Thursday, 6 May 2010

Cycle lanes... you're doing it wrong

There are many things that frustrate me about cycle lanes but a few things top the list:
  • Bad design that puts you in danger (ones in the door zone for example).
  • When they're not protected from people parking in them.
  • When they're not laid properly.
That last one is a real bugbear. In Ealing there are a couple of sections on the Uxbridge Road that are directly in front of new developments/building sites and they're rubbish. Not only that, but many of the sections that have been dug up for water/pipe maintenance are relaid as bone-jarring bumpy tarmac not fit for a badly done driveway.

There's a new section before Ealing Common coming from Acton, and just before the Tesco garage. I went on the shiny new blacktop yesterday and nearly came off.

When will the council demand that those who dig up cycle paths must put them back in usable format? They should be level, safe and at least as good quality as the main road surface, if not, better.

2 comments:

  1. Oh I need to try the blacktop near Tesco. It was awful when the road works were going on there.

    But I think most of the cycle/bus lane along the Uxbridge road (Hanwell to Shepherds Bush area)is just pure crap.
    I don't know how cars get away with parking in a bus lane during the day! Or perhaps they have a lot of money to willingly spend on fines.
    Also the whole surface along the way is just really bumpy in places. I really think that utility companies who dig up patches of road should be responsible for contributing towards paying for resurfacing of damaged roads...but I suppose that will never happen. :(
    Bottom-ache forever it seems.

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  2. I've never understood the parking thing either. Going through Acton Broadway there are always loads of cars parked in ridiculous and illegal places and no one seems to do anything.

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