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Newsletter 40 (February/March 2002)

Contents:

• Trumpington Road (almost) complete
• Fulbourn Old Drift
• Caged in
• Science Park - no access for cycles
• CTC affiliation and insurance
• The digger's Highway Code
• Street light or traffic light failed?
• Eight months on
• Making life easier... (13) Upgrade your dynamo lights
• Cycling shorts
• Money well spent
• Small ads
• How to report smoky vehicles
• Spot the cycle route, number 6
• Ask Dr Dynamo
• Where are we going?
• Letters
• Your streets this month
• About the Campaign
• Elected Officers
• Contacting the Campaign
• Campaign subgroups
• Campaign Diary

Trumpington Road (almost) complete

After the months of misery for users of this route it is at last possible to appreciate the original objectives. All of the route has its final surface, and at least for a couple of weeks around Christmas there have not even been contractors to obstruct it.

Trumpington Road nearing completion. A narrow cycle lane inside the bus lane on one side, and a segregated shared-use path replacing the narrow path on the other

It's now possible to have a relaxing ride from Trumpington to Brooklands Avenue, and although the width of the segregated sections is only just sufficient for overtaking slower cyclists, the surface and lack of obstructions mean that over much of the route the ride is still pleasant and smooth at 25 km/h (15 mph).

There are, at the time of writing, a number of incomplete items, such as lines delineating pedestrian and cycle parts of segregated sections, and 'Give Way' markings. In addition there is a list of snagging items, which we hope will be resolved before you read this. I find it surprising that at least ten new street lights have either failed or never worked, and that even though standards for flush kerbs should by now be well known, dropped kerbs are installed and later have to be 'made flush'. Signing of the limits of the shared use path in the locality of Chaucer Road is very confusing and I'm hoping this is in error rather than design. I'm more concerned that errors in laying a section of segregated path on Shelford Road have yet to be corrected even though they were reported to the Consulting Engineers over two months ago.

Even though the County Council must ultimately take the responsibility, much of the blame for problems on this work must be placed at the door of the Contractors and of the Consulting Engineers, WS Atkins. Given the generous timescale, it is difficult to see why the cycle route could not have been completed prior to the start of work to create bus lanes. Codes of Practice for Road Works (see article), which will be enforced from February, place much firmer responsibilities on those conducting road works to make provision for vulnerable road users. The County Council recognises that much went wrong on these contracts, and it is hoped to provide much better guidance for similar jobs in the future. The Campaign has been consulted over this issue and we expect to be further involved.

We will also be involved with an audit and review of the route. Items to be raised here will include:

• Parking on the cycleway,
• the lack of a Toucan crossing at the Chaucer Road exit,
• the pinch point created at a new Toucan crossing in Trumpington,
• the appalling route past the new Park and Ride site and
• poor ironwork in 'Stage 1' advisory cycle lanes through Trumpington.

For the County Council's benefit I should say the final quality of provision here is infinitely better than the conditions I witnessed on Woodstock Road in Oxford recently, where cyclists have also been forced off the road to make way for a bus lane.

Jim Chisholm

Fulbourn Old Drift

We've reported several times on plans to spend money expected from the development of the Tesco store at Fulbourn, which opened more than three years ago. This time it really looks as if something might happen.

There have been endless problems: disputes with Tesco over the money, excuses about solicitors being off sick for months, an unmarked graveyard in the way. Now it seems it has to happen in a hurry or the money will be lost.

The original plan, to build a path alongside the railway from behind Fulbourn Hospital, had all but been abandoned, and we were asked last year for alternative suggestions. We provided a long list. However, a fatality on the railway crossing has caused the original plans to be reinstated. We have now been consulted on these.

Access needs to be provided to the Capital Park development	In order to make sufficient room alongside the Cambridge to Newmarket railway line the existing wall will be demolished. We hope more direct access from Fulbourn to Tesco will be provided.

The plan looks fine as far as it goes. The scheme will improve access to Tesco, remove the need to dismount at the level crossing, and give a smoother and more straightforward ride. The main areas of concern are about supporting arrangements, like access to the new Capital Park offices on the hospital site and how the route crosses Yarrow Road (the Cherry Hinton bypass) to link up with routes to Cherry Hinton. All of these things were on our list of suggestions. However, as all of the money is likely to be needed to build the proposed path, the chances of providing (for example) a signalled crossing from the same budget are remote.

David Earl

Caged in

Hauxton Road, Trumpington. Cyclists have to wait twice - or ignore the lights and dodge round the island

The entrance to the new Park & Ride site at Trumpington is typical of poor quality cycle provision. There seems to be something about Park & Ride sites that brings out the most tortuous entrance crossing designs.

Poor quality cycling facilities have always been one of the main concerns of the Cycling Campaign. So often it is Hobson's choice. On the one hand, you can use an intimidating road environment, and on the other, you can have a frustrating experience on what is supposed to be a purpose-built cycle facility. Worst of all is a simple footpath with a blue sign authorising cycling. If you don't want to mix with traffic, why must you be rated as a second-class traveller?

Hauxton Road, Trumpington. Cyclists have to cross through this cage, complete with 'bobbly' surface, that is far too narrow to accommodate a bike properly	Hauxton Road, Trumpington. Cyclists cross the slip lane into the Park & Ride site

Lack of quality of off-road paths very often arises from one of three things: inadequate width, poor surfaces and interruptions. The entrances to the park and ride sites around Cambridge are examples of systematic, deliberately low quality provision. The entrances need not, and should not, have been constructed in the way that they have been. Clearly they have been designed by people who think cycles are pedestrians on two wheels, not vehicles in their own right.

