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THREE.. Bad infrastructure... and the problems it causes
Shortcomings of pavement cycle tracks
Pavement-style cycle tracks alongside the road have so many problems for both cyclists and walkers that most need to be completely rethought
Cycle tracks, off-road but alongside roads, are another area which needs to be completely rethought.
A lack of priority for cyclists over side roads, conflicts between pedestrians and cyclists, narrow segregation (if any) and poor construction all conspire to create a poor cycling environment.
Lack of priority at side roads - such as at Barton Road, Milton Road, and many other locations - is also a key problem. As well as the obvious danger this creates, stopping to give way to cars every few hundred yards means a loss of momentum, increases journey times and is not conducive to a pleasant cycling experience. Other vehicles are not expected to stop repeatedly and neither should cyclists be.
A large number of cycle collisions already occur at junctions. Off-road routes without priority over side roads introduce lots of new junctions and hence more danger points.
Cambridge is an ideal place for a government-approved experiment to demonstrate that giving cyclists priority at sideroads, as on the continent, works to everyone’s advantage, so that it can become the norm well before 2020
The inaccessibility and narrowness of such tracks often makes maintenance difficult as they are unsuitable for road-sweeping vehicles.
The general principle is that if cycle tracks are to be provided, they must be of sufficient quality to enable cyclists to use them should they so wish and avoid antagonising car drivers for those cyclists who remain on the road.
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