Issues
This section lists issues - problems on the street network and related matters.
Issues always relate to some geographical location, whether very local or perhaps city-wide.
You can create a new issue using the button on the right.
Listed issues, most recent first, limited to the area of Cyclenation:
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Exeter to Crediton Cyclepath
The primary route between Crediton and Exeter is the narrow and busy A377. It has been the site of at least one cycling fatality near Newton St Cyres.
An alternative route is possible using the lanes north of the A377 through Sweetham. However this route is compromised at both ends - at Exeter in the Cowley Bridge area and in Crediton by the approach along the A3072.
Development of a safe route is belived to be of high priority.
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Hills Road - roadworks chaos
General chaos in this area due to the roadworks. How can this be better managed to make cycle access as easy as possible?
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Local area cycling and walking statistics
This is a general issue aiming to collect together details of cycling and walking statistics in Cambridge as the years progress.
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Addenbrookes Trumpington Cycleway
Surfacing issues for this path.
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Removal of Jesus Lane traffic lights
There are two sets of traffic lights on Jesus Lane which are not really needed any more and just cause delays.
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Dangerous Junction
This junction is a problem. It has four exits and no one indicates their intent. We got the billboards removed a couple of years ago, but there are still accidents here.
It's a 20mph zone and most drivers ignore it.
The Magdalene place junction needs to be blocked off. -
Chilmington Green development
The Chilmington Green planning application proposes approximately 5750 dwellings, four primary schools, a secondary school, local shops, community facilities, and a Park & Ride facility.
NCR18 runs through the heart of the proposed development.
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Folkestone Harbour development
Planning application Y12/0897/SH proposes the redevelopment of a significant portion Folkestone Harbour and surrounding land. The proposals include up to 1000 dwellings and up to 10000sqm of commercial landuse. NCR2 runs through the development area.
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Cycle parking needed for Faversham town centre
Faversham town centre currently only has a small amount of cycle parking provision of not particularly high quantity. Cycle parking should be provided to enable more people to choose to cycle instead of drive to the town centre.
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Cycle path needed to The Abbey School
A cycle path is needed to serve The Abbey School in Faversham. The busy A2 at the front of the school currently provides a barrier to pupils and staff choosing to cycle to the school. A cycle path will reduce the number of pupils being dropped off at the school by car and the number of staff that drive in, thus reducing the burden on the highway network.
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Cycle parking needed for Blean shops
Cycle parking is needed to serve the parade of shops at Tyler Hill Road in Blean. This will encourage people to choose to cycle to these shops instead of driving.
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Cycle parking needed for parade of shops in Hunter Avenue
Cycle parking is needed to serve the parade of shops in Hunter Avenue to encourage people to choose to cycle to these shops instead of driving.
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Replace "wheelbender" cycle parking with Sheffield stands
The "wheelbender" cycle parking serving the shop on the corner of The Terrance and Tenterden Drive should be replaced with Sheffield stands to encourage it to be better used and to prevent against damage to cycles.
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Cycle parking needed for corner shop at Miller Avenue, Canterbury
Cycle parking is needed for the corner shop at the Miller Avenue, Knight Avenue junction to encourage people to choose to cycle to the shop instead of driving.
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Cycle parking needed for shops on Sussex Avenue, Canterbury
Cycle parking is needed to serve the parade of shops on Sussex Avenue, Canterbury at its junction with Kent Avenue to encourage people to choose to cycle to these shops instead of driving.
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No Entry at Westgate end of Canterbury High Street
It is unclear whether the No Entry sign at the Westgate end of Canterbury's high street applies to cyclists since there is also a sign nearby detailing the cycle restriction times for the pedestrianised area. If cyclists are legally allowed to ignore the No Entry sign then an "Except Cycles" sign should also be attached beneath the No Entry sign.
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Beaney cycle parking hidden
The new cycle parking for the Beaney is not visible from the road and is not signposted. Therefore it is hard to find and suffers from poor passive surveillance / security.
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Cycle parking at Marlowe Theatre hard to find
The cycle parking at the Marlowe Theatre is hard to find. Whilst it is signposted this is not obvious. A more obvious sign towards the cycle parking should be installed.
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Poor cycle parking at B&Q, Canterbury
Canterbury's B&Q store has poor "wheelbender" style cycle parking which is hidden away from view. High quality cycle parking (e.g. Sheffield stands) needs to be installed in a more visible location, ideally close to the store entrance, in order to encourage more customers to choose to cycle instead of drive to the store.
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Cycle parking needed at Ten Perch Road retail units
The retail units at the end of Ten Perch Road (Pets at Home and Staples) are well served by cycle routes, but they don't have any cycle parking available for customers. Cycle parking should be provided to encourage people to choose to cycle instead of drive to these shops.
