| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Closing Weltje Road/Rivercourt Road access | |
| Posted by: | Peter Evans | |
| Date/Time: | 24/03/23 21:25:00 |
| I don't think it will ever be practical to create special road arrangements that meet the apparent requirement that a 12 year old child can immediately cycle freely and safely from place to place. As we've seen, even the comparatively sophisticated installations along CHR and King Street are far from foolproof, having introduced increasingly unfamiliar complexities for all road users. They can in fact be a snare, attracting 'new' cyclists with limited 'road sense' or awareness of other road users. They might think they are 'safe' but are actually exposing themselves to danger, particularly when the special facilities evaporate, as they often do. Only somewhere like Milton Keynes with its huge network of completely separate cycle routes can this ideal objective be attained. I doubt if it ever can in the busy streets of Chiswick, however much paint and bike stencils are used. On the contrary, if there were no special facilities for cyclists, other vehicle drivers would not be able to ignore them with a dismissive 'get in your cycle lane!' but would have to accommodate them as a legitimate part of urban traffic. And the more cyclists were to use the roads, rather than the occasional special facilities, the more other traffic would get used to them and respect their presence, and the more cyclists would develop the necessary road sense and skills. |