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Does Faversham have the UK's worst cycling infrastructure? Faversham Bike Lane

Does Faversham have the UK's worst cycling infrastructure?

One man says Faversham could compete for the UK's worst cycle infrastructure...but can your town top (or bottom) it?...
by Laura Laker
Mon, Feb 22, 2016 17:10
15

It’s possible all of us, at one time or another, have believed our home town to be the UK’s worst for cycling infrastructure.

However, one man has made the bold move of claiming his town, Faversham, could have the UK’s worst, and has made a small photographic gallery of its offerings as evidence.

It’s a familiar tale: from cycle lanes that disappear suddenly, to bike lane markings that have all but disappeared, Architect and Urban Planner, Tim Stonor, asks “is this typical of UK cycle infrastructure? Or is Faversham exceptional?”

Faversham councillors keen to rid town centre of ‘arrogant and fast’ cyclists

 

"This is the end." "No, this is the end!" What do the signs refer to? The end of what? Of course they refer to the end...

Posted by Tim Stonor for Faversham on Saturday, February 20, 2016

On a Facebook post Stonor, who also blogs about transport and congestion issues in Faversham, describes one bike lane with two “End” warnings painted within feet of each other.

He says: “’This is the end.’ ‘No, this is the end!’ What do the signs refer to? The end of what?

“Of course they refer to the end of a cycle path. But where is the beginning of the cycle path and where are the parts of it between the beginning and the end? This may sound like a silly set of questions but go and look for yourself. It's actually rather shocking.”

Stonor criticises fragmented cycle lanes around Faversham and says a policy change is needed to tackle the town’s congestion problems and get people out of their cars.

He says: “Faversham could compete for the worst cycling infrastructure in the UK. But is this an award we would really want to have?

“If Faversham wants to tackle its traffic problems then encouraging walking and cycling is critical. Our current performance is woeful – we need *significant* change.”

Kent County Council is the local roads authority and so is also responsible for cycle infrastructure. However Faversham councillors last year said they wanted to keep the town centre free from “arrogant and fast” cyclists and wanted instead to encourage slower cyclists “who amble gently through the town”. Some argue the current infrastructure is preventing all but the fast and brave from cycling. 

Rowan Dobbins comments: “The only people I've seen cycling in Faversham are weekend MAMILs (myself among them) I don't generally feel safe cycling in Faversham, and I'm very experienced.

“I have stopped taking my daughter to nursery by bike - it is a genuinely scary experience - and I won't be letting our older children cycle on the road here until it improves. Totally agree, that with the lack of infrastructure, and the speed and entitled attitudes of drivers (myself included again!), that Faversham is the worst place for cycling I have ever lived.”

Where Faversham is accused of too little paint for cyclists, it’s under pressure from other quarters to remove yellow lines which one campaign group says “scar” the historic town.

Join in the discussion - we know you won’t let us down. Show us what your town is made of (or not, as the case may be).

Correction - this article said Swale Council did not immediately respond to request for comment. The local roads authority is Kent County Council and we have since been in touch for comment.

Faversham
Laura Laker

Laura Laker is a freelance journalist with more than a decade’s experience covering cycling, walking and wheeling (and other means of transport). Beginning her career with road.cc, Laura has also written for national and specialist titles of all stripes. One part of the popular Streets Ahead podcast, she sometimes appears as a talking head on TV and radio, and in real life at conferences and festivals. She is also the author of Potholes and Pavements: a Bumpy Ride on Britain’s National Cycle Network.

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15 comments

Avatar
Guanajuato | 8 years ago
0 likes

Or this one in Kendal. https://goo.gl/maps/7HLmr5n1HP82

Note the blue car using the edge of the cycle lane as the give way line - that's the norm. And that same blue car is stopped on the end of the lane - ie the lane ends JUST where are car is going to side-swipe you as they move across from the wide corner to the narrow straight bit.  I ignore the cycle lane and sit in the middle of the whole lane here - usually going faster than the cars anyway.

This looks good at first glance. Nice segregated lane on the right crossing the bridge. https://goo.gl/maps/7HLmr5n1HP82

But the cycle path comes from the left hand side in that picture, on a narrow pavement, against the flow of a one-way street and past a snack bar (swing the picture round!).  Just over the brow of the bridge is a flowing junction to a private car park. And the cycle path swaps back to the left side of the road.  https://goo.gl/maps/rcq1Z5QbMcS2 Then narrows on a sharp bend with a zebra crossing & 3 signposts. https://goo.gl/maps/JdPp31K47xP2

And 50 yards further on, the cycle lane stops, spitting you out into 3 lanes of traffic alongside a free-for-all car abandonment area. https://goo.gl/maps/AZdBdA5ssS92

This is the main road into Kendal from Junction 39 of the M6.

