Southend Cycle Town - part 2

[ScumOfTheRoad]

There is a cracker of a picture on the 'Crap Cycling in Waltham Forest' blog of a shared pavement/cycle facility festooned with metal poles hlding up road signs, whilst of course the road is completely clear. Real  moment.

Not that I'm saying roads should have metal signs stuck in them - just that as a cyclist or pedestrian you are considered some lower form of life.

[Regulator]

Sounds like Southend has chosen the perfect time to put up more signs:

BBC News - Councils urged to remove unnecessary street signs
 

I hate to say it but I find myself agreeing with Porker Pickles.

There are too many signs and too much street furniture.  The Kensington experiment is working well, as is Seven Dials, and the shared space/naked streets experiments in places like Drachten and Mikkinga in the Netherlands have been roaring successes.

[Clandy]

I also agree with Mr Pickles, but I would extend his ideas to many road markings. In areas where there are no road markings motorists drive more carefully.

[nuttycyclist]

...
There are too many signs and too much street furniture.  The Kensington experiment is working well, as is Seven Dials, and the shared space/naked streets experiments in places like Drachten and Mikkinga in the Netherlands have been roaring successes.

Southend are putting in what they call shared space too 

Victoria Gateway - Downloads - Southend-on-Sea Borough Council

Whilst they always tell us that "all the information is on the website", I'm struggling to find anything on there other than an overview.   Comments from that say

The 'front door' of Southend needs a major overhaul to improve traffic
flow and improve the town's appearance to visitors. The roundabout in
front of the station is nearly 50 years old and can’t take any more traffic
at peak times.
The new layout aims to address these problems and also improve the
experience for pedestrians, cyclists and public transport users, without
having a significant impact on traffic. A new public space linking the
station with the town centre will also be created, replacing the existing
roundabout with a signal controlled junction.

I used to cycle through there daily at peak times, and it had hardly any congestion.   

The shared space is covered in lane markings and traffic lights.

They've "improved the town's appearance" by cutting down all the trees and digging up the grass.

[gordon taylor]

There is a cracker of a picture on the 'Crap Cycling in Waltham Forest' blog of a shared pavement/cycle facility festooned with metal poles hlding up road signs, whilst of course the road is completely clear. Real  moment.

Not that I'm saying roads should have metal signs stuck in them - just that as a cyclist or pedestrian you are considered some lower form of life.

I saw a 40kph sigh in the middle of the road at the entrance to a Swedish housing estate.
I wish I'd taken a photo. 

It enrages me when signs for motorists are placed on pavements or cycle routes. I think all pavements should be clear enough for a double buggy - the space allocated to the motor vehicle in towns is out of all proportion to the number of people using them.

[Clandy]

There is now a follow up story to the cyclist/girl incident online:

Cycle track will get new safety signs (From Echo)

[Clandy]

Today. As you can see not only is the filth getting worse but the cycle track is becoming damaged.













Oh, and I saw this idiot too:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/zdi4aIK3iRQ&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/zdi4aIK3iRQ&rel=1</a>

[rogerzilla]

He's been watching too many Lucas Brunelle videos but doesn't have the speed, the skill or the nerve to carry it off.

[Domestique]

I wonder if the oil is from a deep fat fryer?

[nuttycyclist]

....
Oh, and I saw this idiot too:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/zdi4aIK3iRQ&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/zdi4aIK3iRQ&rel=1</a>

But that's the type of behaviour that Advanced Stop Lines encourage.   Cyclists now believe that it's safer to get ahead of the stopped traffic, and where ASLs aren't painted will put themselves way ahead of the queue and proceed when it's clear 


I have had this argument in person with a few of these people. 

[montysboy]

does anyone know why the "look both ways" notices have been burnt off the cycle path opposite Crowstone Ave?




Cheers!


Iain

[nuttycyclist]

Maybe in response to the Safety Audit?

2.13 Problem
     ‘Look Both Ways’ markings at various locations. The ‘Look Both Ways’ road markings
     applied at various informal crossing points could encourage southbound pedestrians
     crossing from the central parking areas to stop within the carriageway and potentially
     conflict with motor traffic.

<photographs>

    Recommendation
    Remove markings for southbound pedestrians and replace with Diag. 1057 cycle logo
    on the cycle track, to better indicate to pedestrians that cyclists may be encountered.

[montysboy]

thanks.... no cycle logos have put put there, so bare tarmac prevails over plain English, daft! 



