Cycle Lanes - All they are made out to be?

navrig

On Saturday our morning route included a section between Aberlady and Gullane. This is on a busy coastal route popular with tourists and golfers.

East Lothian

As we came out of Aberlady we noticed that council had provided new road markings designated the outer sections as Cycle Lane. Great, good move. As a group (well 4 of us) we moved into the cycle lane, for all of 200m, then we moved back into the main section of the road. The cycle lane was full of gravel and the surface was very loose. It made us all a bit twitchy.

As we moved closer to Gullane we again moved into the cycle lane but this time the surface was not loose. We were happy to remain in the lane.

The difference is that the exit to Aberlady is a wide road and there is adequate space for cars and bikes without a designated Cycle Lane however by marking out a lane, I believe, traffic no longer drives so close to the left hand edge meaning that this lane now fills up with gravel and is not cleansed by the wheels of the cars, buses and lorries using the road.

The road into Gullane is narrower and I think the traffic has to use the Cycle Lane when there are no bikes around. This cleans the surface making it safer to ride.

Anyone else experience this?

drlodge

With the exception of the blue lanes in London, most cycle lanes are a joke and I don't/won't use them for the reasons you state above:
- they're generally full of crap as the path isn't kept clean
- in tight/narrow lanes when you really need some dedicated space, the cycle lane so often disappears.

The best cycle lane I know of, and would use except for the speed of the traffic, is the unofficial hard shoulder lane thingy on the A3! Its even got smoother-than-a-babies-bottom tarmac on it.

drays

I was driving home from work yesterday, along a wide single carriageway section of road with cycle lane marked in both directions, and I passed a road sweeper trundling along with its brushes carefully aligned with the edge of teh cycle lane. I should have got out and asked why he wasn't sweeping the cycle lane itself, which as you describe is full of gravel and debris and drains and not nice to cycle in. :roll:

getnoticed

Seems he is one of the only motorists to adhere to the Highways Code in respect of not driving in cycle lanes...

markhewitt1978

Everyone knows that gravel tracks are the very best thing for cycling. They are just trying to recreate that in an urban environment.

ugo.santalucia

Since I fitted robust touring tyres to my commuter, I have started using the lanes on the A 4020 and I also use the Grand Union canal path. If I was on 23 mm skinny tyres, I would spend most of the commute fixing punctures, given the amount of glass that never gets cleaned, but over the past 6 months I have not had a single one. It feels much safer and I am enjoying them... they are not suited to race bikes and I do agree... but the question is why should they be fit for race tyres? Are the roads themselves fit for racing cars?
I think you have accept that in urban areas lanes will always be crap, they are crap in Belgium too... in rural areas they should have the same standard as the rest of the road

navrig

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Since I fitted robust touring tyres to my commuter, I have started using the lanes on the A 4020 and I also use the Grand Union canal path. If I was on 23 mm skinny tyres, I would spend most of the commute fixing punctures, given the amount of glass that never gets cleaned, but over the past 6 months I have not had a single one. It feels much safer and I am enjoying them... they are not suited to race bikes and I do agree... but the question is why should they be fit for race tyres? Are the roads themselves fit for racing cars?
I think you have accept that in urban areas lanes will always be crap, they are crap in Belgium too... in rural areas they should have the same standard as the rest of the road

I agree however the problem comes when motorists (and I am one) get irate because I chose not to ride in the Cycle Lane because of the said gravel and detritus. Non-cycling motorists wont appreciate the issue. The comment about the road sweeper is a case in point.

I also suspect that the council doesn't fully appreciate the issue either and yet they could clearly help reduce the issue by instructing the road sweeper to sweep the lane when it is not in use.

slowbike

Navrig wrote:

I also suspect that the council doesn't fully appreciate the issue either and yet they could clearly help reduce the issue by instructing the road sweeper to sweep the lane when it is not in use.

Does it need a qualifier?! Road sweepers hardly travel fast - most riders could easily overtake one. And if a roadsweeper does come up behind a cyclist then it's just a matter of overtake for the sweeper ...

neeb

I know that stretch of road well as although I live in Finland I have family (and a spare bike) in North Berwick. I haven't actually seen these new lanes yet - when you say that you moved out of the cycle lane after 200m, do you mean that it ended? Or does the lane run all of the way between Aberlady and Gullane? (rather than just being at the outskirts of the built up areas?).

Certainly if the lane goes all the way I can't see it being much more than a way for drivers to be able to blame cyclists for not always being right at the edge of the road. There are some parts of that road where you need to keep a little further out to avoid gravel and potholes etc, and others where you can be right over at the edge. In any case, you need to choose your position and cars need to pass only when it is safe to do so. The only advantage I can see is that maybe if drivers associate that road more with cyclists more of them will take the through-route via Drem and thus reduce traffic on the road.

navrig

The lane goes most of the way from Aberlady to Gullane. It stops short of Gullane when the road narrows too much to justify a Cycle Lane.

We left the lane well before it ended simply because the front wheel was twitchy and the noise of crunching gravel un-nerving.

doug5_10

That stretch of road had the joys of being surface dressed in preparation for The Open so the non-'racing' line will be a gravelly mess for months to come. I had the joys of coming across it a few months back before it was swept and painted . No control, crawling along, a few more chips in my downtube probably, and sprayed by everyone coming past doing '20mph' Aye, whatever! Hadn't been on it since until Monday, came out at the junction at the bottom of the hill after the golf courses then to Aberlady. All looks very pretty, but completely unrideable, how often is it meant to be swept after the works have finished? Right-handers are especially bad, with cars staying nearer the centre line, you have to be a good 2-3 metres from the cycle lane to find anything clean. Don't see why other surrounding roads got nice shiny smooth tarmac (the Yak, Garleton hills way) and this section got this pish!

