FIVE.. Reallocation of roadspace

Case study

The Milton Road effect

On Milton Road the inbound bus lane has left an extremely narrow outbound traffic lane. Cyclists who use the road are often harassed by impatient drivers who drive too close behind, overtake deliberately close, shout abuse, use their horns and, in some cases, actually make contact with cycles using their vehicles.

This type of behaviour has been so often recorded that it has been dubbed the ‘Milton Road Effect’ by cyclists and many have been forced onto the narrow pavement cycle path where they have to deal with obstructions such as pedestrians wandering into their path, wheelie bins and regular side roads. The reason drivers think cyclists should be off the road is because they know there’s a shared-use cycleway, even if it is clearly not adequate.