"Suicide Lanes"

[Alan O]

Left turning cyclist use the separated path, straight on and right use the highly vunerbale likely to be left hooked lane, is what I infer from that.
I would take primary down the first "car" lane, or not cycle down the A61

Yep, that's what I'd do - at least until way past the lane separation. I would definitely not use that cycle lane at the point the van is crossing it.

 

[MontyVeda]

Yet another shoddy example of sh!t cycling infrastructure.

 

[Jody]

Left turning cyclist use the separated path, straight on and right use the highly vunerbale likely to be left hooked lane, is what I infer from that.
I would take primary down the first "car" lane, or not cycle down the A61

Agreed about primary unless the traffic is queing which it probably will be most of the time given the area and you are cautious.. But if you are not used to the area there is no instruction that the cycle lane will split and where you are going.

 

[spen666]

Like that, but mandatory.

Mandatory?

 

[classic33]

Mandatory?

That's what has been said. You'd be travelling uphill, so slower than other traffic.

I'm aware they aren't.

 

[Alan O]

Mandatory?

Mandatory just means cars are not allowed in them and they're not shared - there are no lanes which cyclists are mandated to use.

See https://www.camcycle.org.uk/campaigning/issues/mcls/

(Apologies if this is an egg sucking lesson)

 

[mjr]

Mandatory just means cars are not allowed in them and they're not shared - there are no lanes which cyclists are mandated to use.

See https://www.camcycle.org.uk/campaigning/issues/mcls/

(Apologies if this is an egg sucking lesson)

In other words, mandatory is not compulsory.

ObTopic: I'd mainly use such lanes if all motorists near them were stationary and not obstructing them. There is one on Cambridge's Hills Road heading south towards Cherry Hinton Road which seems OK and far better than any pictured above, with signs and mini splitter islands.

 

[bluenotebob]

I'm sitting here reading all this - and looking at the photos - and I'm stunned. Just stunned to think that you guys have to cope with this insanity. These are cycle lanes ? good God. I had no idea.

There's rarely any traffic at all on the 6km or so between my house and the closest small town. I whizz through there without a care in the world and then get on a completely traffic-free stretch of Green Way that runs south for 54km.

I knew I was a bit lucky - but I had no idea how lucky and (maybe) privileged I am.

I've only come up against one traffic light in the last 7000km of cycling - I admit that I struggled to remember what to do....

My heart goes out to anyone who has deal with this madness on a daily basis

 

[Lonestar]

Thanks @bluenotebob ...some of the drivers are real 5hytehawk5 but there are good drivers about.Mustn't forget that.

 

[mjr]

I'm sitting here reading all this - and looking at the photos - and I'm stunned. Just stunned to think that you guys have to cope with this insanity. These are cycle lanes ? good God. I had no idea.

There's rarely any traffic at all on the 6km or so between my house and the closest small town. I whizz through there without a care in the world and then get on a completely traffic-free stretch of Green Way that runs south for 54km.

I knew I was a bit lucky - but I had no idea how lucky and (maybe) privileged I am.

I've only come up against one traffic light in the last 7000km of cycling - I admit that I struggled to remember what to do....

My heart goes out to anyone who has deal with this madness on a daily basis

Many parts of France have really made great improvements the last few years IMO. Do you know why? Has there been some political leadership on this at regional or national level? Sadly, the UK is still leaving all this to county and borough councils, some of which are great and many of which are shoot, resulting in wild variations from this:

to the sort of shoot posted above.

 

[classic33]

Do you mean a bit like this one

View attachment 427552

Would you use it? Given the fact you have a lane either side of you, which I'll assume would have different timings at the lights.

 

[bluenotebob]

Many parts of France have really made great improvements the last few years IMO. Do you know why?

No, I don't know why. But it's got to be down to finance and prioritising of budgets. I'm sure that the money for our Green Ways comes from some centralised EU fund. 'Green initiatives' are really high up in the order of priorities here and tend to get taken care of pretty swiftly.

I live in the Morbihan (56), central and southern Brittany - and apparently we're lagging behind the rest of France in terms of cycle lanes and other traffic-free cycle routes. But we appear to be much better off than some parts of the UK.

 

[Edwardoka]

No, I don't know why. But it's got to be down to finance and prioritising of budgets. I'm sure that the money for our Green Ways comes from some centralised EU fund. 'Green initiatives' are really high up in the order of priorities here and tend to get taken care of pretty swiftly.

I live in the Morbihan (56), central and southern Brittany - and apparently we're lagging behind the rest of France in terms of cycle lanes and other traffic-free cycle routes. But we appear to be much better off than some parts of the UK.

Ridden a few Voies Vertes of variable quality (some truly excellent, some that were clearly excellent at some point but had fallen somewhat into disrepair, and some which were unrideably bad).
That said, the riding experience even on busy, fast roads with no infrastructure is far superior to here - in France drivers clearly viewed me as a person and not an antagonistic obstacle to be passed as quickly as possible regardless of whether it's safe to do so or not.

Would you use it? Given the fact you have a lane either side of you, which I'll assume would have different timings at the lights.

Absolutely not. I'd take the lane all day long in that scenario.

This kind of infra is standard UK box-ticking dross - local authorities get to say that they provide x miles of cycling infrastructure and keep their grants while doing as little as possible whilst arguably making things more dangerous for vulnerable road users.

 

[HLaB]

For those that cycle on the roads. Would you use a cycle lane that ran down the center of the road, four lanes wide, just to access the ASL.

You've two lanes on either side which see heavy use from lorries.

If it put me in the right position and I would get through the lights without getting pressurised by traffic, I would. If I'm not getting an advantage I tend to hang back from the ASL though and use my own judgement as to where's the best position (probably a primary one or if its congested slightly to the right of the primary so I have a get out zone).
I use ASL's more in Cambridge than I have done before as there's often advance cycle lights built into the signals or a mass of cyclists that hold back traffic from me so I do gain an advantage but I still won't push though to them at all costs, some do, even if the ASL isn't there

 

[Drago]

I guess placing cyclists on the central reservation is cheaper than crash barriers, and softer for the cars to bump into.