TBH the only decent section of cycle lane I've found in East Lothian is between Macmerry and Haddington on the A199. Smooth, shiny, tightly packed tarmac so the chuckies don't get dislodged. Everything else I've found (and in Edinburgh) is potholed guff or covered in crap (especially the 'off-road' ones). Having said that, East Lothian is great biking country with plenty country roads, decent mix of flat and hills, and the A1 to take all the traffic away!

Baby Trek

The cycle lanes that there are, are few and far between and usually, as you say, full of dirt and crap. I stay out of them as it does not seem worth while veering in and out for a few hundred metres and confusing the traffic.
Having just come back from France (Briancon area), every route we went on where it was main roads has clear, crap free cycle lanes for mile after mile after mile. Aside from the mountain cols and clmbs all roads had them and they were fab. What a shock to the system it was when I hit the A6 again !!!

navrig

doug5_10 wrote:

That stretch of road had the joys of being surface dressed in preparation for The Open so the non-'racing' line will be a gravelly mess for months to come. I had the joys of coming across it a few months back before it was swept and painted . No control, crawling along, a few more chips in my downtube probably, and sprayed by everyone coming past doing '20mph' Aye, whatever! Hadn't been on it since until Monday, came out at the junction at the bottom of the hill after the golf courses then to Aberlady. All looks very pretty, but completely unrideable, how often is it meant to be swept after the works have finished? Right-handers are especially bad, with cars staying nearer the centre line, you have to be a good 2-3 metres from the cycle lane to find anything clean. Don't see why other surrounding roads got nice shiny smooth tarmac (the Yak, Garleton hills way) and this section got this pish!

TBH the only decent section of cycle lane I've found in East Lothian is between Macmerry and Haddington on the A199. Smooth, shiny, tightly packed tarmac so the chuckies don't get dislodged. Everything else I've found (and in Edinburgh) is potholed guff or covered in crap (especially the 'off-road' ones). Having said that, East Lothian is great biking country with plenty country roads, decent mix of flat and hills, and the A1 to take all the traffic away!

What has annoyed me is East Lothian Council re-laid a section of road through Morham (Gifford direction) and for a while ot was great BUT they have now sprayed and chipped it. Why would you spray and chip new tarmac on a rural road which get relatively light traffic? Probably because they had budget left over and wanted to spend it.

East Lothian is great for cycling BUT if they sorted the roads it could be fabulous for cycling. It would give EL the Golf Coast and the Cycling County. Many of the inland roads are shot and need severe maintainance.

doug5_10

Most of the 'main' roads aren't too bad, anything with a white line down the middle. The triangle down to Humbie is great, Pencaitland-Gifford-Blindwell Brae etc. And thanks to the A1 you'll only really get local traffic (apart from golfists maybe). I agree that most of the single track stuff is pretty hit and miss. Basically interlinking farm roads that go nowhere, lots of ruts and gravel. I tend not to mind pootling slowly on these stretches too much, zero traffic to worry about and I'm usually solo. Would be an arse in a group though

Druidor

I have found most of the cycle lanes are not worth the risk of riding in them, to much debris swept in from the roads, and if there are going to be craters that you could loose a house in its generally near the side of the road where all the water runs.

vinnymarsden

We have cycling lanes of varying quality here in Sheffield, some I will, and some I definitely wont use, however the issue I have is when they just stop for no reason, and pump you back into the main flow of traffic that they were designed to keep you out of!!
There is one on the newish ring road around the river area that just leaves you sat in the middle of 5 lanes of traffic, someone said maybe you "misread" it....the lane, before it stops is painted a highly contrasting colour to the tarmac...so I didn't miss it, it just ends!!!
I dont blame the council of any town per se, they are trying to "spoon in" cycle paths where there wasn't one before, always a difficult task, but they need to consider the problems they cause and in some cases NO cycle lane would be better to be honest.
Just been to Jackson in Wyoming.....cycling nirvana!! The dedicated cycle "freeways" run alongside the main roads, but are a totally separate entity, and at least 1.5 lanes wide, smooth almost velodrome quality!!!! Oh if only.....mind you they have the room there to do what they wish...a luxury on our VERY small increasingly packed island that we don't have.

tiglon84

Agree that cycle lanes are on the whole not very pleasant to ride on, but the fact that they exist at all is a step forward!

However, there is one near me (Cheltenham) that takes you round a busy roundabout that has sliproads onto the M5. Great idea you think? No, the cycle lane takes you partway down one of the sliproads and then forces you to cross 2 lanes of traffic accelerating hard as they prepare to join the motorway. Seems stupidly dangerous, and it would be much safer just to stay on the road.

priory

when there was a proposal to make cycle paths compulsory I went out one lunchtime and took these shots within 800yds either side of kingsmill

http://s189.photobucket.com/user/borisa ... 4301809325

markhewitt1978

priory wrote:

when there was a proposal to make cycle paths compulsory I went out one lunchtime and took these shots within 800yds either side of kingsmill

http://s189.photobucket.com/user/borisa ... 4301809325

Doesn't link to anything in particular.

priory

I am surprised at that. It does work for me.

Here is another link to the slideshow. But then you miss my sarcastic comments on each photo.

http://s189.photobucket.com/user/borisa ... ths?sort=2