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Better cycle parking needed at Kingsmead Leisure Centre
The current wheelbender cycle parking at Kingsmead Leisure Centre is poor. It needs to be replaced with higher quality cycle parking (e.g. Sheffield stands) in order to be more widely used.
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Cycle parking needed at Sainsburys, St. Dunstan's
Cycle parking is needed for customers using the new Sainsbury's store in St. Dunstan's.
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Cycle parking needed at Sainsburys, Old Dover Road
Cycle parking is needed for customers at the new Sainsburys store at Old Dover Road.
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Cycle parking needed at Kent County Cricket Club
Cycle parking is needed at Kent County Cricket Club to allow spectators to choose to cycle to the club. This will reduce motor journeys to the club.
This map shows all issues, whether points, routes, or areas:
The most popular issues, based on the number of votes:
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Should Cambridge 'Go Dutch' (or Danish)
London Cycling Campaign has reorientated its policy towards a 'Go Dutch' approach.
This aims to learn from best practice abroad rather than continuing with the 'hierarchy of provision' that, in 20 years in the UK, has arguably failed to deliver meaningful change.
This is an overarching issue for conceptual discussion of this issue.
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Tyne - No good crossing available
Despite the number of bridges that link Newcastle and Gateshead, there is not a single route across the Tyne that throws bike users in to conflict with either high volumes of motor vehicles at high speeds or that uses shared paths that create potential conflict with pedestrians.
Due to the amount of people who already cycle between Newcastle and Gateshead and the potential for this to grow, there should be at least one high level crossing that gives bike users there own space when crossing the Tyne.
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Phasing of Eagle Street Lights eastbound such that you always get caught at second again
The traffic lights at Eagle Street were timed such that travelling eastbound you would always get caught at the second set unless you were extremely fast setting off. After discussions with the council and it brought up at the Sustainability Forum by Cllr Smart, it was fixed to increase the length of time that those lights were green, and was great as you always knew you could get through the second set of lights without having to wait unless you just went through the earlier ones just before they went red.
However over the past few days the signal timing has changed back to the older timing where the probability of getting through the second set is virtually nil. In an ideal world they would be phased such that the first set would go green, then the second set would go green several seconds later at the point where you would be arriving at them, rather than having them change to green almost at the same time.
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Landbeach to Cambridge Cycleway
The Landbeach Parish Council would like the bridgeway from Landbeach to Cambridge to be upgraded to a cycleway.
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Lower Mortlake Road side roads
All the sideroads between Richmond Circus and Manor Circus are a danger to cyclists on the cycleway.
There is no warning to motorists that there will be crossing cyclists and the building angles make it hard to see if anything is coming.
Turning traffic from the A316 can have an obscured view of the cycleway due to foliage.
Decrease corner radii.
Make road hump more pronounced.
Make cycle surface colour continuous across roadway.
Add markings across roadway.
Add warning signage.
Move give way lines back to before cycleway or add additional give way lines. -
Palewell Fields pedestrian route - obstruction
The path linking Bank Lane to Palewell Fields is currently pedestrian only, with gates across it. Opening this up to cyclists would improve permeability and provide a quiet route to Richmond Park Academy school from Roehampton (east-west); and to Ibstock Place school from Sheen (west-east).
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Wilmslow Road Section 7 (Curry Mile)
Place-holder for Corridor Cycleway Section 7 discussions
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Various improvements between Ipswich and Harwich International
Many cyclists won't cycle to Harwich International from the Ipswich direction due to the roads. There really should be a high quality cycle route for this to continue the cycle journey from The Netherlands, where you can ride of the ferry and on to quality cycle infrastructure. The fact people choose the train is not a good sign.
This issue is the overall goal, and needs to be broken down into smaller sub issues of smaller more specific projects or improvements that can work towards this goal.
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Jones "Parkland" development, Cheadle
Planning application submitted to Stockport Council re. Phase 4 of the "Parklands" development at Three Acres Lane (ref. DC053394). The proposals seem to purely focus on motor transport via the A34 as the means of access/egress. CycleWilmslow have long campaigned, with support from some CycleStockport members plus CTC and Sustrans for a traffic-free route from Cheadle to Handforth. This would go through this site (there is currently a footpath which would require minimal work to upgrade to bridleway standard).
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The 'Milton Road Effect'
Vehicles are continually abusing cyclists who use the road here because the bus lane on the other side forces the carriageway to be narrow.
Although there is the cycleway, it has the usual problems of loss of priority at sideroads, bins in the way, people going in and out of driveways, etc.
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Manor Circus
West side the cycleway terminates at the Manor Rd zebra crossing.
East side it vanishes 20 meters from the junction at the Lower Richmond Rd zebra crossing.
Path between is not shared use and is very narrow due to excessive road width on roundabout due to dedicated turning lane and large roundabout center.
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Twickenham Bridge to Thames Path
The cycleways along the Thames Path and along Ducks Walk are not connected with the south/east side cycleway across Twickenham Bridge and only to the north/west side cycleway via a long detour through Old Deer Park or along The Avenue.
