaces). London, it's a hell of a town, so good they named it once.

Not sure where in Walthamstow you would be starting from, but if heading that way something like this might be more tempting, I don't know:
http://goo.gl/maps/ejsIq
.

Pretty much from the start of Snaresbrook Road, so Whipp's Cross Road is a long way out of the way, maybe no faster than walking.

 

[Frood42]

Damn, I can't really hide from the consensus here. Plus there's that amazing bike parking at Snaresbrook (1 space). Narrowly beaten by Wood Street (0 spaces). London, it's a hell of a town, so good they named it once.
Pretty much from the start of Snaresbrook Road, so Whipp's Cross Road is a long way out of the way, maybe no faster than walking.

You could give the road a scout on the weekend, look for the good and bad places, then give it ago one morning and see how you like it.

Personally ever since I started commuting full time this year I don't miss the Underground during peak hours at all.
I do like the Underground Off Peak though.

I live an 8 miles round trip from work, but I have several routes planned out, round trip wise:
a 20miler (for the lazy Friday), a 30miler, a winter 40miler (my normal route now), a summer 44 miler and a 60 miler for my commute, all very different roads.

I caught the bug and just cannot shake it off.
.

 

[Cyclopathic]

One of the problems I have with painted lines for cycle lanes is that a lot of drivers seem to give you even less space than they otherwise would. For some drivers it is enough for them simply not to put their wheels over the line regardless of how much space this actually allows the cyclist. In my opinion painted lines are worse than useless. At least if you are just there on the road the driver has to think about how much room to allow.

 

[Markymark]

Ah, if you're heading for the tube why not cut through to leytonstone instead? More bike parking and more tubes as its post split for heading west

 

[HLaB]

In answer to the OP title. For me, it depends on the number of hazzards on route and the overall width and speed/flow of the road. I don't mind them if there's no part of the route where I need to leave the lane and there's space to pass me comfortably or a road where flow conditions mean I can leave the lane easily but if you've not got either IMO they are awful

 

[Frood42]

I decided to go for a short ride at the weekend and detoured through this road.

Whipps Cross Road on the road wasn't too bad, but if you are not too confident there is a shared cycle/pedestrian path on one side.
Lea Bridge Road, the roundabout, and the right turn across three lanes was an absolute PITA!!! (to get to Snaresbrook road on the road, but there appears to be a cycle path on google maps).

Snaresbrook road itself on a Sunday was nice enough, nice bit of straight road, I would avoid kerb hugging though, and take a strong secondary.
http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/cy...ze-Bikeability--Part-4--On-Road-Positioning-0

I suppose it all really depends on how confident you are with road riding, if you are not then the cycle paths via Lea Bridge and Whipps Cross down to Leytonstone might be a better idea (and there will be more facilites). If you don't mind riding on the road that much, then Snaresbrook road should be fine, just be mindful that is a long straight and fairly wide bit of road, which brings with it the temptation for motorists to speed, and to get quite close as there is the magical white cycle lane paint there...
.