On Yer Bike

Ask cyclists what they think, and you’ll get at least three contradictory opinions. That’s not because we’re contrary, but because people cycle for such very different reasons.

Some slow and very young cyclists actually like ‘shared-use facilities’ (on-pavement cycle paths). For them, cycle lanes on pavements are the difference between pootling along on two wheels and not actually cycling at all. Most experienced cyclists, however, want roads that are safe for all, leaving the pavements for the pedestrians.

Take the one nearest me. It’s a prize-winning design on the pavement, opposite the Regal in Cowley Road. The pavement is quite wide, and on its crumbling surface you can just about make out the remains of some 1980s-era white painted lines, and a decidedly mutilated cyclist logo.

Cyclists are always up in arms about being badly done by, but it is, in fact, clear that the person who created this ‘facility’ hated cyclists and bus users in equal measure.

The decrepit cycle lane wiggles directly through a bus stop, separating the bus shelter from where the bus stops at the edge of the road. The lane is cunningly painted adjacent to the road so as to maximize the likelihood of a cyclist–bus passenger collision.

The sort of cyclist who’d use such a scrap of lane is precisely the sort who won’t be looking out for alighting passengers. And how many bus passengers would think they needed to look carefully in both directions as they stepped off the bus … into the middle of a bike lane?

Elsewhere, once risible shared-use facilities are actually improving. The problems with shared-use facilities have a common cause: pavements are meant for pedestrians, not cyclists.

Marking out territories on a pavement (as on a road) tends to make us territorial, naturally. I’ll wager that most cycle–pedestrian conflict arises in areas where one or other user think they have the sole right to exist. Poorly designed on-pavement lanes may be worse than simply allowing slow cyclists to share the pavement with walkers.

On-pavement lanes tend to go up and down dramatically as they cross driveway accesses. Imagine cars having to use a road that is effectively a roller-coaster!

The gravest danger with cycle lanes on pavements is conflict where they cross over driveways and side-roads.

I am inordinately pleased to report that the practice of cycle lanes stopping and starting every five metres to give cars priority, seems to be giving way to the much more sensible practice of making cycle lanes continuous, and requiring cars that are crossing the lane to give way to cyclists, as on Marston Road.

These are small mercies.

And how are you getting on in the snow? With pavements and roads both being cleared into the gutters, cycle lanes on and off the road have been the most lethal routes of all this past week. Hey, Mr Gritter: Spare a handful for the cyclists, please!