M11 junction, Trumpington. Narrow, bumpy path and sharp right angle	Hauxton Road. This 'cycle path' is only about 0.5 metres wide

The new Trumpington site, opened in November 2001, is typical, and is very similar to the year-old site on Madingley Road. Both of these have a two-way path leading up to an entrance shared with (albeit few) pedestrians. The path is narrow - too narrow to pass a cyclist from the other direction in comfort. The crossing of the entrance is controlled by traffic lights. First, you press the button, then you wait for a longer period than you would on the road. You cross to the middle island which is surrounded by barriers barely wide enough for one bike, then you wait for a second light to change before completing the crossing.

Well that's the theory. Of course a lot of cyclists ignore the second light (it is legal to do so, as 'Dr Dynamo' explained in the last newsletter) and dodge round the island. Many others wouldn't dream of using the 'facility' in the first place, but use the road.

This kind of arrangement is an insult even to pedestrians. It says to both groups 'you don't matter as much as motor vehicles - you can wait'.

Madingley Road Park & Ride site: round to the left, sharp right, wait twice, sharp right, round to the left

Newmarket Road Park & Ride site: no one would dream of constructing something so abysmally awkward if it were for a car

At Trumpington the poor quality is evident all the way along the route. The car entrance to the Park & Ride site, 100 m up the road, is a fast slip road. There isn't any reasonable crossing for bikes faced by this traffic. Further out, the old, very narrow path is apparently being reconstructed as far as the M11, but elsewhere it remains only a half a metre wide, and at the motorway slip road takes sharp right angle bends.

At Madingley Road, the situation is, if anything, worse. Not only do you have to cross on two stages through a narrow cage, but you have to take two right angle turns on each side of the crossing. These put you in exactly the wrong position to see the traffic.

At the Newmarket Road Park & Ride site there is only one stage to the crossing but, again, there are right angle turns. These are made worse by the railings which narrow the path even further, and the traffic light controller conveniently planted in the middle of the path.

David Earl

Science Park - no access for cycles

'The County Council would never have done something so incompetent'

Access to the Science Park has always been a problem for cyclists. The main entrance is on Milton Road, on the opposite side of the park from the residential areas of King's Hedges and Arbury, and at a point where there are five lanes of traffic and the speed limit is 70 mph. For many years cyclists living in King's Hedges and Arbury have been forced either to take a long detour via the main entrance or else to use an unofficial 'entrance' off Garry Drive that entails wheeling your bike across a disused railway line and over a steep and muddy bank.

One of the main vehicle lanes. Car drivers and cyclists have to merge carefully approaching this narrow section

Last autumn a new entrance was opened off King's Hedges Road near Cambridge Regional College. This should have been good news for cyclists. However, it is quite the opposite - this new entrance to the Science Park has been made one of the most cycle-hostile streets in Cambridge. Unfortunately this is a private road and so there is little that we can do.

In order to prevent this entrance being used by lorries, vehicles entering and leaving the site have to pass through a pair of 6'6" width restrictions. Access through each of these gaps is controlled with a rising step (which we haven't seen in operation yet). In between the two car lanes is a slightly wider lane for buses (for use in both directions), controlled by a rising bollard.

As if the width restrictions weren't bad enough (forcing cyclists and car drivers to compete for the same narrow gaps), when the steps are raised they will render the lane totally impassable to cyclists and force them into the middle of the road to use the bus gate - not a pleasant thing to have to do, especially if a bus is approaching from the opposite direction.

A closer view of the width restriction's rising step. When raised, this will force cyclists to use the central bus gate

The pavement on the outbound side (away from the Science Park) is marked as shared-use and so offers an alternative to the road for outbound cyclists. However, there aren't any dropped kerbs to allow cyclists to get onto the pavement before the rising step and to allow them to rejoin the road after it. There's no pavement on the inbound side so cyclists travelling towards the science park would have to cross over to the pavement on the opposite side or, more likely, take their chances with the bus gate.

This is one of the most cycle-hostile pieces of road design we have seen for some time. This scheme was designed by the private developers of the science park, not by the County Council. If there is any consolation in this deplorable scheme it is that the County Council would never have done something so incompetent.

CTC affiliation and insurance

Those of you who opted for third-party insurance should have received letters at the end of November telling you that we have had to terminate our third-party insurance arrangements. (If you did not, please contact us as soon as possible).

As we reported in the last Newsletter, the CTC, who offered this to us as a benefit of our affiliation, more than trebled the cost whilst substantially reducing the useful cover. Had this been all, we might have been able to live with it, but the way in which payment was structured meant we had no choice but to withdraw. We are still actively looking for an alternative, but this is a specialised policy that is very hard to obtain.

In taking this action in the way they did, it is clear they wanted everyone to become CTC members instead of members of independent local groups like the Cambridge Cycling Campaign. As a measure of protest, and because the advantages of affiliation are so very much reduced, we have not re-affiliated to the CTC this year.

David Earl

The digger's Highway Code

Safety at Street Works and Road Works - a Code of Practice

This new Code comes into effect at the start of February and makes clear some of the obligations of contractors whilst undertaking operations on public roads.

