Controversial cycle lane wands go viral as furious residents lash out at "blocked" driveways, but local cyclist suggests outrage "overblown" and bike lane bollards only necessary because drivers park in it

In the past week a cycle lane in the Dorset seaside town of Poole made national newspaper headlines after upset locals claimed they had been "blocked" in their driveways by wands installed to segregate the route from traffic. However, the council says it will create a safer environment for people using it, preventing drivers from blocking the bike lane with parked cars, and others from the town have questioned the "overblown" outrage.

The Daily Mail, Telegraph and GB News all highlighted the situation on Wimborne Road last week, the local paper the Daily Echo having heard from furious residents outraged at the cycle lane wands appearing.

One resident, 44-year-old Samantha Clarke, told the local press on-street parking was removed to make way for the cycling infrastructure and said, "It's so much more difficult, there's no turning any more — you have to go in in a straight line".

Another, Debbie Woodcocks, called the wands "ridiculous", said they are "doing more harm than good" and "you can't just reverse out fast any more".

"Some can't get out of their driveway," she claimed. "It's bad enough cycle lanes have been put there. Trying to reverse out now takes a lot longer and it's a lot harder. You can't just reverse out fast any more, the council has made it more difficult now."

Much of the discussion on social media too has centred around the complaints of some residents opposed to the cycle lane. However, others have pointed out that in some cases the properties which have been "blocked" do not have a dropped kerb and so residents would have to drive illegally across the pavement to park in front of their property anyway, raising the question of if their 'driveway' can be blocked if it requires an illegal manoeuvre to access it?

Another point worth mentioning that has not received as much air time as the complaints, is the issue that led to the wands being installed in the first place. 

As Andy Hadley, cabinet member for roads and cycle lanes at BCP Council, said in his response to the backlash, part of thinking is to prevent drivers from blocking it by parking their cars in the bike lane.

"We are committed to creating safe, sustainable and active ways for people, including schoolchildren, to travel locally to and from Poole town centre along this busy road," he said. "To encourage people to cycle they must feel confident that they are safe. These wands are intended to give them that confidence, by alerting both people cycling and those driving vehicles to the presence of the cycle route, affording a degree of separation from moving traffic and preventing vehicles from blocking the cycle lane."

He did however also accept that in certain locations where it had created "most difficulty" the council would "listen to feedback" and "adjust the positions of wands to ensure continued property access".

"The team have attempted to balance maintaining access to driveways with protecting the cycle route, but have listened to feedback from residents and acknowledge that a few traffic wands have been installed in locations that impact informal access to properties," he told the local press. "In locations where this creates the most difficulty, we are looking at adjusting the positions of the wands to ensure continued property access."

One local cyclist who uploads videos to YouTube under the Dorset Safer Roads channel asked if the reaction and outrage had been "overblown" and shared first-person footage of them using the full route. "I would have no problems getting a car off any of these drives even the illegal ones without dropped kerbs," they suggested.

When asked for an assessment of the infrastructure from a cyclist's perspective, they told us: "It feels fine, it had an issue with people parking in it so they only have themselves to blame for the bollards. As with so much of the network all over the country it feels isolated. The other issue is people using their gardens as driveways without dropped kerbs."

They also point out the national newspaper articles "talk about people reversing [off their drives] which goes against the Highway Code". Rule 201 of the Highway Code states: "When using a driveway, reverse in and drive out if you can."

The issue of parking in the bike lane has apparently not gone away despite the intention of installing the wands, one poster in the BH Active Travel group on Facebook reporting on Friday that they have "given up" using the cycling infrastructure.

"That's it, I've given up, have been using the cycle infrastructure in Wimborne Road at least once a day every day," they explained. "Just cycled down to Poole. Three cars parked in cycle lane in spite of the wands, two cars pulling out of side roads, bonnets across the cycle lane. It's the middle of the lane for me in future. It's safer!"

Another social media post that got plenty of attention asked: "Wimborne Road wands… what's all the fuss about, folk?" Sandi Jones went on to say the issue had "gone national", but questioned what is different about the wands than "most other streets in Poole where instead of 2ft high plastic wands residents have to deal with solid metal cars parked either side of their drives"?

A Liberal Democrat local councillor for BCP Alderney and Bourne Valley, Cllr Ade Chapmanlaw, has also addressed the cycle lane wands and said "it feels like some newspapers are trying to create vitriol for clicks".

One part of the story that BCP has admitted it got wrong and apologised for is "inaccurate" letters about dropped kerbs that were sent to residents. Ms Clarke said she was "promised" one and applied for planning permission.

"Eventually I got a letter from them saying 'no, you can't have them any more, we're putting the cycle lanes there instead'," she told the Daily Echo. "I paid £100 for the planning but haven't got that back a year on. And they took the parking away on the road to put the cycle lanes in."

Another added: "Residents here also don't have a dropped kerb despite being told before that they would put a dropped kerb in. I have all the letters for it."

A BCP spokesperson apologised for "inaccurate" letters that went out and said residents would be able to reclaim their money.

"We sincerely apologise for sending inaccurate letters to residents on Wimborne Road and for raising expectations," the council said. "The letters lacked clarity on the planning and highways permissions required to support the installation of dropped kerbs. Furthermore, these permissions could not be attained in the timeframes outlined in the letter. We understand how frustrating and confusing this must have been.

"The offer to adjust kerbing should only have been offered to a handful of households whose properties were within the planned kerbing alterations being undertaken as part of improvement work. 

"We have contacted the residents who had responded to the letter, apologising for our error, and offered a refund to those who wanted to withdraw their application. Any residents with outstanding applications for planning or highways permissions associated with this letter and who now wish to withdraw their application can contact transformingtravel [at] bcpcouncil.gov.uk for a refund."