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LATEST NEWS 2010 |
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Exchange of correspondence with County Council regarding proposals for Pointer roundabout (27.06.10)
Dear Dr Horton
Thank you for replying with regard to this consultation and please accept my apologies for not responding sooner on this matter.
Your support for the introduction of the zebra crossing at the A6 Greaves Road/ Pointer Roundabout junction is noted.
Staff in the Area Traffic Team are currently working on revised proposals in an attempt to try and reconcile some of the concerns that have been raised during the public consultation prior to the County Council making a final decision on the scheme.
The Lancaster City Council Cycling Demonstration Town proposals for the pointer roundabout are currently being designed by staff within that office and it is their intention to consult Dynamo directly with regard to proposals for circulatory cycle lanes or any other cycle measures on the roundabout. I have forwarded a copy of your original email to officers at Lancaster City Council for information purposes.
There is a wealth of often contradictory guidance and advice available as to where cycle lanes should and shouldn't be located, and as with all road layouts it is not usually appropriate to apply a one size fits all approach. I note your points relating to potential cyclist/ HGV left turn conflicts due to the proposed marked cycle lane on the north bound approach and the reported fatal collisions that have occurred over the last few years in London at signal controlled junctions and confirm that additional survey work is being undertaken to ascertain he most appropriate and safest intervention at the pointer roundabout.
Assuming that a viable scheme can be produced, the final decision on its introduction will be taken at a future date by County Councillor Keith Young (Cabinet Member for Highways and Transportation). This is due to the number of unfavourable responses that we have received, particularly with regard to the provision of the new bus stop facilities and the resulting loss of parking.
Kind regards
Engineer (Traffic & Development)
Dear Sir/Madam
RE: A6 GREAVES ROAD/POINTER ROUNDABOUT – LANCASTER: PROPOSED ZEBRA CROSSING AND BUS STOP
I comment on the above scheme on behalf of Dynamo, Lancaster and District’s Cycle Campaign.
In general, Dynamo applauds the attempt to improve this difficult junction for pedestrians, and is supportive of both the reduction in carriageway width and the introduction of a zebra crossing; indeed, Dynamo would like to see such facilities for pedestrians on all approaches to the roundabout.
Dynamo also recognizes the positive intent – with the provision of demarcated cycle lanes - towards cyclists in the planned changes. Indeed, it is very happy to see the provision of a cycle lane off the roundabout, heading south along the A6.
However, Dynamo also has some concerns about the proposed amendments. Specifically, Dynamo is worried by the introduction of a clear cycle lane on the nearside of the north-bound approach to the Pointer roundabout. This would seem to be sending a very clear signal to all road users (i.e. not just people on bikes) that people on bikes should i) approach the roundabout down the nearside, and ii) maintain such positioning as they continue to negotiate the roundabout.
With regard to i), Dynamo considers it inadvisable for people on cycles to take such an approach to the Pointer roundabout. The A6 carries high levels of HGV and bus traffic, and undertaking such vehicles risks entering the driver’s blind-spot. A significant number (indeed, the majority in London) of road deaths among people riding bikes occurs through just this scenario.
With regard to ii), Dynamo is worried that the longer-term intention (of the City Council, as a Cycling Demonstration Town under the direction of Cycling England) is for the implementation of ‘magic roundabout’ style cycling provision around the Pointer roundabout. Again, Dynamo recognizes the good intentions at work here, and is also pleased to note that we seem finally to have moved beyond the era of "cyclists dismount" signs with directions for people on bikes to move onto the pavement as pedestrians. However in the absence of more fundamental changes to the transport environment (including dramatic speed reduction and changes in laws over liability in the event of accidents) Dynamo believes that such magic roundabout style provision is a misguided fashion which will all-too-soon be seen as mistaken. For the time being, we should be directing people on bikes to ride according to best practice guidelines in cycle training, which clearly instruct people on bikes to ride assertively and to make themselves visible, rather than to stay on the edge and to put themselves in vulnerable situations. By clearly directing (novice) cyclists to remain on the roundabout’s periphery, where they are exposed to vehicles accelerating off the roundabout, magic roundabout style provision gives (novice) cyclists a false sense of security whilst placing them in very vulnerable positions.
So what would Dynamo like to see instead of the current plans? Dynamo’s preference is for clear markings across the north-bound approach to the roundabout, indicating that cyclists are entitled to take any position they wish in the carriageway, according to their levels of experience and confidence, and the specific conditions at the time. These markings might, for example, take the form of large and striking cycle logos, of the kind which have recently been introduced on Lancaster city centre’s gyratory. Such logos could be repeated on the road surface around the roundabout, to strike home to all road users that people on bikes might be encountered anywhere.
In the absence of such provision, clearly indicating that people on bikes are legitimate anywhere on the road, our second choice (though by a very long way) would be to have nothing. To be clear, Dynamo doesn’t want nothing, but believes that nothing would be better than the current plans for the north-bound approach to the roundabout.
Please get in touch with me, if you need further details or clarification on any of this.
Thanks very much for consulting Dynamo, and for listening to our response.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Very best wishes
Dave Horton on behalf of Dynamo, Lancaster and District Cycle Campaign
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