A few relevant extracts should give an example of the nature of this document:

CYCLE LANES AND CYCLE TRACKS
Where cycle lanes, cycle tracks and cycle routes are affected by street works and road works you should use your best endeavours to ensure the safety of cyclists passing or crossing by the works.
Cycle lanes marked with a solid white line have been created by means of Traffic Regulation Orders. Where one of these is affected by planned works, your supervisor will need to discuss the situation with the highway authority well before the work starts. It may be necessary to obtain a Temporary Notice or Traffic Regulation Order to suspend the cycle lane.

This is not new but there have been a number of recent incidents in the Cambridge area where contractors have pleaded ignorance regarding this issue.

Wherever possible, a minimum lane width of 3.25 metres [11'] should be provided to allow a car to overtake a cyclist, more where lorries or buses will be present.

Perhaps if we had more road-works we might have better lane widths!

WORKS AT PEDESTRIAN AND CYCLE CROSSINGS
Only the highway authority can authorise a crossing to be taken out of service. Where appropriate, alternative signed routes should be agreed with the highway authority. If due to works the pedestrian or cycle crossing has to be closed, you should:
ensure the closure has been authorised by the highway authority
erect 'Crossing not in use' signs

I saw little evidence of these sort of actions when the two crossings of Trumpington Road were closed during the recent works.

If you see road works which you feel are unsafe or poorly signed it would be well worth looking at the full Code (http://www.street-works.dtlr.gov.uk/sasworks/). Quoting the relevant section at both contractors and those supervising them should result in swift action.

Jim Chisholm

Street light or traffic light failed?

Report the town, street and post number to the County Council hotline 0800 253529

Eight months on

At long last a new bus shelter, with clear ends, has been installed on Milton Road, close to the junction with Green End Road. We first reported problems at this site in April last year, after receiving several complaints from cyclists worried about bus passengers stepping out from behind the advertising end panel. The picture on the left shows the new shelter; the one on the right is the original it replaced.

Making life easier... (13) Upgrade your dynamo lights

• Tools and materials
• Getting ready
• What to do

It's a good time of year to make sure your bike lights continue working. Dynamo lighting systems are cheap and effective, as well as being less attractive to thieves. This month David Green describes how to upgrade a dynamo system to a twin-cable system to make it more reliable.

Most 'dynamo' systems rely on the bicycle's frame as part of the electrical circuit between the generator and the light. If you look at a bike with dynamo lights, you can see that there is only one wire going from the generator to each lamp. I call this a 'single-cable' system. To complete the electrical circuit, there needs to be an unbroken 'return' path from lamp to generator as well. In single-cable systems, the steel or aluminium bike frame and its components serve this purpose. Unfortunately, it takes only one poor metal-to-metal connection somewhere in this return path to stop a single-cable system in its tracks. (If you have ever had the slow and frustrating job of locating a rusty connection, you will know what I mean!)

My solution is to bypass this inherent weakness by wiring the generator as a 'twin-cable' system with one wire for the 'live' part of the circuit to each light, and one wire acting as the 'earth' part. Anyone who is patient and happy to wield a soldering iron will find this upgrade easy and worthwhile.

What you need: [A] soldering iron, [B] loudspeaker cable, [C] cable ties, [D] round connectors, [E] heat shrink plastic, [F] lamps and dynamo.

Tools and materials

The following items can all be found in hi-fi, DIY or electrical stores. (I went to Maplin and Mackays).

• Soldering iron (plus flux and solder).
• Sharp knife (to cut and 'strip' cables).
• Twin-core 'loudspeaker cable' approx. 3 metres. Make sure you can distinguish each core.
• Cable ties in 10 cm and 15 cm lengths. Get about ten of each.
• Round connectors. Get four of these with holes big enough to accept the bolts used to mount your front and rear lamps, and your dynamo. (I needed both 5 mm and 6 mm diameter holes.)
• 'Heat shrink' plastic and a hot air gun or similar (optional).
• Front and rear lights and a dynamo. I used a standard 'bottle' dynamo on my rear wheel, a halogen front lamp and a busch&müller DToplight at the back.

Getting ready

Allow about two hours. Try to find a workspace with good lighting and where you can sit down to do the fiddly soldering jobs. Before you begin, make sure that your lamps and dynamo are positioned effectively on your bike. See the article on Lighting in Newsletter 32.

What to do

Follow the sequence described in the following photos.

1. On the front light, identify the 'live' and 'earth' wire attachment points. My light has a small screw for clamping the live wire (+). The earth wire will simply attach to the lamp bracket (-).		2. Better quality lights are often designed with two-cable systems in mind. My rear busch&müller DToplight has separate terminals for the live wire (+) and the earth wire (-). On other models, the terminals may not be so obvious, but you can usually work them out by 'working backwards' from where the bulb contacts are.

3. For each light, plan how you can best route a cable back to the dynamo, then cut a length of the twin-core speaker cable about 50 mm longer than you need for the route. Decide which of the twin cores you are using as the 'earth' core. (Note: you must use the same core for 'earth' at both ends of the cable.) Start by preparing the connections at the lamp end of each cable by stripping about 10 mm of the plastic from each core. You might need a 'push-on' connector [A] or a 'round connector' [B]. 'Bare wires' [C] are more durable and easier to handle if you apply solder to them.		4. To start with, just prepare the connections you need at the lamp end of the front- and rear light cables. For a really neat finish, before you attach a connector, slip a piece of heat shrink plastic onto the cable.

