Cyclists should use their lanes (From Wirral Globe)

Dear Adam, cycle lanes are not compulory for us cyclists, theyre justthere so the less skilled can be away from the traffic, and horn their riding skills avaoiding militant doggers, and people who wander randomly about the prom.

The Prom at new brighton is also a dual carrigeway for most of its length, some parts even 3 lanes, one lane is usualy used for car parking, so how diod youever manage to overtake parked cars..

Us cyclists are actually allowed to ride two abrest according to the highway code, and its for the Police to enforce the regulation of traffic laws, not somebody who isa key board warrior, ona local paers forum..

"Us cyclists are actually allowed to ride two abrest according to the highway code, and its for the Police to enforce the regulation of traffic laws,...."
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All this talk of "laws" and "rights" when sometimes it's just plain old-fashioned bad manners that can cause havoc.
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Two CSO's (traffic support division) pulled up alongside me as we all exited the park gate at Liscard Road yesterday. We all waited for the traffic that was coming and going... in three different directions... to break so we could ride straight across and onto Martins Lane.
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The minute there was a break they both pulled out diagonally and then were right in front of me, riding two abreast. This quite dangerously blocked me from getting across quickly and safely. Slowly and by the skin of my tyres, more like.
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I made it over alive, obviously, but no thanks to those two twonks. :/

I've written elsewhere about cycling on King's Parade, here are some excerpts...

It is a 30 mph dual carriageway boulevard with a promenade alongside the seafront. The part I measured from Google satellite view is approximately 31m wide from seawall to the edge of the inner field. This is divided up, give or take...
3m pedestrian path
2m cycle path
7.5m road
2.5m central reservation
8m road with an additional 4m wide parking lane
4m pavement

Points of note about these dimensions.
The 2.5m wide central reservation is unnecessary on a 30mph road.
Each lane, including the parking lane is 4m wide, this is twice as wide as a car and 1.5m wider than a bus or container wagon.

The road is not that heavily trafficed for its size except for on the sunniest days of summer however cars do tend to speed along it, I have seen cars doing 60-70mph when the road is quiet, 40mph is common at all times.

The pavement on the sea wall side of the road is popular with walkers out for a stroll and dog walkers, though they do have a tendency to stray into the cycle lane, and it is popular with families so there can be many small children running around the pavement.

Cars park on both sides of the road, but only the westbound side has an official parking lane, on the eastbound side cars park against the kerb in lane 1.

So firstly, since the cycle path is provided what is it like for a cyclist to use? This varies depending on time of day/year. If it is quiet then it is reasonably adequate, there are no junctions of note to cause you to stop but the surface is made of paving slabs rather than smooth tarmac, you can cruise along at a fair old pace. On a busy day it is much different, children, balls, dogs, inattentive walkers, fishing lines being tossed around, it's a very hazardous place for the cyclist and the other pavement users, consequently great caution must be shown and speeds reduced to below 10mph, sometimes lower, and it's not uncommon to have to come to a halt while an errant child or beast is removed from the cycle lane by its owner. One might also come across other cyclists of varying speeds travelling in either direction on this rather narrow 2m wide lane, again causing you to slow or stop. There is also one platform type area where the cycle lane disappears entirely.

As a result faster riders might think it convenient to use the road rather than the cycle lane, as is their right. The road is broad, direct and has reasonably good visibility, only hampered by the cars parked along it which can range in number from a handful to hundreds.

A cyclist heading eastbound will, if there are no parked cars, occupy the first metre or two of the lane; or if there are parked cars, the space between the car and the dividing line to lane 2. Even riding two abreast they are unlikely to venture in to lane 2. Leaving the entirety of lane 2 to the motor traffic. On the westbound side a cyclist can cycle within the parking lane as it is so broad, at worst they might ride in lane 1 but again lane 2 will always be free. Either way, motorists always have one entire lane to themselves and if they are delayed by cyclists it is almost certainly because the cyclists will be passing parked cars on the westbound carriageway, yet it is the cyclists who get the stick rather than the drivers of the parked cars.

Let us agree with the author of the letter on one thing, that it would be better if the cycles were not using the road, it would also be better if they were not using the pavement and there is clearly enough space to allow this. There is so much space that you could improve the environment for every type of road user without inconveniencing any of them, we have 31m of available space to play with!

The 3m pedestrian space can become 3.5m on the shore side and the lesser used 4m path on the inland side can become 3.5m. Cyclists can have 4m wide dual direction paths on either side of the road. The road can become 2x3m lanes and a 2m parking lane in each direction. The central reservation can be got rid of.

From my knowledge of the area I think the author's complaint is probably unnecessarily picky, the road is so broad they couldn't have been inconvenienced for more than a few seconds, the cyclists probably had good reason to prefer the road to the cycle lane and it's quite possible that cars being parked on the road was the cause of the cyclists being in the way. In any case for any council wanting to implement some seriously quality cycle infrastructure the vast amounts of space available in this area surely make this a 'gimme' for a showcase facility, it only requires the will and the money. Until then faster riders will continue to use the road and motorists will simply have to put up with it.

So to sum up:

1) There is only so much space on the roads.

2) There are lots of people who use the roads...be it walking, riding a bike or driving a car. Some people even dance in them. The audacity...

3) Try not to kill yourself on them ...or anyone else.
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Sorted. How hard can this be, really ?

Perhaps theres some unwritten moral compulsion upon cyclists to use cycle lanes when they run adjacent to roads, but I would defend the right of any cyclist who chooses road over pavement, even when that pavement is marked. What I WOULDN'T defend is the right of cyclists to ride two abreast. It may well be allowable in law, but in practice its can be stupid and dangerous.
Cyclists should use their brains in conjunction with the provisions of the Highway Code, not instead of.