Author Topic: Southend Cycle Town - part 2  (Read 237340 times)

Re: Southend Cycle Town - part 2
« Reply #1225 on: 05 December, 2014, 07:26:02 pm »
Cycle Lane Kerb 'is a menace'.
 ::-)

http://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/11646809.Ronald_s_plea_to_council_after_wife_s_serious_fall/


We don't use the cycle path at that end of the seafront as we don't feel it's safe enough with car doors being thrown open by inconsiderate people

Re: Southend Cycle Town - part 2
« Reply #1226 on: 07 December, 2014, 09:19:30 am »
Cycle Lane Kerb 'is a menace'.
 ::-)

http://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/11646809.Ronald_s_plea_to_council_after_wife_s_serious_fall/


We don't use the cycle path at that end of the seafront as we don't feel it's safe enough with car doors being thrown open by inconsiderate people

I know the area you mean. Not nice.
It was suggested to the council to have the parking in the center of the road rather than against the cycle path, but you know the rest.

Re: Southend Cycle Town - part 2
« Reply #1227 on: 22 December, 2014, 10:51:18 am »
I read that story (following your link on Twitter). The kerb has a big white line and the cycle path is green, contrasting with other road surfaces.
Thus concealing the trip hazard itself by disguising it as a lane marking.
Quote
Old ladies will break their hips when they trip and fall but I don't see how this could have been prevented.
Perhaps by not installing the hazard in the first place.

And it is not only old ladies that come a cropper on this sort of nonsense - see this recent example from Brigton:
http://m.theargus.co.uk/news/11680082._Death_trap__cycle_lane_claims_fourth_victim/?ref=mr

Re: Southend Cycle Town - part 2
« Reply #1228 on: 18 January, 2015, 06:17:03 pm »
The Tesco roundabout is being revamped. During this revamping they've put a light pole in the middle of the shared path on Nestuda Way, just by the Strawberry Field pub, also the verges and tarmac are chewed up by heavy works vehicles, and removed the pedestrian/cycle crossing lights on Thanet Grange.
To cross Thanet Grange now you have to walk/cycle to the roundabout where there is a ramp, cross to a central reservation, and finally cross again to the other side. If a vehicle is waiting at the roundabout you're stuck! It doesn't look like the crossing removal is temporary either as they've loosely laid kerb stones on one side.

http://goo.gl/maps/fJM01

Re: Southend Cycle Town - part 2
« Reply #1229 on: 20 February, 2016, 10:50:33 am »
http://southendnewsnetwork.com/news/dogwalkers/

Should go down well with most of the locals.

PaulF

  • "World's Scariest Barman"
  • It's only impossible if you stop to think about it
Re: Southend Cycle Town - part 2
« Reply #1230 on: 20 February, 2016, 11:19:15 am »

Re: Southend Cycle Town - part 2
« Reply #1231 on: 20 February, 2016, 11:39:23 am »
Quote
‘We asked 2500 regular Southend pedestrians if they felt positively about treading in dog mess on pavements, and 99.3% of the responses were ‘no’.

Not a leading question then? What were the responses of regular Southend cyclists when asked if they felt positively about cycling through dog shit and having it sprayed up their back or into their face?

And who were the 0.7% who enjoyed treading in dog shit?  :o
Quote from: tiermat
that's not science, it's semantics.

Re: Southend Cycle Town - part 2
« Reply #1232 on: 20 February, 2016, 12:02:07 pm »
Quote
‘We asked 2500 regular Southend pedestrians if they felt positively about treading in dog mess on pavements, and 99.3% of the responses were ‘no’.

Not a leading question then? What were the responses of regular Southend cyclists when asked if they felt positively about cycling through dog shit and having it sprayed up their back or into their face?

And who were the 0.7% who enjoyed treading in dog shit?  :o

;)

Pancho

  • لَا أَعْبُدُ مَا تَعْبُدُونَ
Re: Southend Cycle Town - part 2
« Reply #1233 on: 20 February, 2016, 12:36:19 pm »
My flabber was just stating to ghast when I realised it was a joke.

