Questioning a road plaaner about a proposed cycle lane (across the face of a 'T' junction with a dashed give way line at the end suggesting cycles should give way to passing traffic before a pinch point 
), he came up with the line "Not all cycle lanes are intended to be used, but are there to raise the awareness of drivers." 
Yes, I once had a conversation with the council planning dept about a stretch of road with crap cycle lanes on. The response was "The purpose of the cycle lanes there is to put the motor vehicles closer to the centre of the road, which encourages them to slow down past the school". So again, not for the actual use of cyclists.
I'm suspicious that that's also the reasoning for
this one, which is useless for cycling on account of serving as a car park for dog-emptiers, ending abruptly just before the top of the hill, and in autumn contains more slime than Ghostbusters 2. Naturally you get bullied for cycling outside the chutney zone in a way that never used to happen before the lane was painted.
The traffic lights at the junction are also interesting, being a relatively recent addition. The junction operated fine without signals for decades with all the traffic from the late lamented car factory. I'm convinced that their primary function is to hold a queueue of cars with their interminably long red period, in order to discourage speeding on the dual cabbageway.