5. Attach the cables to each lamp and re-check your cable routing all the way back to the dynamo. You may need to trim the length of each cable so that it reaches the dynamo neatly. In this picture you can see where the small screw on my front lamp is clamping the live wire (+) while the earth wire (-) is clamped to the lamp bracket.		6. Taking care to distinguish the 'earth' wire from the 'live' wire, solder the necessary connectors to the dynamo end of the cables. Now connect up at the dynamo. In this picture you can see the round connectors I fitted to the earth wires () from each cable clamped to the same bracket attachment point.

7. On my bike the 'live' wires from each light cable are attached to the dynamo as 'bare wires.'		8. Use cable ties to secure the cables neatly against the frame. Make sure that you do not accidentally trap any gear control inner cables!

9. Trim excess cable tie neatly for a really professional finish.

Cycling shorts

Sustrans - the sustainable transport charity - asked every cycle owner in the UK to make a New Year Resolution to make use of this mode of transport in the coming year. Cycling Campaign members will already be aware of the health benefits, zero emissions, speed and low cost of riding a bicycle. Cambridge will even get its first Sustrans path this year.

Free cycling events and rides that encourage cyclists to venture into rural areas will be one of the main attractions of next year's national Bike Week (15-23 June). All Bike Week and Bike2Work registered events will be promoted at http://www.bikeweek.org.uk. Bike Week is the UK's only nation-wide celebration of all kinds of cycling. One objective in 2002 is to get more cyclists visiting rural areas that were hit by the Foot and Mouth epidemic in 2001. Spending by cyclists will aid the recovery of many businesses, including tea-rooms, village shops, cafes, pubs and tourist attractions.

There is a special cycling edition of World Transport Policy & Practice , a quarterly journal edited by Professor John Whitelegg. It is available free of charge as Adobe Acrobat PDF files on the internet at http://www.ecoplan.org/wtpp/wt_index.htm

The National Lottery's Community Fund awarded Transport 2000 a grant to develop its ground-breaking initiative Reviving Main Roads, which aims to look at innovative ways of reclaiming streets from traffic. The project is expected to run for three years from April. Too many main roads have been devoted to motor vehicles with no thought given to their other uses and users. Transport 2000 hopes to find ways to make major roads more suitable for people, not just for their cars. The lottery grant will also be used to expand Transport 2000's Streets for People network which aims to help local communities tackle traffic and transport issues on their own doorsteps.

Mark Irving

Money well spent

Local sixth form college students can sometimes get money to look after a bike in lieu of a bus pass for getting to school. Douglas De Lacey was asked by a young relative for advice.

Dear Peter,

Thank you for your letter. I'm delighted you're planning to cycle into college daily, and therefore want to invest your £90 'free bus pass' money in improving your bike. You may need to add a little more to that, but it will be worth it.

What should you do for it? The two major factors are safety and comfort. Don't waste money on bike toys till you have addressed these.

I assume as a matter of course that you will maintain it well, especially the brakes. I use a 'finger-and-thumb' test: if I can't pull the brakes on with one finger, they need maintenance. If I can trap my thumb between the lever and handlebar, they need maintenance. Check the brake blocks regularly and replace them before they are worn out. Safety is worth paying for.

Dynamo lights are high on the list for economy, reliability and long-term low running cost

You have a dynamo; if you didn't that would have to be high on your priorities. If you tot up a few sets of batteries for conventional lamps, which never work anyway just when you want them, the cost is not high. I'd also add front and rear LEDs which are nowadays remarkably bright: just make sure you don't have them in 'flash' mode if they are fixed to the bike.

Another thing worth having, though not relying on, is a mirror. Good cycling, like good driving, entails a constant reading of the road and this is so much easier if you don't have to be constantly looking behind you. But always look behind before performing any manoeuvre - apart from anything else, it warns other road users of your intention. You can get mirrors to fit on the handlebars or on a helmet; many of my friends very much like the latter.

Buy decent rain clothes; but whatever you wear add reflective legbands (which double as trouser clips) and a fluorescent belt; and (at least for the winter) armbands or gloves with fluorescent or reflective strips, so your hand signals are visible.

Tyres contribute to both safety and comfort. Replace them before they are worn too thin. I tend to do this each autumn to ensure good grip on wet and slippy winter days. Keep them properly inflated to increase comfort and reduce wear; buy a stirrup pump with a pressure gauge because 75 psi is much firmer than you'd think. Before you use the pump check for thorns, flints or glass, which will otherwise worm their way through the tyre and cause punctures.

You'll need an emergency repair kit, and I always carry a brand new tube in mine. There's no future sitting in the pouring rain trying to get a patch to stick to a wet and dirty tube. Replace the tube and do the repair (if at all) in the comfort of home. I also carry rubber gloves, a mini pump, a multitool and a small adjustable spanner.

Your bike came with a horseshoe lock, but you'll need more. It seems to me there are two different types of thief: the opportunist whom a fairly simple lock will discourage, and the professional whom almost nothing will discourage. The best you can hope for is to make your bike more difficult to steal than the next: I use three separate locks and at least one I try to attach to something immovable while one locks the front wheel to the frame. Oh, and make sure that the bike is postcoded and carries a big flashy sticker to say so. That's as good as another lock, since thieves will realise they cannot easily sell it on. The only time I had a bike stolen, it was at the police station even before I reported it - because the young gentleman in charge of it couldn't tell an admirably suspicious policeman what the postcode was.

