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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Berechurch Hall Road Speed Limits
Berechurch Hall Road is a busy road that is becoming increasingly residential West of the junction with Berechurch Road (J1). The speed limit has been reduced from 40mph to 30mph, except for a section of 40mph East of J1.
To improve safety for pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists, the current speed limits should be reduced by 10mph (Fig 4.1) and traffic lanes correspondingly narrowed (7.2.5-7).
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Camulodunum Way - Baronswood Way Missing Link
The sub-LTN 1/20 white line (6.5.2-3) segregated bidirectional cycleway (Table 5-2 & 5-3) along Camulodunum Way (CW) and Baronswood Way (BW) are not connected, leaving unconfident cyclists travelling North/South along CW via the toucan crossing from the new development 202025 unable to continue North to the Town Centre, as advertised in planning documents.
The gap could be easily filled to the existing standard on CW/BW via footway conversion.
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Highgate Road Safe and Healthy Streets
Camden is consulting on making permanent the trial scheme put in during summer 2020:
- Extension of hours of operation to 24/7 – “at all times” for the following bus lanes on Highgate Road:
- the southbound bus lane CMO15 which runs from St Albans Road to Dartmouth Park Road,
- the northbound bus lane CMO16 which runs from Carrol Close (97 Highgate Road) to Wesleyan Place,
- and the southbound bus lane CMO17 which runs from Burghley Road to Fortess Road .
- Waiting and loading restrictions extended to ‘at any time’ in all bus lanes.
- Addition of two loading bays outside 109-111 Highgate Road in CMO16 and outside 12 Highgate Road in CMO17 with hours of operation of 7pm-7am for loading for commercial properties.
They also propose the following new measures
- the extension of the existing southbound bus lane “CMO15” to the north, up to the roundabout with Swains Lane
- the removal of paid-for/permit parking bays along Highgate Road to remove existing pinch points and facilitate the extension of the bus lane (10 outside the tennis courts and 18 opposite Grove Terrace).
- the introduction of ‘at any time’ waiting and loading restrictions at the junction of Highgate Road and Carrol Close, to improve road user and pedestrian safety
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21/04425/FUL: Change of use to 9 bed large HMO. 49 College Fields
Change of use from a small HMO (use class C4) to a 9 bed large house in multiple occupation (use class sui generis).
49 College Fields Cambridge Cambridgeshire CB4 1YZ
Cambridge
Application reference : 21/04425/FUL
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Walking and cycling in and around Huntingdon
A new thread to highlight issues in and around Huntingdon which we may wish to engage with / support our partners with.
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PA_212689_22ValDrive
Outline application for erection of 3 bedroom two storey house on garden of 22 Valentines Drive.
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PA_212657_25Creffield
Retrospecitve application for garden fence and cycle/bin store
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PA_212540_BlueOwlGtHorks
Part change of use from retail to domestic, with proposed gates and post and rail fence to front of car park. Erection of car barn to rearof site.
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Millfield Lane Safe and Healthy Streets
In June 2020, a No Entry (with cycle exception) was placed on Millfield Lane just south of the junction of Merton Lane, making the southern section one way northbound for motor vehicles. In addition, several parking spaces were removed at the bend to provide more space for walking. This was done with an experimental traffic order and Camden is now consulting on making the changes permanent and building a proper footway at the widened section.
Extras
Camden also proposes:
- to convert 11 extra parking bays on Millfield Lane to double yellow lines and double kerb blips to improve visibility, reduce conflict between drivers and cyclists and to minimise vehicle movements which are hazardous to pedestrians.
- and to remove parking on Merton Lane close to the junction with West Hill
- and to remove parking at the junction of Merton Lane and Millfield Lane and widen the footway
They also ask whether we would like to have Merton Lane one-way for motor vehicles (eastbound only)
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PA_212507_WyvernFrm600
Outline Planning Application (with all matters reserved except access) for the erection of up to 600 dwellings, land for a co-located2FE primary school and early years nursery, public open space and associate infrastructure. Vehicular access from Londo
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O/COL/01/1624_SeverallsHosp
Residential development (approximately 1500 dwellings including conversion of some retained hospital buildings) mixed uses, including community facilities, employment and retail, public open space, landscaping, new highways, transport improvements, reserved route of the Northern Approach Road Phase 3 (NAR3), and associated development.
