Why are so many cycle routes badly designed?

[Ian Cooper]

Interesting report I enjoyed reading, I dont want to drag this thread off-topic but I dont agree with the safety statistics at all. Theres so many more bikes on the Redways than the few on the roads

I would hope he would have pro-rated the stats to reflect a per-capita basis in some way. I can't imagine a serious study from the guy who is arguably the foremost authority on cycling in the UK wouldn't have done so.

...and so long as you slow/stop to give way where the cycle path crosses a local road its virtually impossible to meet a car. Visability being the highest cause, is simply because a lot of the hedges and bushes/rows of houses block vision until the last couple of metres and people take the risk and approach too fast... People cross without looking all the time and sometimes get hit, thats where the bad statistics are from imho...

Those issues are indeed key. I think another issue is that virtually no bikeways are controlled by traffic-lights where they intersect busy roads. We are generally viewed by traffic engineers as pedestrians and they expect us to automatically give way to other vehicles, so they see no need to treat us as operators of potentially fast vehicles. This is a key mistake, and one that, in my view, gets unaware or novice cyclists injured or killed.

This issue of traffic engineers treating us as pedestrians is nicely illustrated in the examples you've shown from Google Maps: at none of those intersections is there a Give Way or Stop sign on the bikeway to alert cyclists to the potential danger at the intersection. Novice cyclists might easily have no idea that they were about to cross a road. In my view, this is unforgivable.

By far most road crashes involving bicycles occur at intersections, and for all the reasons you cite. You are also correct when you go on to say that your safety is in large part in your hands. By being aware, visible and predictable on the road, and by following the law, we can prevent 95% of all potential accidents. Doing so makes what is, after all, a very safe activity even safer.

 

[ColinJ]

We are generally viewed by traffic engineers as pedestrians and they expect us to automatically give way to other vehicles, so they see no need to treat us as operators of potentially fast vehicles. This is a key mistake, and one that, in my view, gets unaware or novice cyclists injured or killed.

This issue of traffic engineers treating us as pedestrians is nicely illustrated in the examples you've shown from Google Maps: at none of those intersections is there a Give Way or Stop sign on the bikeway to alert cyclists to the potential danger at the intersection. Novice cyclists might easily have no idea that they were about to cross a road. In my view, this is unforgivable.

Unforgivable and unbelievable - how on earth could any intelligent person have designed that last example! I really don't know what goes through the heads of those responsible for designing these routes.

I've been talking in another thread about the Pennine Cycleway as it passes through Hebden Bridge. It is a national cycle route and yet they include a section which 99% of cyclists would find impossible to ride up and lethal to ride down! There is no warning sign at the top of the dangers of riding down it, despite the fact that it is a cobbled descent with gradients of 15-30% - bad enough in the dry, but horribly dangerous in wet conditions, especially when the cobbles are covered in leaves or ice patches later in the year. I have actually slipped just walking down it! I tried riding down it when I first got my bike and immediately realised that I'd made a big mistake. Panic braking had me going over the bars and I only saved myself by grabbing the handrail as I fell.

A safe route for cyclists ...?

 

[Ian Cooper]

I've been talking in another thread about the Pennine Cycleway as it passes through Hebden Bridge. It is a national cycle route and yet they include a section which 99% of cyclists would find impossible to ride up and lethal to ride down!... I have actually slipped just walking down it! I tried riding down it when I first got my bike and immediately realised that I'd made a big mistake. Panic braking had me going over the bars and I only saved myself by grabbing the handrail as I fell.

A safe route for cyclists ...?

Hey, at least there's some nice soft moss on the rock walls that you can bounce off as you go down. Maybe the traffic engineers reckoned that it would be like having airbags.

Knowing a little of how these things get built and approved for cycle use, it's more than likely that the local government had some sort of responsibility to get a certain mileage of bikeway installed to justify their budget, so they figured "Hey, the Pennine Way is a great walking path - let's just open this bit of it up for cyclists! What could be the harm?"

 

[Ian Cooper]

This is an interesting subject in itself, but well off the original topic. Is there any way for a moderator to split it off and put it somewhere more appropriate so we can keep discussing?

 

[ColinJ]

Knowing a little of how these things get built and approved for cycle use, it's more than likely that the local government had some sort of responsibility to get a certain mileage of bikeway installed to justify their budget, so they figured "Hey, the Pennine Way is a great walking path - let's just open this bit of it up for cyclists! What could be the harm?"

It is part of the Sustrans national route network and they should have known better! I'm emailing them to ask why they thought it was suitable for cyclists ...

(This section is actually 2 or 3 miles away from the local part of the Pennine Way footpath.)

 

[ColinJ]

This is an interesting subject in itself, but well off the original topic. Is there any way for a moderator to split it off and put it somewhere more appropriate so we can keep discussing?

I was thinking that myself ... I'll flag the thread and request that a mod does that for us. (Done!)

Thanks, mod person!