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news
Crofton Road cycle lane Orpington (Bromley Council Fix My Street portal)"Which genius thought it a good idea to have a post in the middle of a cycle lane?": Locals baffled by "accident waiting to happen" bike lane
Cyclists and residents in one south London borough have questioned why a new cycle lane, which was funded by £673,000 of investment from Transport for London, has a utilities pole in the middle of it.
The cycle lane on Crofton Road in Orpington was approved in 2018, images from July 2023 [below] showing the pole to the side of the segregated infrastructure, however the council has since invested £77,000 to widen the road, reportedly in a bid to tackle congestion, and the utilities pole has been in the cycle lane ever since.
The pole has been reported for safety issues numerous times, coming on a downhill stretch of cycle lane, one local telling MyLondon it is a "complete balls-up".
"It's madness, they spent God knows how much money building it," Michael O'Donnell said, while another resident suggested "it's probably not the safest idea".
Tim Webb said: "I've been at night and that [hazard tape] is not reflective. So the concern people have is that someone goes charging into it. I've got nothing against cycle lanes. I think they're a good idea, but I think the money from TfL maybe could have been used more wisely."
The pole has also attracted ire on the council's reporting portal, one resident asking whether the council was behind it being relocated, another saying it is "an accident waiting to happen".
"Which genius at London Borough of Bromley thought it a good idea to have a post located in the middle of a cycle lane?" they asked. "This is an accident waiting to happen. It cannot comply with any health and safety regs and needs to be dealt with before there is serious accident.
"I think that the sensible thing to do would be to close the cycle lane until this has been rectified. Someone could be injured or worse whilst this problem persists."
Bromley Council confirmed that it would investigate, a subsequent update saying the pole is the "responsibility of British Telecom".
Yesterday the council said that BT "were scheduled to relocate this post whilst our contractor completed their works" and has "advised that the post is to relocated imminently".
A TfL statement added: "We work with all London boroughs to enable and encourage people to walk and cycle and are happy to work with them to improve existing schemes where appropriate."
Dan is the road.cc news editor and has spent the past four years writing stories and features, as well as (hopefully) keeping you entertained on the live blog. Having previously written about nearly every other sport under the sun for the Express, and the weird and wonderful world of non-league football for the Non-League Paper, Dan joined road.cc in 2020. Come the weekend you'll find him labouring up a hill, probably with a mouth full of jelly babies, or making a bonk-induced trip to a south of England petrol station... in search of more jelly babies.
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22 comments
I don't get this. They would never do this to a riad but the mixed use pavement on my way to work (which is half the width of a car lane) has no end of road signs plonked right in the middle. It's not just dangerous that you could ride into one but you have to ride on the edge of the pavement to get around some of them (whilst also sharing the pavement with pedestrians and other cyclists coming the other way). There just never seems to be any thought given to people who don't use the main carriageway.
Ahh come on. That's nothing. The cycle lane on Coronation road in Bristol has a tree every 20 meters. These London punters need to raise their game.
And, you get seasick on the tree roots.
Amateur. In Leeds we have a bus shelter plonked in the Kirkstall road bike path
The pole may be the responsibility of Openreach but under the New Rds and Street work act all utilities requiring to be moved are the responsibility of and have to be paid for by the Local Authority doing the work (at stipulated rates). Surely said LA should not resurface and sign off work until complete. If the utility is late they can be charged for LAs costs.
Hello. Considering the IQ of the UCI MEMBERS, that logo will be the new UCI's logo
It should be moved to the middle of the traffic lane, where if a car hits it there'll be some protection for the occupants. Surely if it's deemed good for a cycle lane then it should be OK for a car lane.
I'll take a few obstructions in a cycle lane over riding next to texting drivers all day long.
As everyone is so blatant about using their phones while driving, clearly there is no enforcement at the moment. Do we just rely on people like cycling Mikey, or is there something else that could be done?
Run a helmet camera and report to OpSnap (or it's equivalent in your Policing area). I think that is the only feasible option right now.
Even then don't get your hopes up though. I reported a blatent one a couple of weeks ago, yet they said NFA because there was some sunlight reflection on the side window of the van!
Run a helmet camera and report to OpSnap (or it's equivalent in your Policing area)
This is the same thing as doing nothing for those of us living in areas where the police have moved the binning operation over to OpSnap, as opposed to Police Scotland where they make sure they can't see the video. Lancashire just ignores any reports from cyclists
I saw three texting drivers in a row today. All in liveried vans (of different small businesses). I would worry about it affecting my business if people saw me texting, but clearly it's just accepted behaviour while driving.
Edit: The vans were at the lights, in a queue. I think phone use while stopped or crawling along in slow moving traffic is seen as acceptable at the moment.
Publish the names of the businesses.
Publish where? And I don't think it will carry any weight unless I also have the evidence to go along with it e.g. something like the videos Cycling Mikey shares on YouTube.
Most days I walk to work, I see about 5-10 phone-motorists. If as a pedestrian I can see them, so could a PC on foot. All they then need to do is to offer the offending motorist a choice - surrender the phone or surrender the car keys. Other drivers will soon get the message, live via social media...
Easy life in Orphington.
Check out Coronation Road in Bristol.
They are going to move the post so no big deal.
TBH the issue is the ordering (1. poor quality initial work because they have to resurface around the pole. 2. lower surface quality once they patch the hole left by moving the pole) and that the cycle lane isn't clearly blocked off as closed until such time as the post is moved.
Might have been better to have moved it first?
Are we sure it's a cycle lane? That thing stencilled on the ground doesn't look like any bike I've ever seen...
It's a road bike and a Dutch bike fused together yet heading in separate directions.
I propose this become road.cc's new logo immediately
Pushmi-pullyu!
It looks like it's from the Velocipedia collection, possibly this one.