Good Cycling Facility of the Week: 14th November 2013
A cycle track crossing a side road, with priority.
Note the continuous surface of the cycle track, which is unbroken by any other road markings such as yellow lines. The cycle track also retains its elevation, which means that motor vehicles must mount the hump to cross.
Now whenever anybody tells you that cycle path priority isn't possible due to some mysterious DfT rules, point them at this photo!
Junction of Crowthorne Road and Swaledale, in Bracknell.
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Comments
Andrea Casalotti
14 November, 2013 - 12:25
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Good, but room for improvement
The turning angle into the side road is too wide; it needs to be 90 degrees.
Also, it seems it is a two-way cycle track. It would help putting a warning sign for motorists on the lamp-post. That is what Danes do.
Joe Costello
14 November, 2013 - 13:54
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You're absolutely right
You're absolutely right Andrea, there are details in this photo which fall short.
Our intention here is to show that cycle path priority can and does exist in the UK. Some people suggest that we can't progress with decent cycling infrastructure until the DfT has made changes to rules and regs, whereas this photo demonstrates that we can get a lot of it done under current rules.
Certainly, one of the main complaints about existing cycle paths in Britain is that they give way at every side road and driveway, but this isn't set in stone. It's a choice which designers are making, and this photo shows that it doesn't have to be that way.
Hesterkw
6 March, 2014 - 17:17
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Cyclists don't have to give
Cyclists don't have to give way at driveways afaik - drivers have permissive access, not right of way. The problem is the drivers don't know that, or don't care. Which is why an alert cyclist will slow down and half-expect it, even if they don't have to.
Part of the problem is not just the rules, but also the safety audit. If there is an expectation that drivers won't obey, or will be dangerously confused, it will still fail.
I would like to aim for Dutch-style infrastructure, but I think there also has to be an understanding that if you teleported the UK population into Holland now, and removed all the existing infrastructure users, there would be problems on the roads. Not insoluable ones, and not long term, but there is a culture which goes with the infrastructure.
There certainly are a lot of problems with designers not designing for cycling. But even those that are operate in a different framework to Dutch designers.
Fatbob
14 November, 2013 - 15:05
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Turning Angle
Absolutely agree Andrea but it's better than most - which means that it's better than 99% of UK infrastructure. Yes, it could be better still but it (at least) demolishes one common objection.