Cycle Infrastructure Works
These local works at Chalbury Corner, Preston on the eastern side of Weymouth may not, at first glance, be of interest to anyone not cycling in and around Weymouth. However, they do highlight some issues with infrastructure implementation that *are* experienced in many other areas. I visited for 45 minutes at the start of afternoon rush hour.
The works completed on time after 20 weeks, except the toucan crossing awaits final commissioning. In terms of the physical build it looks the business. The finance for the project, which encompasses the busy roundabout and 200m lead in where the B3155 meets the A353, was provided by central government as part of the A354 Weymouth relief Road deemed necessary to ensure ingress for spectators to the 2012 Olympic sailing events in and around Weymouth and Portland Harbours. The money was ring fenced for the cycle improvement works, the main part of which concerns a 300 metre B3155 lead in from the direction of the sea to the roundabout at the junction with the A353.
So far so good. However:
-The road was a very wide one in the first place and was safe to cycle on.
-These specific works do not join up with existing nearby cycle works. (I suspect that, originally, the cycle path that *was* built from the relief road was meant to come all the way down to this roundabout but the engineers deemed the road too narrow from about 400 metres short so they then thought how else can we best spend the money).
-The cyclepath works have consisted of widening the footpaths at the expense of the road width to form a dual use pathway but still leave a road width comfortably wide enough to cycle safely on.
-The cyclepath passes a bus shelter and a busy pull-in to a corner shops area at the side of the roundabout.
-The cyclepath is opposite a busy doctors’ surgery.
-The cyclepath markings consist of just cycle and pedestrian symbols rather than a segregated white lined cycle lane on the pavement for which there is plenty room.
-The road width at the toucan crossing has been reduced to accommodate a middle staggered island big enough to build an affordable house on.
The net result is that the majority of cyclists will continue to use the road. Those few cyclists that head in from the direction of the sea and decide to use the new undelineated cycleway will be putting pedestrians and bus passengers in danger and themselves in danger from the exiting corner shoppers in cars and vans. These minority cyclists then continue to ride on the pavement up the A353 to where the cyclepath recommences. In the unlikely event they rejoin the road at the indicated point, just after the exit bend from the roundabout, they then run the risk of collision with a car unsighted of cyclist until the last second.
My initial conclusion is that the £450k spent on this isolated piece of (good looking) cycle infrastructure has actually reduced safety for cyclists and pedestrians. This is a situation common throughout the country, especially with painted line cycle lanes at the side of the road too narrow to be safe. Councils are going through the motions rather than thinking strategically or at least thinking cycling and walking safety. It is still early days so I will return in a month or so to see how/if things have settled.
