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Britain's BIGGEST bike lane: 'Shambolic' 11ft 2in-wide cycle path is larger than 9ft 5in road lane it runs next to - and forces drivers to pull over to avoid a CRASH

Iride01 

So what's your point? Trolling? I'll bite.

Is the bike lane a one way? If not, then it's not wider than the lane for cars. It just lacks a painted centerline.

work4bike

I read some stories on this after seeing this thread and I see that this has caused a lot of anger in that community and part of it is understood, especially when cyclists still use the road and cause drivers to slow down or move over. Apparently some cars have been hit by the large mirrors of some trucks (lorries).

I'm not sure of the OP's intent, but I found that interesting.

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work4bike

BTW, I also noticed it's not physically larger, but in comparison to bike size vs vehicle size, it is larger, relatively speaking, especially since the roadway is two way, so one lane is only 9'5". I was assuming it's a two-way bike lane.

livedarklions

So the design flaw seems obvious--the motor vehicle lanes are narrower than British standards, and from the standpoint of the cyclist, probably make the bike lane less safe because of the likelihood of a car or truck swerving into the bike lane to avoid a head-on with oncoming motor vehicle traffic.

There appears to be a rather wide walk lane/sidewalk on the left side of the picture. Some tinkering with the dimensions of all of the lanes should solve most if not all of the problem.

genec

My only comment is those cement things on the left, in the white stripe, should be a contrasting color... so cyclists are keenly aware they exist.

unterhausen

They probably need to put up physical barriers. And putting a line down the middle would make it more clear that it's two-way.

Equality makes people mad if they previously were on top

livedarklions

It's simplistic to blame this on a psychological reaction to equality. Those mv lanes are simply too narrow for a truck route and that's endangering everyone.. The article also mentions obstructions in the bike lane. Don't know what's meant by that, but it sounds like this whole thing is a botch that cyclists and drivers dislike.
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SurferRosa

I would take the lane anyway.

gregf83 

The mV lanes look the same size as other roads in the area. They’re used to driving on narrower lanes.

livedarklions

That's not what the article indicates. They're about two feet narrower than normal.

gregf83 

I just looked on google streetview for that town and it seems they have a lot of roads narrower than what I’m used to.

epnnf

If it makes cars mad @ us (cyclists) maybe its not a good thing

Troul 

if paved bicycle routes had a means for routing to destinations that end up to places that motored vehicles also go to, the logic of being mad at cyclists for using the road over the paved path would make sense. 99% of the "paved" bicycle routes I've used locally are typically short, unkept, poorly marked, contain obstacles in the way (bollards, signs, cones, utility vehicles parked, tires from cars) all to which encourages the use of the roads.

njkayaker

No one appears to be complaining about dedicated bicycle lanes. Nor do they appear to be complaining about wide bicycle lanes.

This particular lane (which appears to be very unusual) is much wider than it needs to be.

Your interpretation of "equality" isn't the only interpretation possible. For this odd instance, it doesn't seem to be the best interpretation either.

How many bicycles are 6 feet wide?

njkayaker

Being "used to driving on narrow lanes" isn't a good reason to have these lanes be so narrow.

Cyclists are used to riding in much more narrower lanes.

There doesn't seem to be any good reason to have the bicycle lane be as absurdly wide as it is here.

So what? There really isn't any way to make the lanes here wider (there's no reason for the narrow lanes in the original picture).

Narrow lanes often have lower speed limits too.

905

We certainly are. (I live over here, though not in Dorset, else I'd go have a look at that sucker.) You should see the country lanes I regularly cycle on – everybody takes a big breath in when passing and hopes for the best.

Flyash

There is no shortage of cycle highways now in Australia. Slowly becoming the norm.

ExPatTyke

Unfortunately this is another clickbait item which was carried by several news outlets amongst the UK's gutter press. The articles were used - yet again - to whip up anti cycling feeling.

The local council have issued a statement clarifying and refuting the claims made in the articles: -

https://news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/20...rne-road-west/

livedarklions

Good catch! The OP article really is a bit of a hit piece. I'm kicking myself a bit as I didn't spot the obvious zoom lens perspective loss trick used in the photos to make the cars appear crammed in the lane. There's actually quite a bit of distance between them and the edge of the road.

Biggest trick is to make it look like the bike lane is one-way. That's actually a very normal width for a two-way bike lane, which that is.

rich110

The press don't really care about truth, they care about clicks.

If you look on streetview most of the new width for the cycle lane was found by removing the bit of grass that separated the pavement from the road.