A ramped way down from the bridge would create a useful route for people into and out of Richmond town center that is currently only possible by using two flights of steps.
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MMW/Forrest Rd
Longstanding issue about 'optimum' design, particularly to reduce conflict caused by vehicles turning from Teviot Pl due to signal phases.
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Upper Maudlin Street: Cycle Lane Too Close To Parking
Heading south west on Upper Maudlin Street, cyclists approaching lights have a narrow cycle lane cum ASL lead-in immediately adjacent to parked vehicles. The risk of dooring is clear. The lane or the parking should be removed.
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Proper cycle provision on Cherry Hinton Road needed
Cherry Hinton Road is currently mainly typical 'blue sign on a pavement' provision, despite having the edge-to-edge width in places for proper cycle provision. A longer-term objective should be to upgrade this.
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Calton Gardens / Holloway
A dropped kerb at this point would improve the route that people can take to cycle between Bear Flat and the city centre - making it easier to use Calton Gardens to avoid the section of footpath on the alternative via Holloway and St Marks Church.
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Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council Draft Cycling Strategy consultation
"Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council has commissioned Sustrans, a leading UK charity that aims to encourage people to travel by foot, bicycle or public transport for more of their local journeys to help create a ‘cycling strategy’ and new cycle network map in consultation with the people who live in, work in or visit the borough."
The strategy ignores most of the Borough, has low aims (lowest common denominator rather than facilities suitable for all riders), and is being made irrelevant by new housing developments.
Responses to the consultation should be in by 11th December.
Here is a map showing the Borough Council's boundaries: https://www.openstreetmap.org/relation/127249
By zooming in to this map, you can see the proposed corridors as dashed blue highlights: http://opencyclemap.org/?zoom=12&lat=51.2725&lon=-1.15&layers=B0000
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Petersham Road
There is a fairly good cycle lanes from Kingston towards Richmond up until you reach the Richmond Council border where Richmond Road (A307) turns into the Upper Ham Road (A307) and eventually Petersham Road (A307). At traffic lights along this route there are reserved areas for cyclists but along the roads there is nothing to remind drivers that cyclists share the road especially when the road narrows after Sandy Lane through Petersham. The road surface here is terrible and the speed bumps are pointless because some driver sprint between the bumps.
The best solution would be to remove the cyclists from this route altogether by upgrading the Thames Path to create a proper cycle path along the River Thames towards Richmond that currently stops at Teddington Lock. If a cycle/foot bridge linking Ham with Twickenham was built over Eel Pie along this route it would create an obvious link for those want to reach Twickenham.
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Missing "except cyclists" sign
When heading west along Leigham Court Road towards Streatham Hill Station, there is a sign saying no right turn into Mount Nod Road. However, there is a "cycle plug" there, so the no right turn sign should have an "except for cyclists" underneath.
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Mortlake Station footbridge
Footbridges at Mortlake railway station should be fitted with troughs to enable cyclists to easily wheel bicycles to the other platform. Cyclists frequently carry bicycles over the footbridge, as per the photo - one going in each direction!
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Turn Dock Street entrance into continuous pavement/cycle track
The entrance to Dock Street should be turned into a continuous footway with pedestrian and cyclist priority over turning vehicles akin to this Danish junction: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcnmLU1ClTo
This would improve sight lines for pedestrians too as the dropped kerbs are away from the junction, and it would also go with the pedestrian desire line as many tend to cross closer to the junction than the dropped kerbs. It would also slow down the vehicles entering the narrow street.
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No Entry except Cycles?
This is a good location for "No Entry except Cycles".
The existing Traffic Order allows cycling past the No Entry sign.
The existing "cycle bypass" over the footway, which was rarely used, has been obstructed and largely destroyed by the adjacent building site.
The simplest solution is to add a supplementary plate "Except Cycles" under the No Entry sign. -
Narrow Approach To Clifton Suspension Bridge With Unsuitable Cycle Lane
On the eastern approach to Clifton Suspension Bridge the narrow road curves past a pedestrian refuge next to a toilet block. The short cycle lane that had started as approximately 1.2 metres wide narrows to approximately 0.9 metres at the refuge. More than half of the cycle lane at that point is paved with uneven cobbles unsuitable for cycling, especially on a bend. The traffic lane (approx 3.2 metres) is too narrow for a car and a bicycle to pass together. The cycle lane, in effect, is encouraging inexperienced cyclists to adopt a vulnerable road position and to cycle on an unsuitable surface.
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Northstowe Planning Application
Major planning application here - c. 10,000 homes
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Chicanes too close
Added to reduce confict with pedestrians at back of Leith Academy.
Will act as a barrier to long bikes, trailers and probably buggies and wheelchairs.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chdot/8116937797/sizes/l/in/photostream