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This is a very poorly designed intersection in Vitry (France), with a negative impact on travel conditions of cyclists, as well as all other road users! The size of the intersection is too large, with a vast road space in the center of it, which creates confusion and conflicts for car users, especially for those turning left. Due to the size of the intersection, the turning radii are too large, which allows drivers to maintain a high speed while turning right, negatively affecting safety conditions of pedestrians. As for cyclists, traveling on this intersection can be a stressful and confusing experience. There’s no protected bike lane, or even a simple bike marking, on the intersection. For these users, the risk of facing a conflict with a car, whatever their movement on the intersection, is very high. There is a bike lane leading to the intersection, but it disappears before reaching it, which shows that planners who designed this bike lane had no idea of the needs of cyclists. Overall, this intersection is very unpleasant and unsafe for cyclists (it was designed to increase car traffic and car speed). These types of “weak links” can strongly limit the practice of cycling in the city, especially for vulnerable users or less-experienced users.
Here’s a Goole Street link of this intersection.
Pablo Carreras
In reply to #26045 from Kate Seal:
Hello Kate. Thanks for sharing this picture of a bike lane on Woodstock Road (Oxford).
I believe that this is a good example of how not to design a bike lane. Indeed, even if it’s protected from car traffic, its location on the sidewalk makes this bike lane very uncomfortable for cyclists and for pedestrians alike. The separation between the sidewalk and the bike lane is defined by a painted line only. There’s no level difference or buffer zone, as recommended by design guides. As a result, pedestrians probably walk on the bike lane, which reduces its efficiency for cyclists. In addition, there are several obstacles to cyclists, such as trees or bus stops, as you mentioned. Most probably, a large part of cyclists prefers to ride on the road than on the bike lane, even though this could create dangerous conditions for these users. In summary, this bike lane is not attractive enough to encourage people to cycle in Oxford.
In order to respond to this problem, I would recommend removing this bike lane and giving the sidewalk back to pedestrians. A new bike lane could be implemented between the sidewalk and the road, on both sides of the road. This would involve the removal of one car lane or the bus lane. In the first case, the street would become a one-way street for cars (the other direction could be accommodated on a parallel road). The second case would mean accommodating buses on the general travel lane or making changes to bus routes. Either way, it would be very important to study this project as part of a larger bike plan, which would define the role of each street in the bike network. The design of this road should be consistent with its role in the network.
If neither of these options is possible due to space constraints, I would suggest identifying a parallel road to implement this bike route.
The main political issue of removing a car lane could be the opposition from inhabitants or car drivers. In order to prevent this problem, it could be very useful to conduct a traffic study, allowing to measure traffic flows in the area. Eventually, this study could show that car traffic from the removed car lane could actually be accommodated on other streets. I also recommend involving the users in the redesign of this street, allowing to reduce their opposition and to integrate their needs and ideas into the project. In the case of bus lane removal, the strongest opposition would probably come from the bus service provider. In order to prevent this, I would recommend establishing a new bus plan in the area, without worsening the overall bus service, while involving the bus operator in the project.
Piste des Forts is a ring bike route around Strasbourg metropolitan area (85 km long), serving 19 former military forts (hence its name) and crossing several green spaces. It offers very high quality of comfort for cyclists (large lanes, even surface, clear signage, attractive environment). In addition to being a touristic route, it responds to utilitarian trips between different cities in Strasbourg’s periphery.
Hello everyone,
I’m Pablo Carreras, a sustainable mobility consultant in Codra Conseil, an urban planning company in Paris, France. I participate in sustainable urban mobility plans and active mobility plans in several cities in France. I’m taking this course to learn from effective approaches and policies on designing for cycling in The Netherlands. Hopefully, I will be able to implement these ideas in my professional projects.
Most French cities are way behind Dutch cities in terms of cycling policies and practices. However, they’re implementing ambitious plans to develop cycling in the short term. My experience in French cities can provide ideas on the types of measures that could contribute to rapidly improve cycling, in order to respond to strategic challenges, such as urban accessibility, congestion, pollution and climate change. Paradoxically, most of these measures don’t involve cycling infrastructure, but rather traffic calming and public transport improvements. Moreover, several Cities in France are currently creating temporary bike lanes, to respond to the covid-19 crisis. These measures could greatly improve cycling conditions (if they’re maintained) and they could transform the approach on cycling infrastructure, by encouraging faster and more adaptive measures in the future. I believe that the experiences of French cities could serve as an inspiration for cities that want to strongly increase cycling in the next years, starting from very low cycling levels…
Here’s my LinkedIn account and here’s my Twitter account.
I’m looking forward to discussing with all of you on cycling design solutions in cities around the world!
Pablo Carreras
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