At the end, near a B&Q superstore, a shared cycle and pedestrian path set off towards new housing south of Hengrove Way. Its start was hidden by parked vehicles:
The continuation of the path beyond those miscreants was also serving as a car park:
But that wasn't surprising. Cars, lorries and taxis regularly park on cycle paths in Bristol. It was only as I set off homewards and noticed, again, how tricky some of the barriers, crossings and shared paths were that the flash of insight came. It's so obvious it's hardly worth mentioning.
The fact is that cycling provision in English cities is designed for expert adult cyclists. The route I had been following used signposts to help me weave a way through busy streets, on, alongside and across some very busy roads. It took me through barriers that needed deft bike handling and it demanded careful attention to lots of conflicts with pedestrians, emerging driveways and motor vehicle traffic.
The booklet I was using lists the Malago Green Way route as Level 2 ("slightly more experienced cyclists"). Level 1 is for "all users including inexperienced or beginner cyclists" and there are two such routes included. Both of these include sections that few parents would be happy for children under 12 to use, and both would present problems for genuinely novice adults. I don't know if there are standards for judging such things, but as an ex-teacher and a father of five, that's my opinion.
Perhaps what the authors of the guide really mean is that these routes would be suitable for beginners with a more experienced guide who had scouted the routes in advance. That would make sense.
In the meantime, cycling to school remains rare - especially for primary pupils. Cycling for fun means taking children to off-road sites. The roads and highways are for confident and experienced adult cyclists. It's not surprising that a lot of children and less confident cyclists just use footpaths - without any awareness of traffic conventions or regulations.
The irony is that expert and confident cyclists have already learned to cope without cycle lanes, ASLs, shared pathways and toucan crossings. What I observe is that a lot of them ignore the specialised facilities and simply use "desire lines" that go from their A to their B with an optimum combination of efficiency and safety.
The courageous Council of the future will build cycle-only routes that enable primary school children to cycle to school without any contact with cars or lorries and without parental supervision. That's when the revolution will have taken place.
Perhaps if those laying out cycle facilities stood back and watched how experienced cyclists already use the roads we might see paint placed in better places.
ReplyDeleteSome cities have done this. I recall how radical the 1990 action in Southampton was considered, of painting a cycle lane for right turning cyclists in the centre of the main road was proved to be the right idea. At Bow in London, the multiple flaws in the position of the 'blue paint' has produced 2 deaths in under a month, and this is perhaps illustrative of the nadir in standards that many facilities are provided to.