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news
Cycle pathResidents complain about 'motorway' style cycle path
Residents in a coastal town have raised concerns that a 'motorway style' cycle path will make cyclists ride faster.
A £27,000 project has seen the installation of cycle lanes and signs along 19 miles of coastline in Thanet, Kent.
The lanes run along Ramsgate’s West Cliff promenade.
Thanet council say the cycling infrastructure is intended to ‘promote respect between pedestrians and cyclists’.
However, speaking to the Isle of Thanet News, resident Ian Shacklock said: “The promenade was a fantastic shared space. It was wide enough to accommodate everyone without unintended conflict."
Speeding concerns raised over ‘motorway’ style cycle lanes on West Cliff promenade - https://t.co/tO8ITkNnWD
— Isle of Thanet News (@IsleThanetNews) July 13, 2021
He continued: "It has now been divided into three much narrower strips and is no longer a place where either cyclists or walkers can relax.
“As a cyclist I now feel more vulnerable on this path than if I were on the busy roads.
"And thanks to the crazy signage and 'motorway feel' I fear that other cyclists will feel obliged to go a lot faster. Everybody loses.
“I think we will need to monitor the behaviour of cyclists over the summer.
"If they can all coexist in harmony with pedestrians and not complain when anyone strays into their private territory, then maybe there won’t be a problem after all.
“But even if only one percent of cyclists use the lanes as an excuse to go faster, without consideration for other people’s needs, then the promenade will lose most of its value as a destination for holiday and rest.”
A Thanet council spokesperson said: “A project led by Thanet District Council with match-funding by Kent County Council has seen 19 miles of our coastline benefit from new cycling safety signage, to promote respect between cyclists and pedestrians.
“The work, which was led by the council’s Technical Services team, began with an extensive review and assessment of the cycling routes along the Thanet coast.
“The £27,000 project has seen installation of new signage which specifically highlights the shared space policy of our coastal routes and areas where cyclists should slow down or dismount. Existing signage on the coastline that has weathered due to exposure to the elements has also been replaced.”
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23 comments
“The work, which was led by the council’s Technical Services team, began with an extensive review and assessment of the cycling routes along the Thanet coast.
I wonder whether anyone on that team is a cyclist or whether they consulted cyclists. My guess is that they didn't - after all they are the experts!!!
Pedestrians realise that paint is not protection
plenty of paint there between cyclists and pedestrians, if a 3 inch wide paint line can protect a cyclists from an overworked HGV driver, it should be more than adequate to maintain seperation between cyclists and walkers.
"If they can all coexist in harmony with pedestrians and not complain when anyone strays into their private territory, then maybe there won’t be a problem after all."
That's a very combatative message there. What's the point of laning off cycle lanes for safety just to have everyone ignore the lanes and jog, walk, park in them - forcing the cyclists to avoid using them. Pointless. I'm sure this "cyclist" won't complain when other cyclists are forced to use the pavement/pedestrian lane next to it then because these lanes are full of pedestrians?
Unusually for this sort of thing, the rest of the promenade isn't pedestrian only - it's shared use. Given that there's no prohibition on pedestrians walking in or obstructing cycle lanes, that part is effectively shared use also. So the whole thing is basically just decorative. It is better than a lot of seaside places, where cycles are either banned from the prom during summer months/during certain times of the day, or have speed restrictions with ridiculously high fines - but then Thanet isn't all that busy generally. It's been a good few years since I lived there, but cycling in the prom was never problematic - though maybe it is different with this years stay-cations and so many new dog owners (I say this as a new dog owner).
Perhaps the residents can take this approach...
How come all the cars haven't slid to the bottom?
They just don't recognise the gravity of the situation
Velcro.
Other (non-trademarked) hook-and-loop fastening materials are available.
Because people only get angry when cyclists break laws.
I'd like to see a more representative picture than the one above, and have some idea of the volume of footfall. Presumably if there's 19miles of it some of it is in the relative boonies.
I'm
uncomfortable withhate mixed use paths in general and particularly putting these in in areas of high footfall and wandering kids (if that is the case here) makes me wonder if the money could have been better spent elsewhere. Next to murder strips they have got to be the most dangerous token nod to cycling in lieu of an actual better funded alternative.Taking the motorway nonsense out of the quote, and not having seen the thing in real life, I tend to agree with the resident more than disagree.
Would be interesting to hear from a local rider as to whether this even addresses a problem that ever really existed.
Wasn't a huge issue in this area, you know except for extended dog leads... And busy days, e scooters... And yes, some people on bikes going a bit fast for a shared area. This section is about 1100m long. Generally though i think it's a bit overboard here.
Other areas a long the coast line it was more of an issue, especially near the proms with beach huts.
Its just wide enough to cycle 2 abreast in a lane on road bikes.
I was running home Saturday and its not really being respected by some, but is by others... As per usual.
It used to be a great place to take kids to learn to cycle and rollerskate and scoot on.
We'll see if that changes.
It's almost exactly like a motorway. Except for the continual noise, the clouds of pollution and the cutting asunder of other paths and roads.
Come on Ian, admit it, you just don't like how it looks. Which to be fair, it's not really aesthically pleasing to me either. They've created shared space, a faster cycle lane and a pedestrian only path, cheaply with a bit of paint. On the face of it, it's a win all round. But we all know what the reality will be!
As always, painted white lines are worse than useless.
Some people will complain at anything. First they complain about cyclists weaving in and out of the pedestrians, then they complain when the council does something.
I don't know if the new arrangement is better or worse, but for the life of me, I can't see where he gets his motorway analogy from. I can't see any overhead gantries.
And how is one disgruntled person "residents"?
I was expecting 3 lanes,for overtaking, and coloured cats eyes at juctions.
...or maybe "3 lanes, the outside reserved exclusively for BMWs and Audis, the middle lane for most other traffic (irrespective of whether there is anything in lane 1) and the inside lane for lorries with large adverts extolling the green credentials of the company they work for, with no sense of irony/shame".
To be fair, it does have a 'SLOW' lane.
Does it mean i can do 70 along it?
I'm guessing the answer is no.