On the comfort side, I'd add a gel saddle cover even to a gel saddle. My experience suggests it also significantly cuts down wear and tear on the trousers.

How are you planning to carry things? A rack and sturdy panniers are far more comfortable than even a well-fitting rucksack, and will be essential if you go touring in the holidays.

No doubt there's lots I have forgotten. You may think I forgot helmets. I hadn't - the debate still rages as to whether they do actually contribute to safety or not. At the least high visibility and good grip on the road are much more significant factors. Avoiding an accident in the first place is a far better policy than minimising the damage during one.

You may know the excellent series of articles on cycle maintenance in recent issues of the Campaign Newsletter. You may also find the rec.bicycles FAQ useful.

Very best wishes, and safe cycling!

Douglas.

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How to report smoky vehicles

• What can be reported
• What you need to report a vehicle
• So what happens when a vehicle is reported?

We've all been choked by the smoke from a diesel vehicle, but what can you do? There is a Vehicle Inspectorate hotline; you just have to know how to use it.

What can be reported

• Buses, lorries and coaches but not light vans, cars or taxis
• 'Excessively smoky' vehicles are those which emit a continuous stream of thick smoke (not just when starting from rest or warming up).

What you need to report a vehicle

• Vehicle registration number
• Type of vehicle
• Date and time vehicle seen
• If possible the vehicle's operator (company or owner)

So what happens when a vehicle is reported?

The Vehicle Inspectorate (VI) writes to the operator asking him to investigate the report. The vehicle operator then writes back reporting what action has been taken. If the response is unsatisfactory, the VI can review the operator's maintenance arrangements or inspect the vehicle themselves. In extreme cases the Inspectorate can remove an operator's licence. If you write to the Inspectorate you get an acknowledgement, if you phone you don't, but either way you will not normally be informed of the action taken by the VI. If you still see a problem with the same vehicle it is worth reporting it again. If no action is taken, it may be that the smoke emissions do not break any rules.

So it's far from ideal: no random testing, no on-the-spot fines, no recourse at all for cars, light vans or taxis and it seems that the level 'excessive' is far worse than most people consider unacceptable. We still have a situation where 1 in 40 vehicles produce half the pollution on the road. However, the more people complain, the more seriously will vehicle maintenance and emissions be taken.

One of the best ways to reduce carcinogenic soot particles is to swap to low sulphur diesel. For an additional cost of only a few pence per gallon this reduces soot emission by over 90%. I wonder if the council will ever offer incentives for bus and taxi drivers to use this? Perhaps only allowing clean delivery vehicles into the city centre?

Vehicle Inspectorate Eastern Division
0116 276 2411

RTE Division
Leicester GVTS
40 Cannock Street
Barkby Thorpe Road
LEICESTER
LE4 7HT

Richard Taylor

Spot the cycle route, number 6

Cyclists get the hump. At the start of a newly constructed pavement in Teversham (that has yet again been deemed as suitable for cycling on - see article) cyclists encounter this cambered hump. Much better that cyclists should have to go over the hump than the builders should have to lower an inconveniently placed drain cover. Right at the hump there is a shared-use sign, implying that you can cycle from there. On the other side is a Cyclists Dismount sign - anathema on a 'cycle route' - but is it referring to the hump or something else?

Ask Dr Dynamo

• Cycle lanes
• Mandatory cycle lanes
• Advisory cycle lanes
• Which is better?

Cycle lanes

Got a question about cycling? Write to Dr Dynamo!

Dear Dr Dynamo,

Why do some cycle lanes have a solid white line and some a broken white line?

Yours, John E, Fulbourn

Dear John,

Let's start by making clear what we mean by a cycle lane, because I know some people don't use the term correctly. A cycle lane is a strip of road, usually alongside the kerb, intended for cyclists. Cycle lanes are always part of the carriageway of the road. We never use the term 'cycle lanes' to refer to those cycle paths which are separated from the road by a kerb and sometimes by a strip of grass as well, and which are sometimes shared with pedestrians. These are given a variety of names: cycle paths, cycle tracks, or cycleways. But never cycle lanes.

'Mandatory cycle lanes are mandatory for motorists, not cyclists'

A cycle lane is separated from the rest of the road by a white line painted on the road. There are two types of cycle lane: mandatory and advisory. Mandatory cycle lanes are marked with a solid, continuous white line. Advisory cycle lanes are marked with a broken, or dashed, white line. Both types of cycle lane may also be given a coloured surface to make them more obvious to drivers - in Cambridge a red surface is often used.

Mandatory cycle lane in Trumpington Road	Advisory cycle lane in Gilbert Road, where parking is always a problem

Mandatory cycle lanes

So what's a mandatory cycle lane, then? Now the first thing to stress is that the term 'mandatory' refers to motorists, not to cyclists. It means that it is mandatory that motorists keep out of a mandatory cycle lane. It does not mean that it is mandatory that cyclists keep in the lane.

Motorists must not drive in a mandatory cycle lane, nor may they park in it - whether there are double yellow lines or not (though stopping for short periods to load and unload is sometimes permitted).

Advisory cycle lanes

An advisory cycle lane, on the other hand, is simply that - advisory. Motorists are advised not to drive or park in it, but it is not an offence to do so (though if there are yellow lines the usual rules apply).

Advisory cycle lane in a relatively narrow part of Grange Road

Which is better?

