Your say / cycling
NEWSFLASH: Bristol can build decent segregated cycle lanes
They are painted a different colour from the pavement and separated from the road with a continuous physical barrier.
Most people who cycle to get from A to B don’t ask for much. We just want to be able to be feel safe.
So bravo to the developers behind Finzels Reach who have built two of the best cycle lanes seen in Bristol in recent years on Counterslip.
is needed now More than ever
The fact that I am writing this opinion piece sadly means that this high standard of segregated cycle lane is all too rare in Bristol.
This scheme therefore should be celebrated.
Counterslip runs between Victoria Street and St Philip’s Bridge – photo: Martin Booth
These new cycle lanes on Counterslip need to soon be linked to equally good cycle lanes on Victoria Street, and in the other direction towards the new and improved Temple Way underpass.
In isolation, cycle lanes like these are fantastic, but they need to be part of a joined-up citywide scheme to encourage sustainable travel.
We have a city council, however, whose own officers admit they are going against both local and national guidance when planning to reopen a busy road junction to motor vehicles, undoubtedly making it more unsafe for pedestrians.
Schemes like this on Counterslip are a tantalising glimpse of what we could have and what is standard in countries like the Netherlands.
Sadly, I’m not holding out too much hope for a joined-up citywide scheme of segregated cycle lanes in Bristol anytime soon.
My regular cycle journeys across Bristol with my 12- and eight-year-old daughters on their own bikes behind me are still often white knuckle rides due to our city’s frustratingly inadequate infrastructure.
This is an opinion piece written by Martin Booth, the Editor of Bristol24/7
Main photo & video: Martin Booth
Read next:
- Nelson Street cycle lane fencing removed by mistake
- Bristol needs a ‘comprehensive’ network of protected cycle lanes
- Hundreds of people very politely demand safer cycling
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