All entries for Friday 21 October 2005

Delineation

Writing about web page http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/estates/ct/programme/oa/transport/cycling/

There are now bicycle survey comments and suggestions on the web at link

You can use this blog to comment & debate the proposals. Email me if you want to start an entry and haven't yet got author access.

I'll kick things off by creating an entry about delineation. I'm rather skeptical about using white lines to mark off areas reserved for cycling from those reserved for walking.

Won't some pedestrians wander over to the cyclists' side, causing cyclists to get annoyed and possibly "buzz" them in retaliation? To avoid a pedestrian, a cyclist might have to cross into the pedestrian area, causing other pedestrians to feel aggrieved about cyclists encroaching on their territory. Except where the delineation is rather strong and the distance rather long, I rather think the best solution is for cyclists to moderate their speed according to the conditions. We can always ring our bells or call out "excuse me" or an ironic "Good Morning" whenever a gaggle of pedestrians is managing to block the whole path. It's only 250 metres between University and University House. Is it really much of a sacrifice to keep one's speed down at busy times?

As I regard attempts to build comprehensive traffic-free networks for cyclists as hopeless impractical in existing built up areas, I'm a strong believer in motorist/cyclist shared use. Motorists must moderate their speed, so that people aren't intimidated from cycling on the carriageway. In the few cases where cyclist/pedestrian shared use is a better idea than motorist/cyclist shared use, is too much to ask those using the faster means of transport to moderate their speed?

Also I don't see those interested in aesthetics letting someone paint white lines all over the place!

: 21 Oct 2005 12:06 |  Tags: White Lines |  Comments (13) |  Close comments |  Report a problem