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news
Lynton Road cycle path, Nottingham (via StreetView).jpg"Random" U-turn cycle lane in Nottingham criticised
Nottinghamshire County Council say cyclists benefit from a bizarre cycle lane which takes riders off the road for a quick U-turn right by a T-junction. Local cyclists have however branded the infrastructure ‘random’ and ‘confusing’.
The Nottingham Post reports on a two-metre long, semi-circular painted lane on Lynton Road at the junction with Bramcote Lane. The owner of the nearby Cycle Inn bike shop, Jamie Ireland, said he imagined that most people ignored it.
"I think random is the right word. A lot of the time these strange cycle lanes – and I know of about four or five – can cause more confusion than anything.
"You've got a cycle and pedestrian path on Bramcote Lane then finally you get a clearly defined cycle path and it doesn't seem to make any sense. It's absolutely ludicrous. People might be doing 25mph on the road and then suddenly they've got to flick onto the pavement and make a sharp turn."
Keith Chong, a resident of Lynton Road, said that people did use it however, adding that the road is often used by cyclists who are trying to avoid the busier Bramcote Avenue nearby.
"It's a bit silly really, but people do use it. When there are markings there people will follow them. It takes you back around like a dog tail. It sort of makes sense if you're turning right, but not if you're turning left."
Gary Wood, group manager for environment and highways at Nottinghamshire County Council, said the lane is intended to guide cyclists onto the pedestrian and cycle path on Bramcote Lane.
"Lynton Road forms part of the network of cycle routes in the Beeston area and is a signed route that links to the shared pedestrian and cycle route that runs east along the south side of Bramcote Lane/Chilwell Lane to Alderman White School.
"The section of the cycle route at the junction of Lynton Road and Bramcote Lane guides cyclists to cross Lynton Road to enable people to safely access the shared use cycle route on the south side of Bramcote Lane. Both Lynton Road and the cycle route at its junction are used by cyclists who see its benefits."
Nottingham cycle infrastructure has been criticised on a number of occasions recently with some people resorting to graffiti to get their point across.
In April, a bike lane on Haydn Road, Sherwood, which runs alongside car parking bays was stencilled with an impression of a car door and the words ‘door lane,’ while a month earlier a controversial bike route near tramlines on Chilwell High Road was marked with the words ‘unsafe bike lane’.
Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.
Latest Comments
- Clem Fandango 1 sec ago
Branching out on the comments (which are getting a bit thorny) I see. I'll just leaf this here.
- Haitchaitch 19 min 51 sec ago
I concur that rigid bollards can be a danger having broken a couple of ribs earlier this year in a shared cycle lane with central bollards telling...
- quiff 1 hour 17 min ago
Nope, it's really just F1. And to really get their attention, they're selling it in colours called Formula Red and Formula Blue...
- quiff 1 hour 32 min ago
Definitely recognise this! I'm 41 with a 5 year old and am now starting to see the possibility of riding more again, but Strava tells me I have...
- brooksby 2 hours 6 min ago
"No, it's OK, really", replies cycling.
- FionaJJ 3 hours 33 min ago
For the purposes of investment then cycling for transport, that also keeps/get you fit should be prioritised. However, there's an argument that if...
- KDee 3 hours 36 min ago
Yeah, that fits. Already seen the helmets, shoes etc. rebrand as Trek. Scott are pretty similar with their Scott and Syncros branding.
- eburtthebike 3 hours 54 min ago
Yes, where are the same figures for drivers, Telegraph?
- Pub bike 4 hours 42 min ago
It doesn't. Here are a few more helpful suggestions to make society just work better:...
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20 comments
It's designed by a driver to take bicycles out of the way, i.e. for the 'convenience' of drivers. It adds both inconvenience and danger for cyclists (as has been pointed out by others here).
Oh come on, it's just SHIT.
It's not just shit, it's comical AND shit.
Looks like a lot of the poorly designed cycle infrastructure in the UK, making cycling more difficult as to not inconvenience cars.
There is a strange U-turn next to a pedestrain crossing between Wandsworth and Putney in London. If you join the raised cycle path just before the crossing, it takes you across the road then back the other way (with barroer to stop you doing anything else). I can't think of a reason for this: https://goo.gl/maps/KoiNoJu4xfq
My guess is that it is for cyclists using Fawe Park Road (where the white van is coming from)
so that they can turn right easily, but it is kind of overkill really.
Yep, and it's easy until after the final right turn where there's an 'interesting' merge of white line indicating a mandatory cycle lane with one, plus hatching, indicating a zone vehicles should not enter. Followed immediately by some parking bays. Just what the "less confident" rider the infra is aimed at needs. Not.
If it is supposed to help cyclist turning right onto the pavement then presumably it isn't finished. The bit that is missing is a more formalised crossing for bikes. this is the only way that this design could be made to work.
But in reality this sort of bodge is just a waste of money. Either the vehicle traffic levels are high enough to require a proper crossing or they are low enough that the whole thing is unneccessary.
Whenever I see cycling infrastructure/lanes in other countries, it always seems to be reasonably well designed. Why are we incapable of doing so in this country?
And this is more sensible that using a 1.5m strip of pavement, moving the road onto it, making space for a right turn cycle lane in the cantre, plus a refuge for pedestrians crossing the 2 lanes. That said 1/4 litre of paint cost less I guess....
I'm with WillRod here - I don't think it was designed with the best of intention, I think it was a dumb idea from someone who thinks cyclists should be cowed out of the way of motor vehicles, even if it makes their journey slower and more dangerous.
"People might be doing 25mph on the road and then suddenly they've got to flick onto the pavement"
Doing 25mph three metres from a 'Give Way' T-junction with limited visibility (at least to the left). This must be one of the benefits of disc brakes!
I don't think Nottingham are worse than any other Local Authority for introducing stupid ideas with the best of intentions.
Unfortunately many of these things are created on an ad-hoc basis to deal with existing junctions. As such, people can't rely on learned behaviour to deal with them (not that they always do anyway). I'd really rather see money being spent on making the road safer for all road users, rather than finding ways to get cyclists off the roads.
At least they have dropped the kerb- plenty of places where a so called cycle path goes onto the pavement and you have a vertical kerbstone to negotiate.
I can see why they thought it would be a good idea.
It means cyclists turning right to join the cycle path dont block cars at the junction.
The problem, is that it just inconveniences the cyclist by making them cross two lanes (Ie whole road) rather than just one lane.
Yet more cycling infrastructure that is basically designed to make it easier for cars rather than for cyclists.
I think it does more than inconvenience them. When you are waiting at the end of the lane to cross, you no longer have a single lane of traffic to consider, you have 2. And allied to that, the traffic turning into the road would be in front of you, directly in your field of vision. In this new improved version, you have traffic turning right into the road coming from behind and over your shoulder.
That is what I meant, although I could have written it more clearly!
To play Devil's advocate, it could be said that the turning right onto the cycle path scenario does make some sense in that cyclists making such a right turn from the centre of the road are going to be stopping a couple of metres short of the stop line and that may leave them vulnerable to being shunted from behind as other traffic might not be anticipating that manoeuvre.
If a car cant stop for something directly in front of them, they shouldnt be driving! People stop cars in the middle of the road every day seemily for no reason, and cars following tend to stop in time.
Perhaps there should be a traffic island in the junction for the cyclist to pull onto as a refuge before they cross the other lane.
Not saying it's brilliant design, haven't seen it for real myself, just trying to offer a possible explanation of what was going through the designer's mind. As for cars running into the back of other cars, maybe a day trip to your nearest busy roundabout....
"It sort of makes sense if you're turning right"
Really?