Quote
We asked Mr Pinch if the needs of local cyclists were being taken into consideration by the scheme. He said: ‘Cyclists in our town should be able to share their space with dog walkers without any safety issues – most dogs love bikes anyway. Also, any cyclist who encounters a freshly dispatched collection of canine bum nuggets is more than welcome to pick them up and take them home for their own garden to ‘sweeten the deal.’

spindrift

Re: Southend Cycle Town - part 2
« Reply #1234 on: 20 February, 2016, 02:59:33 pm »
I feel like going round and doing Mr Pinch a massive favour in his front garden.

Re: Southend Cycle Town - part 2
« Reply #1235 on: 02 September, 2021, 12:56:19 pm »
Thread resurrection!

After this debacle I walked away from campaigning for better conditions for cyclists and refuse to get involved again.  The roads are fine and everything else is worse.  However this little nugget has been forwarded to me and crossed my radar.  https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/19535220.did-cycle-lane-designers-canford-bottom-roundabout-/ 

I haven't been there to see it in person nor do I intend to make a trip to see it (back in the Southend days I frequently rode the motorbike over the country to examine the examples Southend were touting as good examples, then responding to them saying that what they were building did NOT match in any way shape or form).


Two things jumped out at me, one is that apparently Dorset Councils gave a statement on the inaccurate news reports
Quote
Articles claim: The cycle lane on Wimborne Road West is the widest in the country

This is incorrect: The cycle lane on Leigh Road is bi-directional (i.e. it is for two-way cycling). Highways standard is that two-way cycle tracks should be between 3m and 4m wide. The width of the two-way lane on Leigh Road is 3.5m (11ft 4in) and clearly meets relevant standards. There are many other two-way cycle lanes of this width across the UK.

This is exactly what we repeatedly told Southend Council when they presented the seafront track to the cycling forum, and they refused to listen saying that the "2m to 2.5m" was fine for a two way cycle path - I suppose that as they'd already built it before presenting us the plans they didn't want the cost and hassle of ripping it out and redesigning the seafront.   (I'll ignore the fact that we worked with them before this was designed and collaboratively came up with three much better options for them to choose between.)


Also, what jumped out at me, is that if this is a two way lane I don't think I'd fancy trying to cycle between oncoming traffic and cyclists whilst protected only by what looks like a line of magic paint.  The small kerb in Southend gave no protection.  And at night... surely oncoming headlights is just going to be a nightmare and confusion.

Re: Southend Cycle Town - part 2
« Reply #1236 on: 02 September, 2021, 11:22:16 pm »
Thought this location would be Manchester or Bristol or similar. It’s not.

Re: Southend Cycle Town - part 2
« Reply #1237 on: 03 September, 2021, 04:40:06 pm »
As I just posted in https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=120937.msg2655803#msg2655803


The cycle lane outside that school featured in the southend cycle town thread. 

At one point (from memory, although I believe I documented it) it is 40cm wide. 

Edit to add a linky

At another point it stops for a bus stop, trapping cyclists behind the waiting bus as they cannot merge easily into the flow of traffic whereas before the lane was painted it was easy to flow with the traffic and have the overtaking vehicle behind give way to the cyclist they wanted to overtake when safe.  As per a dual carriageway the lane has given priority to the cars flowing in their lane and taken priority away from the cyclist in their lane.

I took that road off of my commuting route as pre-cycle lane cars waited behind me and it was pleasant, but post cycle lane cars blasted past as we each had individual lanes.  The worst was when bus drivers overtook at 30mph as the cyclist was not only squeezed between the parked cars and the traffic lane, but the wind blast from the bus slipstream knocked the cyclist off balance.   There is a campaign running to give wide passes, the cycle lane here undermines that as the large vehicles are passing with less than six inches of clearance.



How much of this increase in cycling has been down to the school, and how much to do with the green paint on the road outside?

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Southend Cycle Town - part 2
« Reply #1238 on: 03 September, 2021, 05:47:33 pm »
It makes far more sense to talk about in this thread, so I've deleted the other one. I only started it cos I thought it was funny to think about "the Wowbagger effect".
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.