‘How can removing cycle lanes ever be justified?’

If you look closely between the parked cars, you can still see what used to be a cycle lane that took cyclists along Cheltenham Road past the Pipe & Slippers towards its junction with Ashley Road.

It was of poor quality and in desperate need of improvement. But it was still a cycle lane.

That cycle lane has been removed, however, in the recent ‘improvements’ to this junction which has seen the pavement widened: so far not to improve pedestrian safety but to enable cars to park on it more easily.

In a cabinet member briefing revealed by a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, an officer at Bristol City Council said that they “need to highlight to Cllr Alexander (Don Alexander, cabinet member for transport) the loss of an inbound cycle lane… which might be contentious when public engagement commences”.

Of course it might be contentious! Even a crap cycle lane is better than no cycle lane at all. (Other than the new cycle lane on Nelson Street, an unsafe bodge which closed just days after it opened.)

The problem is that because this was a maintenance project, the council did not even need to consult or show a business case to justify spend. The requirement to be scrutinised just did not exist.

The widened bit of pavement – photo: Martin Booth

Bristol was named the UK’s first ‘cycling city’ in 2008. Fast forward 14 years and another cycle lane might be removed, this time on Whiteladies Road.

How can removing cycle lanes ever be justified? Safe cycling needs to be prioritised across our city.

A painted line will not do but time and time again, cycle lanes in Bristol are invisible, abruptly stop or even have trees in the middle of them.

At the newly remodelled Ashley Road junction, early release signals for cyclists in the advanced stop lane (ASL) are all well and good – but a gauntlet of parked cars usually has to be navigated in order to get there, which are as unsafe for pedestrians as they are for cyclists.

The works on Ashley Road junction took almost double the estimated length of time to complete and have mostly just moved the crossings by a few metres, widened a few short stretches of pavement and removed a cycle lane: all seemingly for the benefit of car drivers.

Once again, car drivers have been prioritised to the detriment of walkers and cyclists, despite what traffic planners at City Hall claim.

There is enough space here for both a segregated cycle lane and wider pavements if one of the three lanes on this stretch of road is removed.

By widening the footway, all it has done is make it easier for cars to park. And I have yet to see the double-yellow lines ever be enforced.

A plan of the works that have taken place at the Cheltenham Road and Ashley Road junction – image: Bristol City Council

Toby Wells from Bristol Cycling Campaign was the person who requested the FOI from the council about these works.

“We’re really disappointed that the opportunity wasn’t taken to revamp the junction for cycling whilst doing all the work to replace the traffic lights,” he told me.

“Whilst the previous cycle lane was not the best, we are sure something better could have been put in place rather than removing it all together.

“The A38 is Bristol’s busiest on-road cycling corridor, and has so much more potential for shifting people onto bikes if people were provided with a safe space.

“As such, it deserves something much more ambitious than the disappointing scheme that has been built, with fully protected space for cycling, in addition to the widened pavement.

“The fact that there is no enforcement against the extensive pavement parking adds insult to injury for both walkers and cyclists.”

Martin Booth is the Editor of Bristol24/7

Main photo: Martin Booth

Read more:

• ‘The main barrier to seeing more everyday cyclists in Bristol is safety’
• ‘When is a cycle lane not a cycle lane?’ 
• ‘Closing Prince Street bridge to cars should be a no-brainer’
• Rees admits new cycle lane ‘totally messed up’ major bus route
• ‘The council continues to operate a 1960s style, car-first approach to transport’

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