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First bus stop bypass for cyclists installed on Manchester’s Oxford Road

Plan is for improved cycle infrastructure from city centre to Didsbury Village

The first of 13 Dutch-style cycle lanes taking cyclists behind bus stops has opened on Manchester’s Oxford Road opposite Whitworth Park. The bypass lanes will form part of the Wilmslow Road Cycleway which will see infrastructure improved all the way down to Didsbury Village.

The new-style bike lane is designed to make it safer for cyclists on what is Europe’s busiest bus route. Rather than overtaking when buses pull over, the rider instead cycles behind the bus stop. The Manchester version of these bypass lanes also includes a zebra-style crossing for pedestrians – arguably a clearer layout than that used on equivalent lanes in London.

 

 

From Monday, a two-week survey will be carried out by Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) with cyclists, bus passengers and pedestrians asked to give feedback. Comments will be used to review and improve the design before it is rolled out at other stops.

Student Flora Winstanley, who commutes to the University of Manchester from Fallowfield by bike every day, told the Manchester Evening News: “It’s so much better – I bike to uni every day and this bit of Oxford Road is a nightmare. It makes so much sense, if you’re coming along this part of Oxford Road you’re constantly looking out for the buses.”

The plan is that by the end of 2016 every bus stop but one on Oxford Road from Moss Lane East to Portland Street will have the new lane and rather than cutting into pavements, roads will be made narrower. The one exception is the stop near the Temple of Convenience pub where a bypass lane will not be possible.

The scheme, which will include over 4km of segregated cycle lanes, will also see traffic restrictions imposed. Between 6am and 9pm, general traffic will turn off Oxford Road at Hathersage Road with only buses, taxis, cyclists and emergency vehicles permitted beyond.

Councillor Andrew Fender, Chair of the TfGM Committee, said:

“This is an exciting scheme that will revolutionise sustainable travel along one of the busiest routes into Manchester city centre, with better access to the universities, healthcare and businesses along the route.

“It’s part of a major investment in our infrastructure that will help us make travel greener and more sustainable while also providing huge benefits for the city’s economy.”

Councillor Chris Paul, Cycling Champion on the TfGM Committee, said he hoped that the introduction of safer, segregated cycling facilities would encourage more people to cycle along Oxford Road.

Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.

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31 comments

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Urban_Manc | 8 years ago
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I've made my opposition known on Twitter regarding this design, the main defence from others was 'It works in the Netherlands ".

Why not instruct bus drivers to give priority to cyclists overtaking them and enforce a strict 20mph limit on all other vehicles, use average speed cameras and fixed cameras, also presumed liability will make a massive difference in driver behaviour.

Bus stop by-passes are a recipe for disaster and dumping a zebra crossing in the middle of it will create further grievances and conflict.

Why make a facility in the centre when there's no safe route to reach it, the whole scheme is a token effort with no real desire for change.

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Lycra Lout replied to Urban_Manc | 8 years ago
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Urban_Manc wrote:

Why not instruct bus drivers to give priority to cyclists overtaking them and enforce a strict 20mph limit on all other vehicles, use average speed cameras and fixed cameras, also presumed liability will make a massive difference in driver behaviour.

Bus stop by-passes are a recipe for disaster and dumping a zebra crossing in the middle of it will create further grievances and conflict.

Presumed liability mas a marginal effect. Most European countries have it, but cycling levels still vary. Sustainable safety is what truly matters, one part of which is homogeneity of mass, speed, and direction. Buses and bicycles should not mix.

Your plan wouldn't work. However, bus stops bypasses are usually slightly different in design in the Netherlands. There is no cycle track set back. Instead, there is a traffic island between the cycle track and road. This space is otherwise used for things like parking, pedestrian crossings, etc. In either case you haven't shown that this creates ''disaster''.

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Manchestercyclist | 8 years ago
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As always the problem is simply one of enforcement, the drivers in Manchester (and particularly Rusholme) are shocking. There are never any pcae or police there enforcing road rules. That's why the infrastructure is needed and that's why people don't ride.

The existing lane in fallowfield by Owens park is parked on despite a raised kerb, rendering it worse that useless too.

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Argos74 | 8 years ago
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This takes me almost from my front doorstep to work, with a few hundred yards either end. And you still couldn't pay me to use it. The improvements are... not improvements.

I'll stick with mixing it on the dual carriageway, thanks. Even with vehicles nipping past my right elbow at 50-60 mph, it's safer.

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Argos74 replied to Argos74 | 8 years ago
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Argos74 wrote:

And you still couldn't pay me to use it.

Took one for the team, and rode up there this morning. Ye gods. I predict carnage. It's the wrong place to put this. There's three supermarkets (Morrisons, Lidl, Tesco), Cafe Nero, Subway, Superdrug and, oh FFS, a Wetherspoons. Lots of foot traffic coming and going out. Recipe for disaster. I saw two cyclists almost hitting pedestrians on the cycle path, and it wasn't even busy.

There's another one being built further down opposite Platt Fields Park. This is the right place to put something like this. The segregated bits are still a dogs arse, and the approach to the Mosely Road junction is still awful though.

There is another one being built outside Sainsbury. The godawful cycle path with poles and trees in hasn't been touched. FFS. The rebuilding does at least address the crappy road surface. But we will still have a massive amount of foot traffic crossing the cycle path. And taxi drivers who sit in the cycle lane dropping off, picking up, or waiting for a call from the office, and hoping it's Sainsbury shopping pickup.

The journey up on the dual carriageway was quick and uneventful. The journey back was slow and dangerous. 2 near misses in the space of 3 miles (attempted T bone and left hook).

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Some Fella | 8 years ago
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I flew through here this afternoon and unfortunately didnt hit any gormless students. Ill try harder next time.
The trouble with this, as my esteemed colleague farrell has pointed out, is that the rest of Wilmslow Road is a dogs dinner.
If the infra being put in is piecemeal (and you'll see in the clip this bypass just dumps you back into traffic and at lights - why not continue the path to by-pass the lights?) then conflict is inevitable.
The new stuff put in between Fallowfield and Withington is bobbins. No protection at junctions or buses stops and shocking road surface. There seems to be an awful lot of 'cycling money' being spent on traffic lights and 'junction improvements' that do nothing for cyclists.
What is annoying is that the money is there and t'council have just pissed around and not got on with it and when they have they have put in piecemeal rubbish. They have done nothing to identify conflict points or studied cyclist behaviour to see what is actually needed.
And as farrell points out local councillors are willing to promote sub standard stuff and expect us to be thankful for it.
My wife was knocked off this week and a councillor told me on twitter to stop complaining about a lack of infrastructure. You can imagine what i told him to do.

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vonhelmet | 8 years ago
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If these posts are anything to go by, Rusholme sounds like Bolton, which is a hellscape of incompetent drivers.

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MJBarry | 8 years ago
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Haha. Monumental waste of money. A 50 yard segregated lane that then drops you straight back into the chaos of Rusholme with it's cars parked 3 abreast, drivers not looking and people crossing the road where ever and whenever they like. An upgrade to the 'safer' cycle lane on the parallel routes either side of Oxford Road would have made more sense and would eradicate the daily fight with bus and taxi drivers.

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PaulBox | 8 years ago
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I only have a small amount of experience of the London versions, they are crap, people do walk in to the cycle lane without looking. I prefer to stay on the road.

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pmanc | 8 years ago
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The Oxford Road corridor (as it's known) is commonly described as the busiest bus route in Europe and it's easy to believe. Having the cycle lane between a bus lay-by and the carriageway just doesn't work (@kwyken).

There's no perfect answer, but kerbs and a steady flow of cyclists can make it clear that this bypass isn't a good place for pedestrians to meander. In comparison the lane in the Guardian photo which @therealsmallboy links to (from Sheffield) has no kerbs.

