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PostPosted: Sun Nov 19, 2006 11:34 
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This letter appeared in the Manchester paper yesterday. I agree - cycle lanes have a nasty habit of just disappearing just at the tricky bit. But then it's because you cannot squeeze a pint into a half pint glass. :roll:


But - it's a target and any old paint job will do so long as they "meet this target" :roll:

In reality .. I think they would be better off in most instances - not bothering as it was really safer before as cyclist would adopt either secondary or primary within the traffic flow and drivers would not be as confused by all the paint. On narrow carriageways - quite dangerous for the motorists as they find themselves too close to the central line because they are not sure if they can straddle the empty cycle lane.
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A62 has the most ridiculous cycle lanes ever?
Pah! Nope .. that's Ambleside :banghead:

As for

Quote:


pedestrians getting in the way


How about dinging the bell a bit more :wink: Or perhaps if we do go down the "shared path" which, contrary to various myths abounding from computer keyboard "cyber space virtual travel from the 24/7 chatroom/blog addicts who cannot be riding up the Tourmalet if typing :wink: , Germany, Holland, Denmark and Sweden - all revered as "cyclotopia" :wink: - have these shared paths... and they f-f-f fine :yikes: people if they are copped in each other's share of the path :wink:

Buses in Manchester? My sisters down there tell me it's either too early or too late - with five descending on the same stop at the same time. They say it's "hell" at every bus stop :roll: Plus the waits. They prefer the car with its heater and its radio. They ain't too bothered about a traffic jam.. it's them leather seats as well! 8-)

But over all - fair points. Cycle lanes really need to be well maintained if provided as well as well designed and thought out.

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PostPosted: Sun Nov 19, 2006 12:50 
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Entire family were on the epic when the article this letter relates to appeared in the Bolton press.


The piece to which the above letter refers.
Quote:
More work needed on bike lanes’
From the The Bolton News, first published Friday 27th Oct 2006.

A LEADING lecturer at the University of Bolton is calling for transport bosses to create a cycling network to get people on their bikes.

Dr John Parkin, from the university's department of built environment, is urging council chiefs to stop painting cycle lanes on to Bolton's roads as his study shows they have no effect when it comes to the number of people using their bikes.

Dr Parkin, a keen cyclist said: "What keeps people in their cars? Is it that they are just so much more comfortable and require little effort?

"Issues that need to be addressed include comfort, the attractiveness of the journey, and importantly, more direct than the car alternative.

"What this research shows is that in terms of promoting cycling there is little we can do to the roads in terms of minor infrastructure works such as signing and road marking."

Last year Bolton Council earmarked £2.5 million to create 25 miles of cycle lanes linking Bury, Salford, Manchester and Chorley to encourage people to cycle to work.

Cycle lanes are already in place in all parts of the borough including Westhoughton, and on Moss Bank way, where two lanes were reduced to one to accommodate the lane.

In 2000 Bolton Council gave priority to cycle schemes over other road schemes.

But motorists who drive to work in Bolton said they would prefer the money to be spent elsewhere and said cycle lanes were under used.

As part of the study, Dr Parkin interviewed a sample group of workers from the University of Bolton, Botlon Council and the Royal Bolton Hospital.

He asked individuals within the group to think about the various stages of their journey to work and assess the possible hazards they might encounter on a bike.

Using video clips from cyclist's point of view, he asked the participants to assess the risks involved in different scenarios, including junctions and roundabouts with and without road markings for cyclists.

Dr Parkin said: "Off-road cycling was seen to offer a lower risk than cycling on the roads, but within the group of respondents there were very high levels of acceptability for both on and off-road situations on the basis of perceived risk."


Have plonked it on here because of the other letter about the cycle lanes being ill maintained :wink:

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PostPosted: Mon Nov 20, 2006 12:59 
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The problem is that the most dangerous sections are junctions and for these there is no benefit to the cyclist on the off-road path, in fact it is often worse.

It is neither good for cyclists nor pedestrians for them to share a path, as they go at vastly different speeds.


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PostPosted: Mon Nov 20, 2006 13:43 
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i like the way removing a lane from a two lane section has reduced accidents by (up to (what?!)) 43% on that section.... displacing the frustration to another section of the same road where accidents have gone up by 60%

i like the way they present this as showing how succesful the scheme has been :D


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PostPosted: Fri Dec 01, 2006 12:06 
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It's obvious to me that many cycle lanes are not there for cyclists - but for the political expedience of the local authority. No sane person even thinks that a 10 foot long lane is there to be used.

Another example: Try Meadowbank Road running from Rotherham to Sheffield. Nice big wide road, 40mph limit, big wide verges etc...
Then the cycle lane is painted on - Rotherham bound side only. 6 foot wide hatching and islands are put down the middle. The result is a narrow road, where the cyclists will die on their way home - unless Rotherham council know how to fit a cyclist and a 40 ton artic between those islands and the kerb at the same time?

I'm sure we could fill a forum with such examples.


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PostPosted: Fri Dec 01, 2006 22:55 
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There's a cyclist's web-site dedicated to barmy cycle lanes with photographs of council lunacy. Can anyone remember the address ?

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PostPosted: Fri Dec 01, 2006 23:51 
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Warrington Cycle Campaign


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PostPosted: Thu Dec 07, 2006 18:15 
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I occasionally get abuse for not using the cycle lane down Chelsea Embankment. It's full of crap and potholes, permanently (I can't think of anything you'd use it for apart from possibly testing Armadillos), you're at serious risk of pedestrians walking in front of you, and then it spits you out right into the most inappropriate part of the road, just under the wheels of motorists who are not expecting a cyclist to suddenly join them in the road. Designed either by a moron or by someone who hates cyclists...


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