Iain

[nuttycyclist]

thanks.... no cycle logos have put put there, so bare tarmac prevails over plain English, daft! 



Iain

So we've got the Evening Echo reporting that the Council will be putting down more paint in order to make it safer, whilst in reality there is less paint there


I trust that we're in the short time period mid-work?

[Clandy]

Took a ride along the track, it seemed to look noticeably cleaner. The track is still stained, but it looked as if someone had had a go at cleaning the worst.

[Clandy]

Can anyone guess what happens when the emergency services <a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/_qWx0nbqYUI&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/_qWx0nbqYUI&rel=1</a>?

[Domestique]

Was it just my imagination, or was the seafront extra congested yesterday afternoon?

[Regulator]

Can anyone guess what happens when the emergency services <a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/_qWx0nbqYUI&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/_qWx0nbqYUI&rel=1</a>?

And the problem is?

If it were just a road, you'd still have vehicles pulling in and blocking your way.  They cleared the cycle path quickly enough afterwards.

[Clandy]

Can anyone guess what happens when the emergency services <a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/_qWx0nbqYUI&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/_qWx0nbqYUI&rel=1</a>?

And the problem is?

If it were just a road, you'd still have vehicles pulling in and blocking your way.  They cleared the cycle path quickly enough afterwards.

… and if you'd read my comment below the video...

[Regulator]

Can anyone guess what happens when the emergency services <a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/_qWx0nbqYUI&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/_qWx0nbqYUI&rel=1</a>?

And the problem is?

If it were just a road, you'd still have vehicles pulling in and blocking your way.  They cleared the cycle path quickly enough afterwards.

… and if you'd read my comment below the video...

Seriously?

I think you may be getting a bit fixated....

[Clandy]

A few minutes earlier I had passed a woman with two quite young children wobbling along with her. One of them actually said 'Mum I want to ride on the pavement' as I passed. That's why I turned around, to see where they were and that they were ok.
You will note I had already stopped ready for traffic to move over into the cycle track and for the emergency vehicles to pass.

[alexb]

Can anyone guess what happens when the emergency services need to get along western Esplanade in a hurry?

And the problem is?

If it were just a road, you'd still have vehicles pulling in and blocking your way.  They cleared the cycle path quickly enough afterwards.

… and if you'd read my comment below the video...

Seriously?

I think you may be getting a bit fixated....

Fixated?
There are 47 pages. I don't think there's any doubt about it. If I blogged about the various bits of my commute and how decisions there made no sense we'd have hundreds of pages just from me. It could have been so much better, but I bet Joe public on his BSO thinks it's great.

[Clandy]

Fixated?
There are 47 pages. I don't think there's any doubt about it. If I blogged about the various bits of my commute and how decisions there made no sense we'd have hundreds of pages just from me. It could have been so much better, but I bet Joe public on his BSO thinks it's great.

Perhaps if more cyclists hassled their local councils about poor cycle facilites/road layouts, things might be better.

Personally I think it is better to be 'fixated' than apathetic.

[Wendy]

Can anyone guess what happens when the emergency services <a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/_qWx0nbqYUI&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/_qWx0nbqYUI&rel=1</a>?

And the problem is?

If it were just a road, you'd still have vehicles pulling in and blocking your way.  They cleared the cycle path quickly enough afterwards.

+1 to Reg.

[nuttycyclist]

Can anyone guess what happens when the emergency services <a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/_qWx0nbqYUI&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/_qWx0nbqYUI&rel=1</a>?

And the problem is?

If it were just a road, you'd still have vehicles pulling in and blocking your way.  They cleared the cycle path quickly enough afterwards.

Yes, this is the case.    The issue here is that as clandy says on the youtube video, inexperienced cyclists may not be aware of the risk of traffic pulling off of the carriageway onto the dedicated path (it's not common for vehicles to bump up a kerb onto the pavement, but instead they pull over to the kerb to let the emergency services squeeze past).   If Joe Public is riding head down in the direction clandy was facing, there's a higher risk of a head on collision.

If the path wasn't two way, but only in the direction of traffic flow, then it would be much safer and when the cars pull in they will simply obstruct the cyclists' movement - which is fine.   Instead the behaviour of the drivers, often with panic in this situation, coupled with the inexperienced rider, could lead to head on collision.

Personally I don't have a problem with the situation as captured on video as clandy had stopped and all drivers calmly and safely pulled out of the emergency vehicles path and then cleared the path quickly afterwards.    However I can see what is worrying clandy and what might happen next time.