As I say, not perfect and I might choose not go down it early on a Sunday morning when the roads are clear, but the other day I had three buses vying to pull into the stop there ahead of me (and beside me), and it's a great relief to realise it isn't your problem any more; you don't have to manoeuvre right round the back of them (or between them) into the fast moving car lane. There's an escape route!

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FrogBucket | 8 years ago
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I'll stick to the road thanks.

While it is great to see improvement works along Oxford Road they have failed to account for the foot traffic.

The pavement by this bus stop gets incredibly busy, with large queues to get on/off the bus - they'll end up just waiting in the cycle lane. The "bus island" simply isn't big enough.

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bikecellar | 8 years ago
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Am I alone in thinking that the Zebra crossing in this example and indeed in general in the UK is somewhat over engineered ? are not the poles with orange lights OTT, normally, elsewhere in Europe the markings on the road suffice !

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dlparr replied to bikecellar | 8 years ago
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@bikecellar

The poles either side of the crossing were fitted as this is what guide dogs react to - therefore they won't just walk out in to the cycle lane at the crossing point - disability groups were consulted on this it says.

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cdl | 8 years ago
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I discovered last night that this cycle path is just wide enough to avoid another cyclist who stopped dead in front of me with no warning.

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farrell replied to cdl | 8 years ago
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cdl wrote:

I discovered last night that this cycle path is just wide enough to avoid another cyclist who stopped dead in front of me with no warning.

I've not seen this in person yet, as I have no desire to cycle through the double parking death trap bandit town that is Rusholme but I was wondering about what this is going to be like when a bus pulls in and pedestrians stream across the bike lane on the zebra crossing.

If you have a long chain of bikes and the first bike has to haul the anchors on to stop to allow someone to cross surely at some point there is going to be a pile up?

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Accessibility f... replied to cdl | 8 years ago
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cdl wrote:

I discovered last night that this cycle path is just wide enough to avoid another cyclist who stopped dead in front of me with no warning.

Perhaps you shouldn't have been tailgating him.

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stem | 8 years ago
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I'd favour a layby that busses pull into when stopping. You could have flashing signs saying "TAKE THE LANE NODDY!" to gently indicate that unconfident cyclists should move out from the kerb if a bus is there.

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Lycra Lout replied to stem | 8 years ago
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stem wrote:

I'd favour a layby that busses pull into when stopping. You could have flashing signs saying "TAKE THE LANE NODDY!" to gently indicate that unconfident cyclists should move out from the kerb if a bus is there.

Are you serious!?

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kwyken | 8 years ago
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Help me out here. why design a traffic layout that encourages pedestrians to cross the cycle lane? Why not have a segregated cycle section passing a bus layby? There seems to be enough room to take an extra couple of metres from both the carriageway and paved areas. The bus pulls off the main carriageway into a layby between the pedestrian paved area and a segregated cycle lane and re-joins the main carriageway at a give way junction. Segregation with kerbing will stop random entry and exit, cyclists continue as normal, the bus is off the carriageway while it picks-up and drops-off passengers. Bus passengers have no more need to cross the cycle lane than if they are crossing the road itself. I am sure I am not the first to think of this, so what did I miss?

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P3t3 replied to kwyken | 8 years ago
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kwyken wrote:

Help me out here. why design a traffic layout that encourages pedestrians to cross the cycle lane? so what did I miss?

Its much safer to have pedestrians cross the cycle path to catch the bus than having buses crossing the cycle lane to pick up passengers. Pedestrians just walking down the footway don't have to cross the cycle lane.

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ibike | 8 years ago
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These work perfectly well in the Netherlands, when they're well designed.

https://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/2013/09/05/riding-around-the-bus-stop/

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alansmurphy | 8 years ago
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The other problem is hinted at in the article, its the busiest bus route around, you'll not be able to access the bypass due to the busses!