Mandatory cycle lanes are clearly much better, and indeed the majority of cycle lanes in Cambridge are mandatory and have a solid white line. So why would the council ever bother to introduce an advisory cycle lane, with a broken white line? There are a number of possible answers:

• Advisory lanes are sometimes used when the council doesn't want to ban parking. A good example of such a lane is on Gilbert Road. The parked cars, though, make the cycle lane pretty useless.
• Advisory cycle lanes are easier to implement - they don't require a formal traffic regulation order, which means they can be introduced more quickly and more cheaply.
• Advisory cycle lanes can be introduced in places where the road is too narrow for mandatory cycle lanes. This isn't so strange when you think about it. Before the council can introduce mandatory cycle lanes it must ensure that the remaining road space is wide enough for all types of motor vehicles, including the largest lorries and buses. This is fair enough, since such vehicles are obliged by law to keep out of the mandatory cycle lane. Advisory cycle lanes can be introduced when the remaining road space is a bit narrower than that, since the occasional large vehicle can always spill over into the cycle lane without breaking the law. This obviously isn't ideal, but if the number of wide vehicles is low it can work reasonably well.

This last situation is what has happened in Grange Road. The north end is the widest, and has mandatory cycle lanes. The south end is slightly narrower, and so the lanes are only advisory so that wide vehicles can stray into them. The central section is narrower still, and so has no cycle lanes at all.

I hope this answers your question, John. Happy Cycling!

Dr Dynamo

If you have a question about cycling, ask Dr Dynamo and he'll try to answer it.

Where are we going?

This article by John Franklin, chair of the Cycle Campaign Network (CCN) and author of Cyclecraft, appeared in a recent CCN newsletter. It struck a strong chord, so we thought you would also like to read it. What do you think? Letters welcome as always (by 9 March for publication).

The promotion of cycling is at a crucial stage. Just a year away from the 2002 target of the National Cycling Strategy, by which cycle use should have doubled from 1996, cycle use is actually seven per cent lower than in the base year. Now concern is mounting that the remaining target of quadrupling cycle use by 2010 may not just fail to be met, but fail spectacularly. The implications of this for continued political support for cycling cannot be overstated.

So where have we gone wrong? Is it all Government's fault, the actions of the road lobby or motorists, or could it be that at least part of the problem lies in the strategies pursued by cyclists?

Without doubt we have succeeded in persuading Government that the promotion of cycling is a good thing. Most councils now have policies intended to encourage cycle use, and development plans commonly have to show that they have considered cyclists' needs. But are those policies the right ones and is the perception of what cycling really needs correct?

Feedback from cyclists increasingly suggests that many don't like what they're getting, whether it be cycle facilities, traffic calming or expectations of where they should ride. Costly initiatives such as the new town-cycle-networks, urban demonstration schemes and the Gloucester Safer City project have not only failed to increase the number of cyclists but, in the opinion of many, have made conditions worse, a fact often reflected in casualty statistics. The National Cycle Network, too, has not led to any overall increase in cycle use despite the substantial sums invested and considerable publicity.

Cyclists within the professions put the blame on a lack of understanding about cycling, driven by the constant perception of cycling as 'dangerous' and therefore not compatible with traffic. Much of the emphasis on 'danger' and the need for 'safe routes' and special facilities (which de facto imply danger) has come from cycling organisations, yet as Malcolm Wardlaw demonstrated at the Autumn Cycling Campaign's conference in Chesterfield, cycling is not by any reasonable standard a dangerous activity, whilst improved safety is much more likely to come from greater cycle use than the other way around.

It is all too clear that the general public now strongly associates cycling with danger, which must weigh heavily against its otherwise well-known benefits. As the Transport Research Laboratory has acknowledged, you don't encourage people to cycle with messages about safety or danger.

Michael Jackson won this year's Falco Lecture Prize with a paper Promoting bicycling as a normal part of a healthy lifestyle, in which he advocates advertising campaigns based on positive images. No other product would try to sell itself with negative associations, so why cycling?

A large majority at Chesterfield supported a view from the floor that it was time to move the emphasis from the 'hardware' to the 'software' in encouraging people to cycle. After all, even if the hardware was right (is this a realistic possibility?), would the software be programmed to accept the changes as sufficient?

So how is it best to boost cycling in the 21st century?

John Franklin

Stepping stones to a better cycling future, Malcolm Wardlaw

Promoting bicycling as a normal part of a healthy lifestyle, Michael Jackson

Letters

• A breath of fresh air
• Cyclists Dismount signs
• City Centre cycling ban

A breath of fresh air

It was a joy to read 'Summer Cycling Festivals' in Newsletter 39 .

This article was great because it shows new dimensions and it blows a new wind into a cycling life that is much too often saddened by intimidation and accident reports.

Reading of people who travel on their bicycles from Germany to a Spokefest in Leicester opens new dimensions, turns things the other/the right way around. Or people cycling there from London pulling a load of four more recumbents by human power as well. Reading the account of large-scale bicycle events that are fun and friendly is a great change to living in a car-dominated town - people taking good things seriously and showing that we're not aliens and that a lot is possible with human power and human powered vehicles.

Thank you for the encouraging dimensions and the wind!

