Tuesday 9 June 2009

The bicycle death lane of the Bearpit

While looking at the enhanced cycling parking of the Bearpit, we missed out on the cycling opportunities of the area.

Here, then, is the safe cycling option for this multilane roundabout.
  1. There is a line of buses waiting in the left hand lane to turn into the bus station.
  2. There are two cars who have mistakenly followed the road signs to get stuck in this queue.
  3. The correct route in car is to go into the turn-right lane then slide in to the left lane after getting past the bus queue. The lane markings are only there for visitors.
  4. Bicycles can go along the pavement, where it is signed with a white blob on the floor.
  5. The bike lane ends precisely at this white marking, at which point the bicycle is forced out under the bus.
Nobody uses this path: it has no value whatsoever. It lets you skip past a traffic light, only to die under a bus. The correct way to negotiate this roundabout is to avoid it completely, or to go through underneath, through the Bearpit itself.

On the topic of the Bearpit itself, the People's Republic of Stokes Croft are trying to gentrify it.

2 comments:

Bikes-not-names said...

The left lane is mainly used if you intend to head towards the BRI, and the right lane is used if you intend to head right to Dightons Street or Jamaica Street. At the traffic lights (junction of Marlbrought St and Dighton St) it's only permitted to turn right if you are in the right lane.

Drivers using the right hand lane and trying to pull merge left (in front of the new courts) will be seen by other drivers as cheeky and trying to clear the round about quicker! hence often people trying to merge right are left fighting not to end up on Jamaica street.

Coincidentally the bend on the road (just as the bike lane runs out) requires some pretty precise and skilled driving to clear even at 20 mph! The whole junction needs re-thinking.

SteveL said...

I know the signs indicate left for straight on, right for turning right, but more often than not, that left lane is a queue of buses (which isnt signed), and all the cars in that lane have to swing into the right lane and then back again.

I think the whole of the road in front of the BRI is a mess, for pedestrians, bikes, cars.