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Regent's Park wheelchair cyclistCobble rumble strips "disadvantage disabled cyclists" most
Using cobbles to reduce cycling speeds disadvantages disabled users, while having little effect on faster cyclists, according to one disability advocacy group.
Following recent Royal Parks’ announcements that cobbles will be used to slow cyclists down on roads and shared path routes on its land, including on Regent’s Park’s Outer Circle and in Kensington Gardens, concerns have been raised that the scheme may not work as intended.
Wheels for Wellbeing, a charity dedicated to supporting disabled cyclists, says the cobbles could potentially cause discomfort and pain to mobility aid users, while smaller casters on wheelchairs could become stuck between cobbles.
Cobble rumble strips for popular Royal Parks cycle route
Kevin Hickman, a trustee for Wheels for Wellbeing, told road.cc: "Using surface treatments to control cycling speeds is a problem generally for disabled people. I don’t know how rough the cobbled strips being implemented in Kensington Gardens are but they are likely to be uncomfortable, particularly for people who can’t get out of their saddle/seat, and possibly even painful for some.
“Users of all forms of mobility aid are disadvantaged, not only people on bikes, trikes and handbikes.”
“The casters of wheelchairs (the small wheels at the front) can become stuck between cobbles or result in the user being jolted or vibrated."
Mount Walk, in Kensington Gardens, is an off-road route shared path with 900 cyclists per hour using it in peak times, a number set to grow as it will become part of the Central London Grid bike network, and link directly to London’s new East-West Cycle Superhighway.
The Royal Parks says the path is too narrow to separate cycles and pedestrians, and are installing cobble rumble strips to keep cycles below the 12mph "design speed" for the route, and the path can't be widened because of trees that border it.
Hickman says cobbles could affect disabled users significantly, while having limited effect on faster riders.
He said: "My observation of these types of schemes is that those who cycle the fastest seem to be the least affected - they simply rise out of the saddle. That may be anecdotal but I’m not aware of any evidence that schemes like this work as intended.
“Perhaps the Royal Parks are better informed than Wheels for Wellbeing and we would be interested in which research is being relied upon in this instance. If not, having ruled out all other solutions, the Royal Parks appear to have plumped for wishful thinking."
Road cyclists have hit back at plans to install raised cobbled tables at four junctions around Regent’s Park’s Outer Circle, a popular training circuit and commuter route, as well as a way of accessing the park for families. Regent’s Park Cyclists’ Justin Mckie told road.cc earlier this month “one of the key challenges raised platforms comes from the disabled cyclists that use the park”.
The Royal Parks has been contacted for comment.
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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14 comments
Traffic volumes in The Regent's Park will be hugely reduced if the new CS11 proposal to close Maccelsfield Gate goes ahead.
The Royal Parks are afriad that the reduced volumes will lead to increased vehicle speeds. Putting aside for one moment that speeds should be dealt with by enforcement I think this fear is wrong. I ride through the park four times each day (school run) and there seem to be two distinct motor vehicle users: (1) the rat-runner and (2) the park user.
Much as I disagree with dog-walkers driving to the park, or indeed one often sees cyclists driving to the park, these users do not present a speeding problem. They are generally respectful of the park they are coming to visit and are focussed on finding a parking spot. They do not speed and don't need raised tables.
By far the larger number of motorists are the rat-runners. These are the speeders, they have crawled through the usual London congestion elsewhere and suddenly faced with a wide open road for the next half mile just can't resist a nice squirt of speed. Remove these and you remove the speeders. Remove them from the park and you don't need raised tables.
Conclusion: you don't need raised tables.
The slower you go, the worse cobbles are to ride over... try riding a trail with roots going slow and you'd end up falling off a mountainbike, just go for it and the bike will float you right over.
Same on my roadbike, smoother going over imperfections fast. Whoever thought this would work has only pootled around on a Boris Bike.
"the motorway can't be widened because of trees that border it."
"
The Royal Parks says the path is too narrow to separate cycles and pedestrians
"
BUILD ANOTHER PATH.
(and get these daydreaming, wandering fcukwits out of the way).
They're not cobbles, they're setts. These are cobbles:
https://goo.gl/maps/cmLYLoH9MTB2
Do you even cobble bro?
I cycled down the newly reopened Mount Walk in Kensington Gardens tonight and over the new rumble strips. I cycled the same speed as I always have, so they had no effect on me on my Brompton. I think they would be less comfortable with thinner (23mm) wheels, though. Complete waste on time money and effort!
No cars in Kensington Gardens.
Ironically they will probably find that the cobbles are significantly less comfortable at 12 mph than 20mph. Leading to those cyclists who were being considerate speeding up.
'to keep cycles below the 12mph "design speed" for the route '
And was this "design speed" intended for cars, cars + bikes together ? Surely when the cars are removed in peak times, cyclists tootling along at 20-25mph should not be a problem. (I'm sure I read they were planning to close it to cars during peak times)
At it's peak it gets 900 cycles an hour, so 15 per minute, a bike every 4 seconds on that road should not be a problem.
Do the cars that use it when open all stick to 12mph ? I shouldn't imagine so....
Cobbles are much nicer to roll over at speed than speedbumps...
It's not rocket science is it...
No, gorillas are pretty dim, even when led by Orang Utans and instructed by Chimps.
Some sneaky guerillas might manage it though.
<heston>Damn you. God damn you all to hell.</heston>
Have a like, that was an absolute clanger. Mocking deserved.
If they're similar to those already installed in Richmond Park, he's absolutely right. I just lift out of the seat as I go over them, it must be a lot less comfortable for the many that use the park as a safe(r) place to train on handbikes.
Is there such a thing as gorilla asphalt laying?
Good point, well made But will the Royal Parks listen?