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PA_212506_ChesterwellDayNursery
Mixed use development comprising nursery at ground floor level and residential units at first floor with associated parking and landscaping as a part of Neighbourhood Centre NC2
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PA_212490_Copford6Hses
Construction of 6 new residential homes with associated landscaping and parking
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PA_212479_MTroofconv
Conversion of existing roof space of Block A2 to create 1no. 1bed flat with 25sqm private terrace, together with allocation of 1no. car parking spaces (AMENDED DESCRIPTION)
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PA_212473_63HighSt
Listed building: Proposed Change of Use from accommodation ancillary to the existing Gaming Centre (Sui Generis) to C3 (residential dwelling) on existing 2nd floor. Listed Building Consent for minor alterations to facilitate the change of use.
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21/04350/FUL: change of use to 11no flats, 620-622 Chartwell House, Newmarket Rd
Change of use from B1(a) (offices) to Class C3 (11no flats) with changes to external elevations including new balcony structure and dormer windows
620-622 Chartwell House Newmarket Road Cambridge CB5 8LP
Cambridge
Application reference : 21/04350/FUL
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Active Travel in Fenland
Camcycle would like to support communities across the county as part of our strategy to influence decision-making at a regional level and our campaign for Zero Carbon Streets in Cambridgeshire which aims to empower local groups to work for better walking and cycling in their areas. Fenland has historically been badly served in terms of active travel investment and is an important district in which to support improvements.
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21/04260/FUL Change of use of a vacant office to Hostel
Change of use of a vacant office (Class E, previously Class B1) to Hostel (Sui generis) and use of the roof space as external amenity space.
49 Sidney Street (First And Second Floor) Cambridge Cambridgeshire CB2 3JF
Cambridge
Application reference : 21/04260/FUL
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Brook Street
Suggestions to reduce traffic (via restricting southbound traffic) and potentially add cycling infrastructure on Brook street.
See google document.
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Guided busway hazard
Sunday 26th of September 10.15pm I was cycling from Cambridge North to Histon. I collided with a fence immediately after exiting the A14 tunnel and sustained a dislocated shoulder along with other injuries.
There is definitely a hazard here because
1) the busway and tunnel from Cambridge North are brightly lit. The busway after the tunnel towards Histon is unlit.
2) about 30m after the tunnel the width of the busway tarmac surface suddenly reduces due to the introduction of the gravel strip (approx 1m wide). There is also a fence near the start of the gravel strip (I assume for the small animal tunnel)..
I cycled through the tunnel and noticed a cyclist coming in the opposite direction (without lights), so I took avoiding action by moving to the left. I may have then glanced at my mobile phone on my handlebars. When I looked up I saw the fence in my headlight. I then hit or clipped the fence.
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PA_212385_78NSR
Change of Use from Class D1 (New Ee) Health Clinic previously trading as The Physiotherapy Practice to Class C3(a) Dwelling House.
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PA_212451_56MilRd
New studio dwelling
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21/04212/FUL: 3 no. self-contained flats, 21 Sandy Lane
Replacement of an existing building with a development of 3 no. self-contained flats
21 Sandy Lane Cambridge Cambridgeshire CB4 1HZ
Cambridge
Application reference : 21/04212/FUL
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21/04190/FUL: 3 dwellings, land adj. to 25 Rawlyn Road
Erection of 3 dwellings along with off street parking, private amenity space, cycle parking/ storage and refuse storage, demolition of existing rear garage lean-to and reconfiguration of the pavement along Stanesfield Road
Land Adjacent To 25 Rawlyn Road Cambridge Cambridgeshire CB5 8NL
Cambridge
Application reference : 21/04190/FUL
This map shows all issues, whether points, routes, or areas:
The most popular issues, based on the number of votes:
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Pinch point created by pedestrian crossing
The current layout of the pedestrian crossing at the junction of Winchester road and Vermont close forces cyclists out of the cycle lane and into the flow of traffic. This is a risky maneuver and relies on the patience of the car driver behind the cyclist. A possible solution would be to be extend the cycle lane through the chicane, with give way markings so that pedestrians have right of way.
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Dangerous section of cycle path outside Dominos Pizza on the Avenue
Southampton Cycling Campaign has received many reports of local cyclists having accidents on the cycle path outside the Dominos Pizza outlet at the southern end of The Avenue.
