Nice wide cycle lane

[mummra]

When coming through the lakes earlier in the year this [url="http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&ll=54.416683,-2.95352&spn=0.031365,0.104628&z=14&layer=c&cbll=54.419818,-2.961483&panoid=IQWK3EoQqhREibVZcnhtRg&cbp=12,168.19,,0,16.76"]cycle lane[/url] stood out when coming out of Ambleside.
The streetview doesn't show the fully story though as it's been widened, the cycle lane not the road.
There's a great pic of how it is now here

I wish the cycle lanes round Stoke were this wide.

 

[david k]

but cars can and do go in it? seems worse than a road

 

[Red Light]

but cars can and do go in it? seems worse than a road

Worse than that they pretty much have no choice but to drive in it, the remaining road lane being about half the width of a car. A good exercise in getting drivers to think driving in cycle lanes is fine.

Here's another example of Ambleside's finest cycle provision on the road out to Coniston and the Langdales.

Suggestions on a postcard please.

 

[abo]

That modified lane is just stupid! The car drivers going down there are faced with a choice of driving into the cycle lane or driving into oncoming traffic. I'd like to see the study which produced this particular work of genius

 

[Norm]

The message to me, as it has a dotted boundary, is that there is no problem with driving in it but, if you do drive in it, expect to see cyclists across its whole width. Then again, I'm no genius.

It's bad as most drivers won't think about the reasons for the size, as abo demonstrates.

It's good for those who do give it a little contemplation, as it shows where cyclists should be riding and should be expected.

 

[david k]

not sure id get what im suppose to do if in a car down that road

love the cycle lane in the trees lol. you can eat leaves as you cycle, keep your strength up

 

[abo]

love the cycle lane in the trees lol. you can eat leaves as you cycle, keep your strength up

MTB lane

 

[Norm]

not sure id get what im suppose to do if in a car down that road

That's a serious issue, IMO, and one which those on here who blindly tell everyone to abide by Cyclecraft and take primary at the first sign of danger need to think about.

If cyclists don't get why a cycle lane should extend across the middle of the road, then there is a lot of training required before we should expect drivers to understand why cyclists may be in the middle of the road.

To me, the broken boundary is not an exclusion zone for cars (the blogger seems to have problems with that idea as well) but that cyclists may ride in the middle of the lane.

 

[david k]

i think the issue here Norm is the newness of the idea. It worries me that there a seemingly new way of allocating responsibility or rights of way, rights of where to drive/cycle. These things should only be brought out if we can be assuered that people understand them.

Maybe there has been an education running up to the change in priority, i dont know, but it still worries me Norm

 

[Norm]

I agree completely, David, and I've mentioned the phrase "cyclist's blinkers" a few times.

Those who have had recent cycle training or who have read Cyclecraft may understand when "primary" is appropriate.

Those who haven't but have seen it referenced on here may think they understand when "primary" is appropriate.

For the rest of the population, which is a large number of people, they'll have no idea at all why a cyclist is more than 1m from the side of the road.

I think that the size of that painted area is a good thing because it will help drivers to at least recognise that we are allowed out of the gutter, even if they don't know why we might want to be that far out into the road. If it was part of a cohesive training package, that would be better but it's ok as a start.

IMO, of course.

 

[youngoldbloke]

I agree completely, David, and I've mentioned the phrase "cyclist's blinkers" a few times.

Those who have had recent cycle training or who have read Cyclecraft may understand when "primary" is appropriate.

Those who haven't but have seen it referenced on here may think they understand when "primary" is appropriate.

For the rest of the population, which is a large number of people, they'll have no idea at all why a cyclist is more than 1m from the side of the road.

- Agree with this totally. Drivers who don't cycle just think we are being bloody minded and holding them up on purpose! Education required.

 

[400bhp]

There is no point to this lane in isolation.

There needs to be a consistency of approach across the UK for road users to understand road markings and signs.

The cycle lanes across the UK are a mess.

 

[youngoldbloke]

Surely the point is that drivers should expect to see cyclists on roads. Full stop. Otherwise these wide cycle lanes should be painted on ALL roads, if we are to be consistent.

 

[400bhp]

I don't disagree.

One could argue that this type of road drawing increases the risk on roads where no such drawing exists.

IMO cycle lanes are a waste of space (literally).

 

[david k]

i agrree with everything apart from cycle lanes being a waste of time, i feel more confident in them