Parking: a review too far?

[Joe K]

Last week I was returning from picking up a prescription at the surgery on Stroud Road, and as I turned on to Ryecroft Street, noticed that the 'on/off' pavement pilot parking scheme has been extended, creating new bottlenecks, and thus new opportunities for impatient drivers to intimidate cyclists. I don't remember any consultation about this, or the 'review' being about making life harder for cyclists as well as easier for motorists. I am going to find out, though.

Here's one solution to the problem. I'm pretty sure most road cyclists can manage at least twenty miles an hour, so if the roads these schemes are applied to have a mandatory limit of 20, no car will have the right or need to overtake, which will be a load off cyclists' minds.

In fact, that's worth a poll...

[Joe K]

Well, I'll start the ball rolling, then...

For the record, that question should end with 'prevent motorists from trying to overtake cyclists?'

[Joe K]

The growing concensus seems to be that bikes don't generally go faster than 15mph tops in the city (it probably just feels faster when I'm buzzing along), and getting that kind of speed limit imposed is 'a big ask', I guess. Mind, 10mph is the limit in Asda, and possibly less on hospital grounds, and those parking schemes make driving similarly hazardous...

What I think might be worth doing as an alternative is tackling this notion that bad decisions can't be rectified without paying £3,000 for another Traffic Regulation Order. There should be a clause that allows, for example, the lines to be put back on the corner of Charles/Widden St so that high vehicles don't create a blind spot for bicycles. In fact, I find it hard to believe there isn't one already. I'm going to have to look into that...

[Deleted]

There are cyclists that do 10mph at most. You obviously haven't noticed them.

Having said that, I do wish that the police would start to do SOMETHING about the speed-merchants who manage to race through Tredworth's High Street, Wheatstone Road, Hartland Road and other 20mph roads at 30 to 40mph. This is dangerous for everyone - pedestrians, pet cats, children playing in the street.

[Joe K]

Aug 19, 2012 23:45:04 GMT @kaypowell said:

There are cyclists that do 10mph at most. You obviously haven't noticed them.

That's a tad harsh, Kay. I've already accepted that not every cyclist manages 20mph, which is why I'm musing on how low limits on narrow streets can go.

I guess I was feeling a scintilla of sympathy for motorists 'stuck' behind cyclists moving at less than 10mph on such roads, but in reality, their misfortune is down to those people who thought clgging up both sides of the street was a good idea. Even though Phiip Lowery has said three times now that cycling along such roads is 'scary', there has been no wider recognition of the problem.

Having said that, I do wish that the police would start to do SOMETHING about the speed-merchants who manage to race through Tredworth's High Street, Wheatstone Road, Hartland Road and other 20mph roads at 30 to 40mph. This is dangerous for everyone - pedestrians, pet cats, children playing in the street.

I would raise that at the next Street Reps/police panel meeting, but it would involve talking to the police, who are generally dead to me . Apparently, one of their 'policing pledges' is to keep the public informed of when their police panels take place, but when I ask where this information is available, they indicate a page which only contains details of police information point dates.

Maybe someone else can get a straighter answer... [e-mail]

Barton & Tredworth Community

[Deleted]

I've given up on the street reps, but I would still like to attend police panel meetings. I haven't been notified about one of these for ages - eighteen months, perhaps.

[Joe K]

18 months is far too long. Actually, they may have changed the wording of their 'pledge' to allow PIPs to qualify as 'meetings'. It's on a par with closing most of their police stations.

It seems to have turned out that this parking review, far from just being about removing 'unnecessary' DYLs, has brought in loads of those 'on/off pavement' parking schemes, creating more hazards for cyclists. Were cyclists consulted about that, I wonder? Oh yes, I was going to ask about that, but I've been busy...

I wonder further if the pointless cycle lanes on Barton St were ordered to supposedly 'make up' for the extra hazards?