A recent incident was reported in the Southampton Echo, http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/10475081.Cyclist_hurt_in_road_crash/
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Dogs Head Street cycle contraflow lane parking/loading bay
There is a loading bay in the cycle contraflow cycle lane, which means that the cycle lane is blocked for cyclists as soon as a vehicle is parked there. This means that cyclists have to pull out into the path of oncoming buses, thus making the NCN route unsuitable to young children or inexperienced cyclists.
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Tandem carriage on Scotrail trains
We have a tandem which fits in all the spaces on trains in Scotland (as far as I know), but we are prohibited from taking it on any except the East Coast line trains. I've been writing to various officials - elected and otherwise - and contributed to the recent review of the Scotrail franchise, but am not getting much joy. No one seems to think it is a big deal. But, for my family, with 2 kids aged 5 and 1, and no car, if we don't go by tandem and train, we can't go anywhere much. The tandem is not a luxury but a practical transport solution. Does anyone else want to join in and make this more than a one-woman issue?
(another related issue: even once the kids can ride their own bikes, we won't be able to use trains much since most only allow 2 reservations).
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St Peters Dock lethal rail tracks
Disused railway tracks on St Peters Dock provide short section of road surface that is dangerous to traverse from East to West by bike.
If you are avoiding crossing the tracks then you are forced into oncoming traffic.
If you cross the tracks, you are then potentially trapped between parked cars and the railway tracks, which can be dangerous.
The tracks are very slippery when wet or icy, and sections are often hidden underwater because there is poor drainage after heavy rain.
Ideally the tracks are totally removed, or the surface covered with concrete or tarmac.
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Grey Street
Redesign of Grey Street to remove the danger of cars reversing (blind) out parking bays into middle of the road.
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Chisholm Trail
Proposed route along the rail corridor through Cambridge, part of which is in the Cambridge Local Plan.
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Cycling on A2
The A2 is a hostile environment for cycling. Cyclists should be directed away from using the A2 towards existing safe alternatives (e.g. RCR16) and the current A2 cycle signs should be removed.
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Clerkenwell Boulevard
Here is an ambitious plan for a Bicycle Boulevard from Shoreditch to Fitzrovia, along Old Street, Clerkenwell Road and Theobalds Road, open only to bicycles, buses and motor traffic for local access only.
a. It is now the most cycled route in London, showing that it is the desired EW route.
b. It is of variable width, therefore trying to accommodate bikes, buses, and through traffic in a consistent and safe way is impossible. In other words, a compromise will be a botch job.
c. There will not be mixing of buses and bicycles: bicycles will have a dedicated two way cycle lane on the South side of the street.
d. The Boulevard stops being a mega- EW-rat-run. Motor traffic will have to use Pentonville/City Road.More details here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1yw9mkHhGZaVBKYJs6FxyhC1Z4nNYVl-IFH-aR1ScK9U/pub?start=false#slide=id.p
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Lack of safe room for cycles, terrible road surface
While some painted "cycle lane" does exist northbound, there is woefully little provision for cyclists considering the huge number that use this section of road each day, a large number of whom are those who work at the General Hospital and other nearby health centres. Southbound cyclists have no real provision of space at all, save a graduated stopline, where cars turning right often try to pass right-turning cycles on the inside. Dale road itself is extremely narrow by winchester road, with almost no pavement space for pedestrians.
Cyclists heading northbound on Winchester road must beat traffic off the line at Dale road to get to the painted centre of Winchester road. North of the traffic light at The Range, the cycle lane is almost non-existent, placing cyclists between 2 lanes of heavy traffic, and cyclists have to stop and wait in this dangerous area in order to turn right onto Wilton road. Furthermore, the road surface, especially at this part of Winchester road, is currently deplorable. -
Wandle path bypass for Earlsfield
Garratt Lane at Earlsfield station sucks massively for cyclists, and is a jarring interruption to the Wandle Trail (Sustrans route 20). It would be great to extend the riverside path underneath the railway to avoid this dangerous stretch of road.
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North Meadow Walk - NMW
Surface, drainage and width issues.
Planned for upgrade as part of CEC 'family network'
No details/dates.
Was an issue 5 years ago (and before)
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NCN route 11 and the Waterbeach Gap
I've visited Riverside to Waterbeach with William Rayner of county cycling team. He's revising signage here and providing it along the St Ives corridor, with the old NCN 51 being renamed Regional Route 24 (blue patch). We've decided finally to continue to sign NCN 11 from Riverside Bridge to Waterbeach Station, and he's looking at suitable (hopefully temporary) wording to advise to follow NCN 51 to Bottisham for destinations beyond Waterbeach, which will hopefully eliminate misrouting those from outside the area.