Estheranna Stäuble

Cyclists Dismount signs

In relation to the very delayed work on the Trumpington Road, I passed three such signs on the shared use path this morning. They are obviously proliferating, but why, and what are they meant to do: protect workers from being run over (even though they are there all the time while the workers are usually absent); indicate it is too narrow or difficult for cyclists (who take less room mounted than dismounted), or protect pedestrians (in which case say give way to pedestrians)? Is it all due to some new policy of the Health and Safety Executive or to a desire on the part of the contractors to avoid blame and liability by saying they put up a sign?

This chicane on the cycle path is backed up by Dismount signs

I gather from your article that [Cyclist Dismount signs] are only advisory, but they are a stick with which pedestrians beat cyclists; see lots of letters in the Cambridge Evening News . Should we publicise that they are advisory, or would this lead to public pressure to make them compulsory? I believe that they are part of the campaign to litter the country with signs on the basis that it shows the authorities are doing something when they are, in fact, making everything worse, not least environmentally. This needs handling with research and great tact, which is why I hope I can pass on my comments to you, being very impressed by what you do.

Michael Brown

Jim Chisholm comments: I think the Cyclists Dismount signs you describe were temporary ones used during construction of the Trumpington cycle path. These were used liberally at one stage, and left in place over the weekends. While work is going on beside the path they have their use: such signs make it clear to a cyclist that she must take care. The signs should not, though, be left in place when there is no such danger, nor used as an excuse to leave works in a dangerous condition overnight.

City Centre cycling ban

Newsletter 39 included a report on the Campaign's efforts to press for the ending of the City Centre cycling ban and the welcome decision of the Cambridge Environment and Transport Area Joint Committee to set up a comprehensive review of cycling access in the City Centre. This should soon be under way.

I recently came across the following useful policy statement on the City Council's web pages on Cambridge Transport Policy: 'Cycle access will be improved throughout the City, including to and within the City Centre.' David Roberts, the City's Policy Manager, has confirmed that this is current policy.

I can think of nothing, apart from the minor concession of being allowed to cycle against the flow in Bene't Street, which represents an improvement of cycle access within the City Centre in recent years. Our proposal for ending the City Centre cycling ban provides the Council with an excellent opportunity to implement its own declared policy.

James Woodburn

Your streets this month

• This month's new buildout
• More bad news
• Other news
• Under construction
• Complete
• 99% complete

This month's new buildout

Teversham: speed cushions are better for cyclists than the more common speed humps

Cambridge City Council has proposed the installation of a zebra crossing on Tenison Road, a few metres south of its junction with Tenison Avenue. If the scheme goes ahead, the cycle lane on the west side will be reduced in length and the space used to create a pavement buildout plus several additional parking spaces.

We have no problem with a zebra crossing here, but will be strongly opposing the buildout and loss of cycle lane. Installing the crossing without a buildout would require the removal of parking spaces to create visibility, something the council has in the past been reluctant to do.

Ironically, the council considered the alternative of providing a pedestrian phase at the nearby Devonshire Road signals, but rejected it because of the delays this would cause to cyclists using the east-west cycle route via the cycle bridge. We support this aim, but feel that it should be possible to design the signals to avoid such delays.

More bad news

A new access road from King's Hedges Road to Cambridge Science Park has been opened. For cyclists living in King's Hedges and Arbury this offers a much more direct alternative to the main entrance off Milton Road. Unfortunately the new road is obstructed by rising steps which, when in operation, will make it impassable to cyclists. The result is one of the most incompetent and cycle-hostile pieces of road design seen in Cambridge for some time. See article.

A new shared-use pavement has been constructed on the north side at the Fulbourn end of Teversham, but this is only one metre wide, well below the council's normal standards.

Other news

The County Council has resurrected proposals to close the level crossing on Fulbourn Old Drift, the main cycle route between Cherry Hinton and Fulbourn. A new cycle path would be constructed along the railway on the Tesco side, ending at the level crossing on Yarrow Road. See article. The scheme will improve access to Tesco, avoid the need to dismount and cross the railway, but is otherwise fairly neutral in its impact on cyclists. Unfortunately nothing is proposed to assist cyclists crossing Yarrow Road, and nothing is proposed to link the new path to the new Capital Park office development.

Under construction

Work continues on the construction of the 'Jubilee Cycleway ' across Stourbridge Common and Ditton Meadows. When this is complete it will provide a traffic-free route from Riverside to the Wadloes Road estate and beyond. The base of the new path (between the Green Dragon bridge and Howard Road) was laid some weeks ago but still awaits its final surface. Construction of the crossing underneath the railway (along the edge of the river) has at last begun. In addition, several small bridges over drains have yet to be completed.

The new path links up with the existing Wadloes Path from Howard Road to Fen Ditton which has been reconstructed and widened - a great improvement in itself.

Work also continues on the shared-use cycle path along Newmarket Road between the Airport Way roundabout and Bottisham. So far, the quality of construction looks good.

Complete

A traffic calming scheme has been completed on the main roads through Teversham. The main change is the introduction of speed cushions. These are a much more cycle-friendly way of reducing vehicle speeds than the chicanes that were introduced several years ago at the Fulbourn end, and which still remain.

99% complete

The cycle path along the inbound side of Trumpington Road is now complete. Well, 99% complete anyway. See the article for the latest in this sorry saga.

About the Campaign

If you like what you see in this newsletter, you can add your voice to those of our other 690 members, and join the Campaign.

Membership costs are low: £7.50 individual, £3.50 unwaged, £12 household. For this, you get six newsletters a year, discounts at a large number of bike shops, and you will be supporting our work. Please get in touch if you want to hear more.

