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York Police slammed for carrying out vehicle checks – while parked in cycle lane

“Nothing says York isn't really a cycle friendly city better than cycle lanes being taken out of use like this,” said one Twitter user...

A cycling campaign group in York has questioned whether it was necessary for North Yorkshire Police to block a bike lane while carrying out vehicle checks on “one of the most dangerous roads for cycling” in the city.

A police car was pictured last week parked in a cycle lane and on double yellow lines on York’s Blossom Street. The police later confirmed that the car was stationed there as part of the force’s Project Servator, which aims to “deter, detect and disrupt a range of criminal activity” – including terrorism – “while providing a reassuring presence for the public.”

Dr Simon Woodward, a local cyclist and lecturer in heritage and cultural tourism at Leeds Beckett University, criticised the police’s decision to block the road for people on bikes, writing on Twitter: “Nothing says York isn't really a cycle friendly city better than cycle lanes being taken out of use like this!”

> Cycle campaign group urge people not to cycle over safety fears 

York Cycle Campaign also responded to the image, writing: “While we appreciate the often-difficult job North Yorkshire Police do, carrying out stops on one of the most dangerous roads for cycling and not leaving a safe cycling area – was it avoidable? Could the cycling lane have been kept open?”

The group also told YorkMix that while it is perfectly acceptable for emergency vehicles to park wherever they are needed, they feel that vehicle checks and inspections, such as the ones carried out as part of Project Servator last week, should take into account the safety of all road users. 

North Yorkshire Police, after being approached by YorkMix for a comment, didn’t address any specific concerns regarding the cycle lane on Blossom Street but asked anyone “dissatisfied” with the police’s conduct to follow the formal complaints procedure.

> Council urged to remove "shameful" barriers blocking disabled cyclists 

In December 2021 York Cycle Campaign, along with mathematics professor Dr Jamie Wood, campaigned successfully to remove a barrier which blocked access for disabled cyclists. The barriers at Hob Moor were installed in 2004 to stop motorcyclists riding on the commons, but were opposed by York Cycle Campaign at the time, and were finally removed in early January

The campaign group also found another 30 places where barriers hinder or prevent people from using the city's paths.

“Cycling provides freedom to so many people,” said a York Cycle Campaign spokesperson. “But barriers like those at Hob Moor slice off entire sections of the city to people with limited mobility. Up and down the country these kinds of outdated barriers are being taken out, literally expanding people's horizons.”

Ryan joined road.cc in December 2021 and since then has kept the site’s readers and listeners informed and enthralled (well at least occasionally) on news, the live blog, and the road.cc Podcast. After boarding a wrong bus at the world championships and ruining a good pair of jeans at the cyclocross, he now serves as road.cc’s senior news writer. Before his foray into cycling journalism, he wallowed in the equally pitiless world of academia, where he wrote a book about Victorian politics and droned on about cycling and bikes to classes of bored students (while taking every chance he could get to talk about cycling in print or on the radio). He can be found riding his bike very slowly around the narrow, scenic country lanes of Co. Down.

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12 comments

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Mooshcow | 1 year ago
0 likes

I ride down that road every day, never use the cycle lane as it's a deathtrap but the police really could choose many other places considering they force people to make unnecessary lane changes.

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Kirk Patric | 1 year ago
2 likes

Not really a cycle lane though, looks more like the area of the road you shouldn't cycle in, to be safe please cycle further out than this green patch

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Flintshire Boy | 1 year ago
7 likes

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THAT's a cycle lane?

.

How an you tell?

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FGS - it's not even the recommended width from the kerb.

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HoarseMann replied to Flintshire Boy | 1 year ago
9 likes

I think what is actually happening here, is the police have coned off a dangerous bit of infrastructure to keep cyclists safe.

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mdavidford replied to HoarseMann | 1 year ago
2 likes

I'm not sure the police count as 'infrastructure'.

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Hirsute replied to mdavidford | 1 year ago
3 likes

There's a big hole underneath the police car.

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Dogless replied to Flintshire Boy | 1 year ago
2 likes

Terrible bit of infrastructure. Left turn at the end down to the bus station too and the bike lane just ends, so often see bus drivers passing *on* the corner as a cyclist goes round it. Thankfully, there's an alternative route through the station car park but if you're wanting to go into the centre you have to be confident riding in traffic, but then even at motor vehicle speed there are very regular MGIFers. I live just round the corner but very, very rarely use this stretch.

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qwerty360 replied to Flintshire Boy | 1 year ago
2 likes

Looks to me like a strip of coloured tarmac...

A cycle lane is defined by white lines, so that isn't legally a cycle lane...

 

Finding that on gmaps, other sections are heavily worn and almost certainly couldn't have been cycle lanes until very recently (e.g. coloured tarmac through zig zags). (There are several <5m long cycle lanes along the road... Showing it may have been intended to be a cycle lane, but it hasn't been maintained as one...)

 

 I suspect a significant number of cyclists will be heading straight through the width restriction, not following the 'bypass' around the old city walls (Only reason to follow it round left is access to railway station; everywhere else is better served by going through the gate); So a lot should use the middle lane there anyway.

 

If anything the police presence overall makes a bloody awful looking section of key infra safer (Due to the old city walls and railway stations placement I can't see any alternative routes on a map (except by starting at least one compass point round...);

 

Given key route (unavoidable for station or city centre), limited parking (as always), a major bypass road further out and city centre access being restricted heavily for cars already (narrow, one way through gate) IMHO they should take out one of the turning lanes, using the freed space to put in dedicated cycle lanes with a seperate phase for cyclists. Even if the rest of the road is still shared,  a quick look at a map has that junction being by far the worst place along the route because a good chunk of cyclists will want to go straight into city centre while cars want to turn left across them...

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Dogless replied to qwerty360 | 1 year ago
0 likes

Unless you're confident enough to take the middle lane early, you'll end up stuck on the far left trying to move over (as I see regularly happening). There is an alternative route to the station if you're coming from holgate way, it's a marked cycle route but crosses a large car park 😂
As you say, this road should only theoretically be used by cyclists going through the bar as there are better alternatives to the left or right turns, but they're not obvious unless you know the area well.
Hopefully some consideration will be given to all this when they do the station works.

As an aside, if you do find yourself going through the bar wall don't think the width restriction will prevent motorists attempting to pass you both before or *during* you going through there.

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HoarseMann | 1 year ago
5 likes

Surely there's some mistake. That can't be a cycle lane, look how unfit for purpose it is! Maybe some green paint got spilled from a lorry.

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chrisonabike replied to HoarseMann | 1 year ago
3 likes

York though - "Our historic gates and mediaeval town centre are too narrow for cycling infra!"  When last there a couple years back I was surprised to find some - but not much more than I recall from my prior visit decades back.  Here's a compact place, there's only one hill, major tourism (and some parts are thus pedestrianised), a high proportion of students, there's a useful inheritance (disused rail lines - some already "done up" [2nd page]).

But...

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brooksby | 1 year ago
3 likes
Quote:

North Yorkshire Police, after being approached by YorkMix for a comment, didn’t address any specific concerns regarding the cycle lane on Blossom Street but asked anyone “dissatisfied” with the police’s conduct to follow the formal complaints procedure.

Which I suspect translates as, "F-off and don't bother us again!"

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