CS7 Madness
monkimark
Posts: 1,928
I've been commuting up and down the strip of blue paint that TfL refer to as cycle superhighway 7 for a few months now and wondering about a strange little feature at the junction of Kennington park Place and Kennington Park Road https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=kennington+park+road&hl=en&ll=51.485779,-0.108565&spn=0.000013,0.008229&sll=51.48931,-0.08819&sspn=0.481417,1.053314&hnear=Kennington+Park+Rd&t=m&z=17&layer=c&cbll=51.485699,-0.108656&panoid=Fq7IC42u4QMEe_vphgxPbw&cbp=12,10.63,,0,16.19
On both sides, just before the traffic lights, there is a small bit of pavement (maybe 5m long) with a dropped kerb and CS7 written on it. It's clearly some kind of helpful feature for cyclists but I can't see what I'm meant to do.
Is it encouraging me to mount the pavement to go round the lights when they're on red? If so I presumably have to dismount once I get off the small cycle lane bit anyway so it serves no purpose.
Heading south is even stranger - there's the same dropped kerb bit, then footpath then a toucan crossing, then footpath again before you can get back onto the road.
I have to cycle up the marked cycle lane bit of footpath, then walk along the regular footpath, cycle across the toucan crossing, walk along a bit more footpath and finally get back on the bioke and carry on down the main cycle lane.
What are people thinking when the design these things?
On both sides, just before the traffic lights, there is a small bit of pavement (maybe 5m long) with a dropped kerb and CS7 written on it. It's clearly some kind of helpful feature for cyclists but I can't see what I'm meant to do.
Is it encouraging me to mount the pavement to go round the lights when they're on red? If so I presumably have to dismount once I get off the small cycle lane bit anyway so it serves no purpose.
Heading south is even stranger - there's the same dropped kerb bit, then footpath then a toucan crossing, then footpath again before you can get back onto the road.
I have to cycle up the marked cycle lane bit of footpath, then walk along the regular footpath, cycle across the toucan crossing, walk along a bit more footpath and finally get back on the bioke and carry on down the main cycle lane.
What are people thinking when the design these things?
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Comments
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yeah that's bizarre, I've not noticed that on the CS3 and CS8 bits that I use.
the pavement narrows a fair bit as you go up onto it there so it's bloody pointless!! Probably cost 5 grand to put in0 -
On the southbound side there used to be one of those before the lights (still there) and then one the other side of the junction. Given that the pedestrian crossing lights include one for cyclists I think the original idea there was that cyclists heading south would cross the junction via that route when the traffic light is red. Having said that, they removed the lowered curb on the far side of the lights a few months ago.
Presumably the lowered curb on the northbound side is for you to be able to cross the junction during the pedestrian crossing phase (i.e. heading east).0 -
What are people thinking when the design these things?[/quote]
Unfortunately the dismal 'science' of traffic engineering doesn't actually contain people as such, since the first stage in becoming a traffic engineer involves having most of your brain surgically removed. Particularly any part of the brain responsible for spatial and visual awareness. This explains the phenomenon of cycle 'facilities' which appear to have been designed by someone who has not only never ridden a bicycle, but has never seen anyone else do it.
The picture illustrates the mind numbing effect of decades of application of this brain dead nonsense- there's barely an inch of surface which hasn't been defaced with some kind of line or marking and the result is just a hideous mess. Attempting to explain the purpose of the one metre cycle 'lanes' on the pavement is futile and it's very unlikely that those responsible can give a coherent explanation- they will simply grunt and point at some obscure piece of traffic engineering policy gobbledegook.
Which poses a moral dilemna- on the one hand simply murdering traffic engineers is morally wrong, but since they're not fully human......0 -
cedargreen wrote:Which poses a moral dilemna- on the one hand simply murdering traffic engineers is morally wrong, but since they're not fully human......
I don't think there is a moral dilemma. Murder is probably appropriate in this case
I don't know the CS7 because I don't live in London any more. That's why I put "probably" in the above sentence.
However in Brighton & Hove where I do live now a great number of cycle lanes have been created over the last couple of years and they just make cycling much more difficult than it was before.0 -
cedargreen wrote:What are people thinking when the design these things?
Unfortunately the dismal 'science' of traffic engineering doesn't actually contain people as such, since the first stage in becoming a traffic engineer involves having most of your brain surgically removed. Particularly any part of the brain responsible for spatial and visual awareness. This explains the phenomenon of cycle 'facilities' which appear to have been designed by someone who has not only never ridden a bicycle, but has never seen anyone else do it.
The picture illustrates the mind numbing effect of decades of application of this brain dead nonsense- there's barely an inch of surface which hasn't been defaced with some kind of line or marking and the result is just a hideous mess. Attempting to explain the purpose of the one metre cycle 'lanes' on the pavement is futile and it's very unlikely that those responsible can give a coherent explanation- they will simply grunt and point at some obscure piece of traffic engineering policy gobbledegook.
Which poses a moral dilemna- on the one hand simply murdering traffic engineers is morally wrong, but since they're not fully human......[/quote]
It's a combination of things, yes the designer probably isn't a cyclist, but at the same time they are told they have to achieve a particular task, within a particular budget, which is always less than necessary for the job to be done properly, so instead of a full end to end solution you get a bit of paint and some signs.
Mind you; I dream of a bit of paint and some signs...0