Also, there should be no move to bypass the Temple pub, great little piss pot bar  1

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HarrogateSpa | 8 years ago
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I think the bus stop bypass is a good idea. I can understand the points people are making about there being pedestrians there at times, but if you go moderately carefully, and if there is sufficient flow of bike traffic, it should be ok.

The more important thing for me is that the Twitter video shows a segregated lane behind the bus stop, then nothing afterwards except a painted bicycle. We need continuous infrastructure, not isolated bits. But maybe further work is planned, and that's coming?

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farrell replied to HarrogateSpa | 8 years ago
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HarrogateSpa wrote:

The more important thing for me is that the Twitter video shows a segregated lane behind the bus stop, then nothing afterwards except a painted bicycle. We need continuous infrastructure, not isolated bits. But maybe further work is planned, and that's coming?

The most dangerous section to cyclists (possibly one of the most dangerous sections in Manchester) is the road that continues northwards on from this bit.

They have plans to add more provision in for cyclists on this road but it's only in one direction from this point.

You've got two guesses to figure out which direction that provision is in: North or South.

As an added bit of information, the road that runs parallel to this has recfently been redesigned making it horrendously hostile to cyclists. This has lead to at least one death and plenty of injuries. It's been leaked that this decision to avoid putting cycling provision in and give motorised traffic more priority and the ability to go faster was in fact a deliberate move.

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farrell | 8 years ago
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"he bypass lanes will form part of the Wilmslow Road Cycleway which will see infrastructure improved all the way down to Didsbury Village"

And yet all they are talking about is the section from where the new bus stop is back in to town whilst completely ignoring the black spots and danger zones that make up the majority of this route to Didsbury.

Withington can be a right bun fight, Fallowfield is even worse and cycling though Rusholme feels like it should have those Samaritans signs on it like they have on bridges and railway platforms.

City centre to Didsbury my hole. Chris Paul should really grow a pair and stop endorsing this utter shite. Perhaps he should also reconsider his petty decision to refuse to speak to or acknowledge the Greater Manchester Cycling Campaign.

It's unbelievable that a person can call themselves a "Cycling Champion" when he continually ignores pleas and input from everyday cyclists and wont work with the biggest cycling lobby group in the area. Mindboggling, but no longer surprising.

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Chrisplol replied to farrell | 8 years ago
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Road.cc should consider removing this nasty ad hominem attack from "Farrell" whoever that may be. If "Farrell" wants to "grow some" and tweet and comment here and at The Guardian and elsewhere in their own full contactable name instead of as some kind of anonymous troll then there might be grounds for leaving whatever they say published.

As it is their approach of nasty sneering, nasty jeering and nasty smearing has no place in this discussion. In my opinion.

Whether that sneering, jeering and smearing is against me (in a role on which I spend many many hours and days, often challenging those who are actually designing and building things to do better) or as often the case against engineers, planners and other officers, or against organisations even, it is a poor strategy to disrespect and attack others particularly when you seem to have little grasp of what is really going on..

I have excellent relations with the leadership and members of Greater Manchester Cycling Campaign, have been a member, have supported rides to promote space for cycling, have helped build Manchester City Council members to the top three in the #spaceforcycling league table, have ridden on rides to lobby party conferences for more investment, have spoken at events, and also taken part in some monthly rides and mass events.

As a member of TFGM Committee with a role in championing cycling to other members of the committee and a role to challenge officers I have been pleased to see interest growing from beyond just a handful of members of that committee.

Many to be honest were more interested or entirely interested in the past in the very important sustainable modes that are buses, and trains, and trams, and in big highways projects (which do also in some cases support sustainable modes). A few were interested when it came to cycling in keeping cyclists out of the way of their cars - those ones know who they are, and are now reformed.

Now we not only have regular and systematic reporting but we have all 33 members of the committee taking an interest in speaking and at least 99% supportive of investment in people on bikes and on foot. I would expect that the next time they are asked to support a step change in that investment they will listen and they will support that change too.

Meanwhile as a back bench councillor in my own District I have always tried to support the excellent work being done by the excellent GM Love Your Bike to challenge planning reports to get more cycling parking and storage and safety into them.