Our inspection of existing signs showed that only one new signboard was provided on completion 5 years ago of Riverside Bridge. Signboards still send people via Green Dragon. Sustrans considers signage is an important part of any route project.
The intention is to sign Milton Country Park as a destination, not as part of the route, removing route signs within the park, and probably retaining Coles Road as the signed route through the village, though it would be much preferable to have improvements past the shops and the village green, pubs etc.
Retaining the route to Waterbeach as NCN will help keep the gap in people's awareness.
I am planning to contact again the landowner of the missing link between Bottisham Lock and Fen Road, Lode with a suggestion for a low-level route, southeast side of the Bottisham Lode floodbank which is the route of the public footpath, where signs forbid cycling. It might be considered more visually acceptable. All parish councils are for the route, including the one of which he is a member.
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Tower Bridge road surface problem
Six inch high ridge near left side of north bound lane on the south side of the bridge forces cyclists too close to the kerb or into the path of motor vehicles. Issue reported via CTC pothole reporting site. Resurfacing required.
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Safer Walking and Cycling between NW Cambridge and Girton
Our campaign for safer walking and cycling to/from NWCambridge now has a petition and a first video (of five) summarising our position.
See our new video summarising our petition:
https://youtu.be/hIlQAzsU0js?t=1sI’d be delighted if you could promote this to your networks. Time is of the essence because a Senate House discussion is coming up [3 Nov 2015], and I will report the number of signatures on our petition there. (But signatures after the date will still be useful.)
More information:
http://tinyurl.com/EddingtonSafetyThe petition:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/EddingtonSafetyAnyone is welcome to sign the petition; we ask people to use the Comment field to let us know if they are University Member / University employee / City resident / SouthCambs resident / etc.
For twitter purposes the recommended hashtag is #EddingtonSafety and there is an @EddingtonSafety account too.
Thanks very much
David
David J C MacKay FRS
djcm1@cam.ac.ukRegius Professor of Engineering,
Cambridge University Engineering DepartmentAuthor of “Sustainable Energy - without the hot air” www.withouthotair.com
and “Information Theory, Inference, and Learning Algorithms” www.inference.eng.cam.ac.uk/mackay/Girton resident and parent.
Cambridge Cycling Campaign Member -
Kings Avenue/Milner Street rat run.
Motorised vehicles currently use the rat run through Milner Street to avoid the fraffic lights at Grove Lane/ St Helens St.
This is part of NCN 41 , any extra traffic passing through here detracts from the cycling experience and is negative for residents.
Cyclist comments are needed now ! -
A14 very hostile for cycling
The A14 is a very hostile, dangerous road for cycling.
Improvements to it, as well as broader changes to the national framework for cyclist crossings of major roads, are needed.
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High motor traffic area of Sustrans Route 4
Sustrans route 4 coming from the canal path on its main route into Bath city centre has a high level of traffic conflict and the need to filter between two tight lanes of traffic with a large proportion of LGVs coming down the A36 Beckford Road.
The right turn from Sydney Place southbound into Great Pulteney Street is signposted as no right turn as well as being route 4, and has no refuge to turn from.
It should be possible to route the path through Sydney Gardens as the Darlington Place/Sydney Place westbound/Great Pulteney Street junction has been improved to increase pedestrian flows.
Some non-cycling residents are also concerned about cyclists using the pavement in this area too.
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Castle Street Cycle Lane - Taxi parking
Castle Street cycle lane is a contraflow cycle lane on a one way street in Sheffield. It has been here since March 1997 and allows cyclists enter the city centre from the network of cycle paths on the East, avoiding some big arterial routes with no cycling provision.
For the past 15 years this cycle lane has been plagued by Hackney Carriage drivers parking illegally on this cycle lane, blocking cyclists access and forcing them into oncoming traffic. This has been the case for over a decade.
There is a taxi rank on the pavement side of the cycle lane, taxis often fill up this rank and overflow, parking in the cycle lane, blocking the way for cyclists.
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pinch points Southwood Road
There are several pedestrian refuges along the road particularly at the western end of the road. The refuges cause a pinch point for cyclists. The road marking confuse priorities between those using the on road cycle path and other traffic.
