Request for Cycle Lane
- Thread starter DanH
- Start date
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fossyant
Ride It Like You Stole It!
- Location
- South Manchester
Don't do it. Cycle lanes are a pain in the bottom.
Change your positioning - own the lane and follow the traffic through. Cycle lanes cause aggro.
Change your positioning - own the lane and follow the traffic through. Cycle lanes cause aggro.
Foss - there's a little more two it than that. A cycle lane would be ideal in this instance.
The road is a run up to a traffic island where a major motorway meets a dual carriageway (50 mph at least even though it is a 40 mph)
There is a nearby landfill site whose trucks use this route (and spill rubble into the road - nearly fell off last night when I hit a rock)
There is currently a pedestrian walkway - but is never used by pedestrians.
At rush hour the queues can get quite long, with cars positioning themselves either towards to kerb or towards the middle of the road in order to file into different lanes further ahead, so there is no chance of filtering through.
I could go on...
The road is a run up to a traffic island where a major motorway meets a dual carriageway (50 mph at least even though it is a 40 mph)
There is a nearby landfill site whose trucks use this route (and spill rubble into the road - nearly fell off last night when I hit a rock)
There is currently a pedestrian walkway - but is never used by pedestrians.
At rush hour the queues can get quite long, with cars positioning themselves either towards to kerb or towards the middle of the road in order to file into different lanes further ahead, so there is no chance of filtering through.
I could go on...
snorri
Legendary Member
- Location
- East coast, up a bit.
Tell the road safety department of the appropriate authority why you consider the junction dangerous and ask them what they intend to do about it.
It is not up to you, or any other road user, to come up with solutions, people get paid for doing that
.
It is not up to you, or any other road user, to come up with solutions, people get paid for doing that
.
fossyant
Ride It Like You Stole It!
- Location
- South Manchester
Find a better route. Longer too.
HLaB
Marie Attoinette Fan
Have to aggree with Fossy a cycle lane would only restrict you in drivers eyes to a narrow 1.5m (or less) strip and leave you no room to dodge the rubble.
Ideally a portion of the unused pedestrian pathway would be converted - seems strange that it is not already, because the major traffic island has cycle path all the way around it.
fossyant
Ride It Like You Stole It!
- Location
- South Manchester
Foss - would LOVE that, but I'm a young father and my two little girls like me home from work pretty sharpish!
Father here myself. I take the longer route. Adds very little time to it. Each additional mile is 3-4 minutes, 5 if you stop for a cuppa !
I could ride over a very nasty 4 lane roundabout in Stockport, but I don't, I go round. I would strongly suggest planning a better route, you may even find it's faster due to less traffic.
It's all very well asking for these silly cycling farcilities, but they are usually half baked and down right dangerous. I personally think it's not worth asking a local council.
downfader
extimus uero philosophus
- Location
- 'ampsheeeer
I made the mistake of asking for a cycle lane on a corner a few years back. My hope was that drivers would stop cutting riders up on the bend and instead align themselves with the lines. Unfortunately I was wrong.
This is the bend in question, made worse because of railings (needed because of a local school).
I think now, having had the experience and having spoken to a few Dutch people thanks to the greatness of the web, I think you have to learn about the options and why some work and some do not. Converting pavements into shared use is typically problematic - the land needs to be publicly owned, TROs are still relatively expensive, there are also risks from having to pass driveways and junctions.
Snorri is right, tell the council of your experiences, why you feel they may be negative or harmful. If possible contact your local councillor and/or the one that represents the area where this road sits. If they have a cycling officer on the council they may also be able to provide details on alternative routes.
This is the bend in question, made worse because of railings (needed because of a local school).
I think now, having had the experience and having spoken to a few Dutch people thanks to the greatness of the web, I think you have to learn about the options and why some work and some do not. Converting pavements into shared use is typically problematic - the land needs to be publicly owned, TROs are still relatively expensive, there are also risks from having to pass driveways and junctions.
Snorri is right, tell the council of your experiences, why you feel they may be negative or harmful. If possible contact your local councillor and/or the one that represents the area where this road sits. If they have a cycling officer on the council they may also be able to provide details on alternative routes.
raleighnut
Legendary Member
- Location
- One of the 'Elite'
Could'nt agree more, cycle lanes end up being a repository for all manner of rubble, broken glass and other general crap that cars would normally clear away. They also wind up car drivers and I have lost count of the number of car drivers who have shouted "get in the bike lane" when I have been turning right at a roundabout and have taken the correct road position to do so.
Tell the road safety department of the appropriate authority why you consider the junction dangerous and ask them what they intend to do about it.
It is not up to you, or any other road user, to come up with solutions, people get paid for doing that
It can be..
We worked with the Council for a while on the Cycling Policy and one of the things that we did was get a large map of the Borough in the Market one Saturday and asked people to draw in their routes
Very enlightening as it was not where you would assume as many cyclists already used alternatives to main roads, had diversions around busy junctions etc.
Some of these were then solved by traffic calming, a few "unofficial" on pavement shortcuts became official cyclepaths, and there were some engineering changes.
We also had artwork installed along the main cycle route
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Ganymede
Veteran
- Location
- Rural Kent
That's brilliant Cunobelin, can you tell us who you mean by "we" - did you get your cycle club together or is it the Royal we?! I imagine there is power in numbers.
It was a rather rag tag group that we formed.
Local bike shop owner, several pensioners, a couple of families, another couple of advocates. We were approached as we were "known" to the Council, and then ran a couple of market stalls, and rides. These people were then invited to form a group under "Agenda 21" and things went from there at the peak we had about 25 people attending the Council meetings.
We also self-published "Guides" to the main cycle path
It lasted for abut three years before other pressures meant we no longer had time and things folded. However we have left a legacy, including pioneering the "Round the Harbour" ride used by the BHF every year
Local bike shop owner, several pensioners, a couple of families, another couple of advocates. We were approached as we were "known" to the Council, and then ran a couple of market stalls, and rides. These people were then invited to form a group under "Agenda 21" and things went from there at the peak we had about 25 people attending the Council meetings.
We also self-published "Guides" to the main cycle path
It lasted for abut three years before other pressures meant we no longer had time and things folded. However we have left a legacy, including pioneering the "Round the Harbour" ride used by the BHF every year