Now as a member of the Planning Committee I am pleased to see developments coming in front of us with 75% and even 85% parking for cycles.

I don't think we will ever see another TFGM annual report or budget with no reference to the C word. And the outline GM2040 transport strategy shows a massive step change towards active travel and liveable city and conurbation.

Whether I am following a particular Twitter account or not - and yes, I did block an at times rather feral style GMCC account for a time - I take the time to answer many, many queries.

Sometimes these queries arise from excitable nonsense posted by those who should know better. But I answer patiently nonetheless. And I soak up a fair bit of the sneer, her and smear tendency also. Colleagues often wonder at how anyone puts up with some of it, still less an unpaid advocate for the exact same causes. But I decided to block the group's Twitter feed (for a time) when, shrinking violet that I am, I found the tone and content of that high volume feed to be unacceptable.

Obviously the viewpoints of GMCC members remained readily available by conversing with them and by interacting with their individual accounts.

The comments in this thread and elsewhere about the particular piece of infrastructure under discussion vary quite widely. This has been deemed the best example in the UK and significantly better than the award-winning Brighton examples or London's by many.

Thanks for those comments.

The greatest theme in the criticism of the bus stop by-pass appears to be that it is not part of a protected network or route.

It is a trial for an element that is being used in multiples. Very sensible. I repeat: it is a trial. There will be 13 of these towards the City and also (under different funding) a similar number on most stops southwards to Didsbury.

The fragments of infrastructure which are now being installed - in a re-scheduled programme designed to avoid a 7km long pinch point and excessive traffic disruption including to cyclists - will soon be joined up into a continuous largely separated route.

If we are able to introduce the TRO restricting private cars from the inner section of the route well ahead of its completion, in the next few weeks even, we will do that,

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Argos74 replied to Chrisplol | 8 years ago
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Chrisplol wrote:

The greatest theme in the criticism of the bus stop by-pass appears to be that it is not part of a protected network or route.

Um... no. My criticism from half an hour's observation of it in action would be that the bus bypass already constructed could potentially lead to conflict and collisions between pedestrians and cyclists, and one under construction could lead to more of the same. Also doesn't address the major underlying safety issues with the route in general from the new infrastructure, and areas which have not been addressed.

If you're at Tuesday's space4cycling ride, would be happy to ride down with you afterwards to look at the unaddressed issues, and how the new/under construction infrastructure could lead to worse safety rather than better. Coffee and cake's on me. Ask around or contact me on Reddit.

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TeamExtreme | 8 years ago
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Hah! Good luck to the people of Manchester is all I can say. The ones on CS2 (along with the rest of it) are a complete joke. I've given up trying to use them and would rather take my chances with the traffic in the main carriageway than with the inattentive pedestrians that surround you on both sides at those things.

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therealsmallboy | 8 years ago
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I can't help but think that people are just going to stand about in the red cycle lane area especially when it's busy and end up blocking it. It gets really busy there.

I speak from experience to a certain degree, because the footpath/cycle lane next to the A61 in Sheffield is blocked intermittantly from 7:30 to 8:30 and 3:30 to 4:30 with school and college children waiting for buses. Because they're not on the actual road, they just hang about wherever they won't get run over. I don't ride there anymore, choosing the busy road instead because I became sick of asking people to move, being glared at arrogantly and having to point out the giant bike drawn on the red ground they were standing on.

The photo in number 3) is a little further on from the bus stop I'm talking about, but I'm sure you can see what I'm getting at:

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/mar/31/10-things-that-put-peopl...

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Accessibility f... replied to therealsmallboy | 8 years ago
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therealsmallboy wrote:

I can't help but think that people are just going to stand about in the red cycle lane area especially when it's busy and end up blocking it. It gets really busy there.

It does indeed get busy there - busy with cyclists. I doubt it'll take long for most people to realise that the cycle lane isn't somewhere they should stand.

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