What's an acceptable speed on a shared use cycle lane?

[Sittingduck]

My gut feel is around 15mph but I try to use them sparingly.

 

[mickle]

This is the rules:

 

[doug]

I regularly cycle on the Grand Union canal towpath between Greenford and Paddington, I am probably at times both one of the fastest and one of the slowest cyclists on the towpath. When clear (with good visibility) I will bomb along at 20mph, around pedestrians or blind bends I do around 8-10mph. I am often surprised by the speed some cyclists do around pedestrians.

 

[machew]

In Birmingham the shared use path in cannon hill park has a speed limit of 5 mph for bikes.

 

[will golden]

About 10-15mph seems top be the average accepted here. But I bet we are the responsible minority!
Even this morning, in Elizabeth St SW1, I was passed by a boy racer (I use the term pejoratively, he was about 30) speeding along the pavement at around 20mph. Normally these guys at least keep their jousting to the roads.

Yet it is still an offence to cycle on the pavement, so we should avoid it where possible, not just when there are pedestrians. Having said that, the law prohibiting wheeling a pram on the pavement has still yet to be repealed!

 

[will golden]

Oh yes, this just occurred!

Taking pavement-pedalling on a rotation, has anyone yet heard of a pet being spatchcocked by an errant cyclist on the sidewalk? That would be an interesting case.

Ever since some foresight-deficient idiot invented the 10-foot lead, dogwalkers have become a menace to all. You can hardly see their little mutts at 3mph walking pace, let alone at cycle speed.

 

[smutchin]

I've recently been experimenting with new routes to work and I've discovered a lovely, quiet offroad stretch from Peckham to the Old Kent Rd via Burgess Park. The temptation to treat it as a racetrack is strong, especially as some loon has set it up as a segment on Strava, but riding along it this morning, I was having similar thoughts about the appropriateness of taking it at speed.

I admit I probably went too fast. I don't think I caused anyone any inconvenience or danger (there were a few peds but it wasn't busy), but it's antisocial. If I use that route again, I will be a lot more circumspect and just enjoy the scenery. And I will hide that segment on Strava to remove the temptation.

d.

 

[tyred]

Just like driving, proceed at a speed at which you can stop in the space you can see to be clear and making allowances for anything you might reasonably expect to happen.

 

[akb]

The majority of my commute takes me along a shared use path for approx 6 miles. During the school term time there are only cyclists on the path with a couple of dog walkers. So upto 20mph is pretty reasonable and slowing for the odd pedestrian. During school holidays, the return leg of my commute is usually busy with kids, families and the like so I adapt my speed to ensure that I can pass any 'obstacles' safely and with room for human error. No idea what speed I pass though, as I direct my concentration on the passes and not look at the speedo.

 

[akb]

Ever since some foresight-deficient idiot invented the 10-foot lead, dogwalkers have become a menace to all. You can hardly see their little mutts at 3mph walking pace, let alone at cycle speed.

So? Adjust your speed to suit; when you are confident that you have passed the hazard, get back on the pedals. Common sense and courtesy should prevail.

 

[Victoria]

I totally agree that cyclists should take care when approaching other shared-path users - it makes sense, if only from the point of view of your own safety! However, by the same token I believe other users should also take care and keep an eye out for cyclists.

 

[GrasB]

10-12mph for me.

There is a shared use path near me where you rarely see any peds and the visibility is half a mile plus. I may have cycled along that at 28.2 mph for its length of 3 miles. The road it is adjacent to is a very fast bypass and i would be uncomfortable cycling on this. The path was clear with excellent visibility so I felt that in this circumstance it was acceptable. However if other users had been on it at the time I would have tempered my speed accordingly. I would slow almost to a stop if I was overtaking a pedestrian or slower moving cyclist. Common sense should prevail in these sort of circumstances.

How wide is it & what's on the non-road side? See at that kind of speed I'd be wanting 1.5m either side. Wildlife advoidence can become very trerious once you get something narrower than 3m.

 

[marinyork]

Just trying to get peoples thoughts on this. The reason I ask - there's a stretch of this on my Doncaster commute (around 8-8:15) near the Frenchgate Centre/town centre. I use the road as I travel around 20mph. I consider this too fast. The share use cycle path runs parallel to the road - this morning there was a cyclist on the path going not much slower than me - so somewhere between 15-20mph. Too fast? I thought so.

On that particular path, which I'm familiar with, I'd do about upto 12mph unless it is totally empty.

 

[Hacienda71]

10-12mph for me.


How wide is it & what's on the non-road side? See at that kind of speed I'd be wanting 1.5m either side. Wildlife advoidence can become very trerious once you get something narrower than 3m.

Not my video, but this gives you an idea.



I would say the path is between 2.5 to 3.5 metres wide. On both sides of the road. there are fences running along the entire length of it and it is not utillised by many peds.

 

[tyred]

I have just one question as I've riding a fair bit on one of these paths myself recently. It concerns other cyclists, not pedestrians.

When I ride on an off road cycle path, I keep left as I do on the road. Surely cyclists coming the other way should move to their left, i.e my right, rather than move directly into my path, making me go tot the "wrong side of the road" to avoid them? Surely normal rules of the road should apply here.