Cycle lane 'a bit crap' because cars can still park in it, says councillor

brooksby wrote:

My local one, Park Row in Bristol, has its wands removed daily.  One of the stores next to it removes a couple so their SUV has easy access to deliver stuff.  A couple more get removed so people can get to the hairdressers or the sandwich shop.  And before you know it, the entire set has disappeared.

Would it be worth hanging around with a vid cam to get footage of them taking out the wands, then demanding they be prosecuted for interfering with road safety equipment or some such?

Danbury wrote:

A problem for blue badge holders can be finding a designated parking space not illegally occupied. Report from Honest John site:

Yeah. Let's not call it "entitlement" - let's say that people assume that if you can't park where you want it must be an oversight by planners, or that "I'll just squeeze in here for 5 minutes".

It's really another version of the "let everyone else fight over the scraps" issue. This version, motorists just assume everyone else has no more right than them to a resource like space to park. And if that space isn't occupied (blue badge only or a cycle lane) then those other people can't assume it will just sit there unoccupied when I need it now.

I used to think that most people regarded disabled parking / access as inviolable but evidence has made me question that.

chrisonatrike wrote:

"I'll just squeeze in here for 5 minutes".

Indeed, the OH and I have started calling that "justing" as in "I'm just popping in to the shop" or "just parking here for a second" or "just putting two wheels on the footway" and so on.

would that help though ? Ive seen lots of cars parked in mandatory bike lanes, Ive even seen them parked in the new bollard protected bike lanes as well.

complain to the councils, nothing gets done, because theyll send parking enforcement officers out, who then risk get abuse,physically attacked, all because "its a war on the motorist" attitude.

Just had a lovely 40kms round trip with the boss to visit family, somewhat marred by coming back through Wimbledon, Clapham etc where all the (fairly crap, as yer man says) advisory painted bike lanes have the yellow lines inside them suspended on Sundays because...I don't know, cars are less lethal on Sundays? If anything they're much more necessary on Sundays because the lower traffic levels mean cars are travelling faster.

I really hate this kind of compromise - if we've agreed that the road needs cycle lanes / cycle tracks then that should be the case for the whole day. No, it doesn't work like bus lanes.  Or re-allocating lanes to deal with different car traffic flows through the day. Motorways aren't busy at night but we don't then allow pedestrians, horse riding etc. on them.

...but it seems kind of immutable. Is it because it's the "chicken and egg" logic of "not enough cyclists, no need for infrastructure"?

I guess the car equivalent would be to insist on re-allocating people's driveways / garages during the day - because most people only use them in the evenings, right?

On today's ride (on new - to me - roads) I came across this...

125 Aldershot Rd
https://maps.app.goo.gl/MrDLVY2vr3dskYB77

...not only doing the "dashed lines make the cycle lane advisory" cop-out, but also doing the "I don't need to pay for advertising space, if I put it on an old van and dump it at the side of the road" trick.
Judging by the plants growing under the van, it's been there for quite some time.
These advisory lanes need to be promoted to compulsory, or there is little point having them

That is deliberate, egregious obstruction of the cycle lane, and as such, I'd be hassling my local councillor (or coun) to get it shifted.  I'm no lawyer, and it seems that the law may not be clear about obstructing an advisory cycle lane, so maybe the Cyclists Defence Fund might be interested in a test case?  If so, count me in for a few quid for the crowdfunder.

EDIT: Just remembered a relevant case from about fifteen years ago, when a car was abandoned in an advisory cycle lane on the A38 north of Bristol, which meant that cyclists had to go around it into lanes busy with motor traffic.  Complaints fell on stoney ground until I pointed out to the police that they would be responsible for the death/injury of any cyclist injured if they didn't get it moved; they moved it.

It clearly says "scrap cars wanted". Seems like an open invitation to help out by, somehow, scrapping it.

In my experience it is always like this - work in Guildford and moved to Aldershot in 2017 - this road was my daily commute prior to working for home. Always vans parked there - which encourages others to do the same and park up for the shops on the opposite side. 

I'm due to go back to the office before the year is out - thanks for the reminder about this bit - I'd forgotten.

I'm in Farnham and used to commute into Guildford on that road and it was always obstructed. I also would highlight Lower Farnham Road which is also signposted as a cycle lane but more of a car park. If you check this link note that the house has a lot of its own parking but why bother when you can just obstruct everyone going up the hill. I would add that I got shouted at by drivers going down the hill to use the cycle lane, even when it's on the opposite side and I'm doing 30mph.
97 B3208
https://maps.app.goo.gl/nG5k2hMWQkHS7rA18