Cambridge Cycling Campaign was set up in 1995 to voice the concerns of cyclists. We are not a cycling club but an organisation lobbying and campaigning for the rights of cyclists, and promoting cycling in and around Cambridge.

Our regular stall on Saturdays outside the Guildhall is the public face of the campaign; volunteers are always welcome to help. And don't forget our meetings, open to all, on the first Tuesday of each month, 7.30 for 8.00 pm at the Friends' Meeting House, Jesus Lane, Cambridge.

Elected Officers

Co-ordinator - David Dyer

Liaison Officer - Clare Macrae

Membership Secretary - Dave Earl

Newsletter Editor - Mark Irving

Treasurer - Simon Nuttall

Stall Officer - Paul Tonks 07870 441257

Press Officer - Sam Davies

Officers without portfolio - Jim Chisholm, Nigel Deakin, Richard Taylor, Lisa Woodburn and Wookey

Contacting the Campaign

Grant aided by

Cambridge Cycling Campaign
PO Box 204
Cambridge CB4 3FN

Telephone and fax (01223) 690718

http://www.camcycle.org.uk
E-mail contact@camcycle.org.uk

This newsletter is printed on recycled paper by Victoire Press, Bar Hill.

Campaign subgroups

The Bikes and Trains subgroup has been liaising with WAGN to improve facilities and services for cyclists. Contact Clare 336024 macrae@ccdc.cam.ac.uk

The Cycle Parking subgroup works to improve the supply of cycle parking in Cambridge, of which there is a serious shortage. Contact Wookey 504881 wookey@aleph1.co.uk

The Obstructions subgroup works against obstructions to cycle routes. Contact Nigel Deakin 311073 nigel.deakin@espansiva.co.uk

The Traffic Signals subgroup looks at the way junctions involving traffic signals could be made more cycle-friendly. Contact Dave 504095 contact@camcycle.org.uk

The West Cambridge subgroup is studying the University's plans for development. Contact Richard Taylor 740989 rmt23@eng.cam.ac.uk

Campaign Diary

• February 2002
• March
• April
• Further ahead

February 2002

Tue 5	7.30 pm	Monthly open meeting, Friends' Meeting House, Jesus Lane, at the Park Street junction. (Tea and coffee, a chance to chat, and for us to introduce ourselves to new members for the first half-hour. The meeting itself starts at 8 pm.)
Wed 6	7 pm	Bike Week 2002 planning meeting, at 100 Thoday Street. Please get in touch if you might be able to help! (01223) 500902
Sun 10	1 pm	Leisurely Ride. Meet at Brookside, near Lensfield Road. The Country Park ride. We'll explore the neighbouring north, the river side and we'll take time to enjoy Milton Country Park. The route will be: Cambridge - Fen Ditton - Baits Bite Lock - Horningsea - Clayhithe - Waterbeach - Landbeach - Milton - Baits Bite Lock - Fen Road - Milton Country Park - The Cam - Cambridge. We'll be back around 4.30 pm. Please bring lights, and if good weather bring water and a picnic.
Mon 18	7 pm	Join us for a social gathering at CB2 café 5-7 Norfolk Street.
Tue 26		Bicycle DIY workshop evening class, for people with some experience. To check course dates, fees, get more information or enrol, call the Community Education Office (01223) 712340 or 712341. Questions about course content davidwgreen@onetel.net.uk

March

Tue 5	7.30 pm	Monthly open meeting, Friends' Meeting House, Jesus Lane. See description for 5 February.
Wed 6	7 pm	Bike Week 2002 planning meeting, at 51 Wolfson Flats, Churchill College. Please get in touch if you might be able to help! (01223) 500902
Sat 9		Newsletter 41 deadline. Please send copy to Mark Irving.
Sun 10	1 pm	Leisurely Ride. A countryside ride, at a gentle pace. We'll be back in Cambridge around 4.30 pm. Please bring lights.
Mon 18	7 pm	Join us for a social gathering at CB2 café 5-7 Norfolk Street.
Wed 27	7.30 pm	Newsletter 41 Envelope Stuffing at the Baby Milk Action offices, 23 St Andrews Street (between the Robert Sayle main and computer shop entrances, entrance next to Lunch Aid). Help very much welcomed!

April

Tue 2	7.30 pm	Monthly open meeting, Friends' Meeting House, Jesus Lane. See description for 5 February.
Wed 3	7 pm	Bike Week 2002 planning meeting, at 140 Cherry Hinton Road. Please get in touch if you might be able to help! (01223) 500902
Sun 14	1 pm	Leisurely Ride. A countryside ride, at a gentle pace. See 10 March for notes.
Mon 15	7 pm	Join us for a social gathering at CB2 café 5-7 Norfolk Street.
Tue 23		Bicycle Maintenance evening classes, five weekly sessions. For people with little or no previous experience of bicycle maintenance who want to get started. For contact details see 26 February
Sat 27		Cycle Campaign Network/CTC Spring Conference in Dorchester.
Sat 27	10 am	Police cycle auction at the 29th Cambridge Scout Headquarters, Stanesfield Road, off Barnwell Road, Cambridge. Viewing from 9 am. (01354) 688197 for information.

Further ahead

Tue 4 June	No monthly open meeting again, as we are unable to use the Friends' Meeting House on the bank holiday. We hope to plan an alternative event.
15-23 June	Bike Week 2002
Sun 28 July	Bike Events London to Cambridge sponsored bike ride.