Those thick Red Route lines

cjcp

Apologies in advance if this is London-centric...



As most, if not all, of us will appreciate, those thick painted lines on roads can be a menace to bikes, particularly when the roads are wet, like today. Crossing them at anything less than head on from the side can be very tricky.

Before you enter the entrance to the bike lane off Upper or Lower Thames Street (directly opposite Southwark Bridge Road), you have to cross these red lines. This shouldn't be a problem for those coming off Southwark Bridge Road, but for those like me, who commute along Embankment and turn off at this point, you have to cross the red lines very much in line with the direction of travel, which ain't fun when you consider the traffic up your rear.

When travelling up Cannon Street, however, I noticed that pedestrians do not have to cross these lines at traffic lights. The same applies at the Gracechurch St/Fenchurch St junction.

There seems no legal need, therefore, for the red lines to continue. Why, therefore, do cyclists have to cross red lines to enter and exit the cycle lanes?

If anyone can shed any light on that point, I'd be grateful, but I'm going to drop an email to the Mayor's office about this. Whether it will do any good is another matter, but I feel something has to be said.

jonginge

Getting road planners to think more about two-wheeled road users would be nice:
Fewer painted lines in odd places
Not putting metal work on corners or at junction turns
Fining contractors that badly resurface roads after digging them up.

On the last point the approach to the turn into the bike lane on upper thames street is now pretty hazardous since the work done there. Boo

greg66_tri_v2.0

The lines are there to stop parking (or maybe stop stopping - not sure). You're not allowe to park on or between zig zags simply because there are zig zags there, so you don't need redlines as well. But at the entrance to the bike lane there isn't a restriction on stopping or parking just because there's a bike lane, so I'd guess they need the redlines.

I've seen very flat yellow lines that look like tape laid on the road. Maybe ask if that form of lining could be used at the entrance to the bike lane.

cjcp

The lines are there to stop parking (or maybe stop stopping - not sure). You're not allowe to park on or between zig zags simply because there are zig zags there, so you don't need redlines as well. But at the entrance to the bike lane there isn't a restriction on stopping or parking just because there's a bike lane, so I'd guess they need the redlines.

But there are no zig zags at the entrance/exit points on to the road at traffic lights for the pedestrians to hoppity skippity flop over and you can't park there.

I've seen very flat yellow lines that look like tape laid on the road. Maybe ask if that form of lining could be used at the entrance to the bike lane

Good thinking, Batman.

chuckcork

They could always do the lines on the kerb, painted perpendicular to the road in a series of " " " marks? Would result in less paint being applied, would be just as visible and less prone to being lost in the course of roadworks.

Less likely to upset cyclists getting caught in the "tram track" effect which is highly dangerous, particurlarly when they apply the paint down the middle of an already narrow cycle lane!

gradiric

Increasing trend for cutting zig-zag lines (on each side of zebra crossings) into the road, rather than just painting, is another irritation for cyclists.

Wrath Rob

Change your route and cycle of Southwark Bridge instead. You come along the Embankment from out west don't you? Try going south over Lambeth and then north over Southward. Or are you scared that I might scalp you :twisted:

SJLcp

I was trundling along southward bridge road a while back in the wet on my fixie along the double lines under the bridge and went to veer slightly to the right off the lines when my back wheel tramlined between the lines with the front wheel heading alarmingly over to the right and nearly under a truck - scared the life out of me

My experience is this happens more on a fixie because of the momentum in the transmission because the wheel is directly attached to spinning legs - the wheel loses grip much more easily than if you were freewheeling.

cjcp

Wrath Rob wrote:

Change your route and cycle of Southwark Bridge instead. You come along the Embankment from out west don't you? Try going south over Lambeth and then north over Southward. Or are you scared that I might scalp you :twisted:

Ah, the route of choice for the Chod Squad. Pace too much for you by the time you reach LB roundabout, eh? :twisted: