THREE.. Bad infrastructure... and the problems it causes

Bad infrastructure... ...is encountered by cyclists every day and this has a negative impact on encouraging more people out of their cars.

Firstly, such infrastructure can be unsafe and inconvenient, which inevitably leads to a reduction in the number of cyclists using it and an increase in pressure on other forms of transport.

More importantly, where there is already some sort of cycle facility in place there is little incentive for the transport authorities to create new and better provision. Local Authorities often take the view that as long as there is a facility in place, no matter how inadequate, they have done their duty. This mindset has to change.

The Campaign wants to see an end to substandard cycling provision, lessons learnt from past poor design and an appreciation from planners that poor cycling provision is worse than no cycling provision at all.

Let’s take a look at examples of bad infrastructure.

• Poor quality cycle lanes
• Shortcomings of pavement cycle tracks
• Coldham’s Lane Bridge [Case study]
• What do we do about shared-use pavements?
• Obstructions
• Junctions
• Addressing niggles on a city-wide basis
• Conclusion