The council still haven;t been able to tell me whether the 'designer' of that has actually ridden it themselves, or even rides a bike.

Avatar
Guanajuato | 8 years ago
0 likes

How about this one in the lake district.

https://goo.gl/maps/NQ5XdAiazEu

Streetview hasn't caught up yet.  But an off-road cycle track (gravel, rather than proper surface) spits you out in the middle of this narrow, blind bend on the main road between Ambleside & Hawkshead.  notice the wonderful surface too.  We do get a sign, and some paint on the road (but that's invariably obliterated by nice, slippery leaves).

Or this one https://goo.gl/maps/Gu4JQhrB6rR2

a pointless segregated lane of about 3 car lengths.  Google did well to get it not with a car handily parked in it.

A short distance further back, a shared pavement (giving way to each & every driveway, countrary to guidance) ends, just as the road goes narrow. https://goo.gl/maps/NSgxT2fsUKJ2

Or this one, just entering Windermere. shared pavement on the left spits you out just beyond that dip/right hand bend, where there's a road off to the left. https://goo.gl/maps/nHU8S8mxzaN2

 

In these situations, not having a cycle path is probably safer.

Avatar
Johnny Crash | 8 years ago
0 likes

Leeds certainly has some bad cycle infrastructure (and it looks like it's getting £9 million worth of more) but it also has incredibly dangerous infrastructure. 

Regent Street being a prime example:

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/George+St,+Leeds,+West+Yorkshire+LS2+7HY/@53.8007036,-1.5334949,3a,75y,1.47h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s35UUMkfq1XPbkGTrSPj4VQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D35UUMkfq1XPbkGTrSPj4VQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D0.8659091%26pitch%3D0!7i13312!8i6656!4m2!3m1!1s0x48795c1a01b45a87:0xe26fd81c8967736b

Then again, so does everyhwere else I've cycled in the UK. 

Avatar
flathunt | 8 years ago
2 likes

I can't really complain about the cycling infrastructure here in London, not because it's safe, or especially good, or in any way pleasurable to use, but because it *REALLY* pisses off the cabbies. In that respect it's got to be among the best in the world.

Avatar
bikebot replied to flathunt | 8 years ago
2 likes
flathunt wrote:

I can't really complain about the cycling infrastructure here in London, not because it's safe, or especially good, or in any way pleasurable to use, but because it *REALLY* pisses off the cabbies. In that respect it's got to be among the best in the world.

But even London, despite all the headlines and noise about the new high quality bits, is still 99.9% shit. The new bits are important, because of their location and that they demonstrate that it can be done.  Pissing off cabbies is just a bonus.

I've been pootling around the suburbs a bit in the new year, venturing into some areas I haven't been to by bike for ages.  Hounslow really impressed, a first amongst equals in utter crapness.  It hasn't quite got the raw edginess of Croydon's "ye gods, everyone is insane, I'm going to die", but I think it needs special mention for their amazingly uncomfortable and potholed routes which make it quite clear you're not welcome.

Oh, and then there was this.

//i.imgur.com/fpgdt4G.jpg)

Avatar
ron611087 | 8 years ago
1 like

Can't say that the cycle infra in my area is crap because there isn't any infra, not even faded paint.

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Dnnnnnn | 8 years ago
0 likes

There must be enough material for a book abour crap cycle lanes.... oh.

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SpiritualOne | 8 years ago
0 likes

Aberdeen is pretty crap. 

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gazza_d | 8 years ago
0 likes

A small selection of gems from South Tyneside 

http://cyclingsouthtyne.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/bollocks-infra-south-tyne...

 

 

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Cyclic | 8 years ago
1 like

Aberdeen must be in the running.

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ianrobo | 8 years ago
0 likes

Swale = UKIP terrority = knobs ...

Nah they all just want to be in their 4x4's and clogg up the roads, thats not a scar of course is it.

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HarrogateSpa | 8 years ago
3 likes

Is there a correlation between cycling fast and being arrogant? Is it morally superior to amble gently on a bike? Are we all supposed to get around as though we were retired vicars? And as cars go faster than bikes, are their drivers even more arrogant, or are they exempt from this rule?

Jesus wept.

Avatar
Yorkshie Whippet | 8 years ago
6 likes

I'd like to nominate Leeds for spending £9 million on cycle lanes that give way to vehicles coming from the left. Not only that, in doing so they've narrowed the roads so that anyone with a bit of speed is now subject to  very close passes. Oh and First Leeds buses.

Avatar
bikebot | 8 years ago
15 likes

Yes, they win. Joint last with every other town in the UK.

 

Avatar
Jones The Steam replied to bikebot | 8 years ago
0 likes
bikebot wrote:

Yes, they win. Joint last with every other town in the UK.

This.

 

However, I'd like to make a special mention for Reading as that's the town I have the personal misfortune to try and get across by bicycle.

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