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Flagship NCN1 crossing Clerk Street
Is this really the best that Edinburgh can do for the flagship national cycle network route 1 to get it to cross Clerk Street? You have to go through a pile of bins, on to the pavement to get round a barrier and then try and judge it right to cross the road, or use the nearby pedestrian crossing.
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Prince St Bridge - Quick Fix
Prince St bridge is an anarchic pigs ear. I like pigs and fond of a bit of anarchy but it's getting beyond a joke. Of course it will all be sorted out properly in due course but we could live with this for years. Here's a quick fix:
SOUTH
1. Move south vehicle stop line back 10m behind tramlines
2. Remove all bollards unless one or two kept in line with centre of bridge with arrows right for cars
3. Widen cycle lane from bridge to Festival way turn so suitable for 2-way cycling.
4. Put in Give Way painted line at an angle running from enlarged cycle lane to centre line so southbound cyclists alerted to need to filter across traffic.NORTH
1. Remove all bollards
2. Widen cycle lane for 2 way cycling all the way up to the traffic lights with The Grove.
3. Remove 5 bollards on each side of north bound traffic light along with the two set back
4. Paint cycle lane passing behind light and then back onto carriageway making it nice and clear that it's an option for cyclists when lights red or they can carry on (as most will, no worse than now but at least it will be clear that they can treat these as 'give way')
5. There will need to be 'give way' paint to make clear that pedestrians have right of way on the by-pass.Yes it's muddled but less so than now and makes the desire lines easier. It's also a cheap paint based fix pending the proper job.
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A316 Cycle Lane - Priority over side roads
I have serious concerns about the safety of this portion of the bike path; arising from its recent re-design. Recently my 10 year old son was in a very close “near-miss” with a car turning off the A316 into Bicester Road; and I believe many more similar incidents are likely occurring. Eventually someone will be seriously hurt or killed on it.
However, the improvement in the track leads cyclists to feel more confident in using it – giving a false sense of security.
In particular:
• The segregated track makes it particularly appealing for inexperienced and more vulnerable cyclists (such as kids).
• This track design leads to an increase in the cyclists speed.
• The smooth/quick nature of the track leads inexperienced cyclists to believe that THEY HAVE RIGHT OF WAY across side roads.
• There are no markings on the roads to tell drivers coming in or out of side roads that cyclists could be on the track crossing their path.
• There is a particular challenge for EASTBOUND cyclists.To avoid stopping at every side road, when on the track travelling Eastbound (as per red arrow on photo) approaching roads such as Bicester road, the cyclist has to simultaneously
(a) check to their FRONT/LEFT side to see if a car is exiting the side road
(b) check BEHIND them on their REAR/ RIGHT hand side to see if a car is about to swing off the A316 into the side road (usually at speed) - (as per orange arrow on photo).This is a hard combination to perform – looking 180 degrees opposite directions at the same time. If you are an inexperienced cyclist, on an apparently safe track, it is very likely that you will not realise you have to be this vigilant and not check adequately for cars.
Hence, my boy rode across Bicester road from the east and was very nearly hit by a car turning off the A316.
(Note that travelling from the west is somewhat easier as both the vehicles turning in from the A316 and those turning out from the side roads are in your front field of vision).
My suggestions for improving this situation are:
(1) Clearly mark the bike track across the side roads so cars are aware there are cyclists approaching from the side.
(2) Ideally, give cyclists priority across the side roads; so making cars slow to a halt and making it more intuitive for cyclists.
(3) To facilitate this, would require some stopping space for traffic coming on/off the A316 to after the bike track crossingAt roads such as Bicester road the bike track could be curved to the south by about 2m before crossing the side road – this curve in the track would
(a) naturally slow cyclists down as they approach the side road
(b) would provide vehicles moving onto the A316 a decent gap so they can separate the concerns of first negotiating the bike track then focus on getting on the A316;
(c) for vehicles coming off the A316 the additional space would give them space to stop and give way to cyclists. -
Reach Fair Ride
The Reach Fair ride takes place on the early Bank Holiday Monday (May Day) in May.
The web page for it is:
http://www.camcycle.org.uk/events/rides/The planning overview is summarised:
http://www.camcycle.org.uk/events/rides/timeline.htmlI've created this issue to help plan this event.
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Richmond Green - one way street
Cyclist coming from the river come up Friars Lane exit and have to currently route right round Richmond Green because it is one way. Many do not and simply cycle across the green. The path across the green should be formally opened up to cyclists - as a share path with pedestrian priority - or a seperate track provided along the south side of Richmond Green.