After the resurfacing of East Preston St, another painted-on bike lane has been added...
...with a nice wiggle in it, creating a mountain of conflict.
https://www.blipfoto.com/entry/2235856867576252840
Thanks to WC for the blog.
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Infrastructure
Bike lane wiggle - E. Preston St.
(15 posts)-
Posted 8 years ago #
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Would you say that wiggle is less than 30 metres? Looks like it to me. "Cycling by Design" at 5.1.4 says that if the gap between parking bays is less than 30 metres, the cyclelane should not be returned to the kerbside.
Posted 8 years ago # -
Cycling by Design at 5.1.4 also says, if I'm understanding right, that the taper should be 1 in 10 - so an angle of less than 6 degrees between the bike lane and the pavement during the wiggly bit).
Looks far closer to an angle of 45 degrees to me, which is 1 in 1.
EDIT: Incidentally, a taper of 1 in 10 is only possible if the gap between parking bays is 40m, if the bike lane is normally 2m - I think it's normally larger.
Posted 8 years ago # -
Ha, this is on my route to the pool every morning. Possibly I've become jaded but I don't think I even really "noticed" the wiggle, just ignored it and proceeded straight on.
As for the rest of the lane there is an (inadequate) buffer zone between the cars and the lane; though riding on the edge of the lane immediately to the left of the dashed lines would usually give sufficient clearance. This street is plenty wide and could have had a parking-protected lane with no trouble.
Do love the new surface though, and it seems to have survived longer than 2 weeks (unlike the previous shoddy effort).
Posted 8 years ago # -
A car waiting to exit Oxford St. had nosed into the lane last time I went past.
I went kept straight on instead of following the lane and making the driver think I was turning left.
(Lovely photo of it!)
Posted 8 years ago # -
It's an advisory lane, you don't have to use it.
Posted 8 years ago # -
It's an advisory lane, you don't have to use it.
Yes - I think most people here will know that. But what about new/less confident cyclists? It might only take one bad experience on your first time commuting by bike to make it your last time too. And what about drivers, following behind cyclists? They will probably be expecting cyclists to follow the bike lane, which could cause conflict.
Posted 8 years ago # -
My main fear is cars waiting at the junction pulling out on cyclists who look like they're turning left - even in good visibility, they might not notice the lane. There's lots of issues with it.
On a personal level I think my main fear would be "get in the cycle lane" abuse but over a short flat stretch like that it's probably not so likely.
Posted 8 years ago # -
If I was one of the folk who did the surfacing I'd be raging at the line planners/markers who've made such a mess.
Posted 8 years ago # -
It seems like they were just painting around red chip put down during surfacing.
Posted 8 years ago # -
Don't you love modern art!
Posted 8 years ago # -
I thought wilmington's cow had taken his ball home again over possible pedantry/ stereotyping/moaning on forum and here he is under another guise posting photos and everything
Posted 8 years ago # -
From council engineer:
"I can advise that maintaining a straight cycle route through the junction, as per your suggestion, would have required the junction to be altered to bring the give way line out
to the inside edge of the cycle lane. This would have required alterations to the kerb lines, footways and road drainage, and also to the raised entry table on Oxford Street, resulting in significant additional cost. The promotion of a re-determination order’ and amendments to the existing yellow lines Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) would also be required.The Council’s Traffic Operations section advised that, in order to make any amendments to the existing TRO, a report would have to be made to the Council’s Transport and Environment Committee involving consultations with various public bodies and the advertising of the proposal to the public. This process can take up to 12 months to conclude, and longer if any objections are raised. Due to public pressure regarding the condition of East Preston Street, this option was not considered viable at this time.
I can confirm that prior to the works commencing, consultations were carried out with various sections within the Council regarding the introduction of a new cycle lane in the eastbound carriageway. The Traffic Signs Manual clearly states that for advisory cycle lanes, angles between the line and the kerb of 30 to 45 degrees are considered adequate, and it is normal practice to return the cycle lane to the kerb edge as designed. There will still be the option of amending the cycle lane to go straight ahead in the future, should the relevant funding become available for junction alteration.
I hope this answers your questions, however should you require any further information please do not hesitate to contact me directly."
Posted 8 years ago # -
It would have been better to break the cycle lane across the junction i.e. not have a cycle lane in front of the junction at all.
What's there now is an abomination.
Posted 8 years ago #
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