Derby cyclists strip off to protest scrapping of bus and cycle lane

presumably we will hit a tipping point with more and more electric cars and reduced emissions will mean more and more road space being dedicated to cycling ?

As someone who cycles through that junction every day:

What they are proposing is removing a 50m long bus lane which cyclists can use. Cars must turn left, buses and bikes may go straight ahead.

https://goo.gl/maps/s87hEAGSVf52

This will allow cars to go through a set of lights in two lanes instead of the current single lane. This will then increase capacity on a junction further up the road as at the moment cars tail back from these lights.

The impact on cyclists will be ~0, if you are coming down Ashbourne Road and intend to go straight on you will need to filter into the outside lane as you currently do but you will be sharing it with the same cars you are already sharing it with for the previous 1 mile.

Cars shouldn't be able to overtake you before you come to the double lane section because of the traffic islands ahead of it.

The only difference will be when the traffic is stationary where instead of going past it in the bus lane you will have to go up the middle, however given British drivers propensity to avoid "pushing in" most will occupy the inner lane anyway.

Until the A52 is by-passed from Ashbourne Road it will always be horrible to cycle down, but of course how do we all feel about road building........

Quote "...Derby City Council, which has claimed that the changes will help reduce vehicle emissions."

Who are they trying to fool? Since when did encouraging car usage reduce vehicle emissions? That statement is so disingenuous. How do we allow people like this to govern us? 

Surely the perfect opportunity to debunk the bike lanes cause pollution fallacy: multiple roadside air sampling checks through out the day for seven days prior to conversion of the bike lane, followed by same protocol 2 to 3 months after conversion complete. Compare and contrast!

Matthew Holmes, said: “There are often competing needs and views expressed in the city from residents, groups and businesses.

“Where concerns cannot be specifically addressed through the refinement of the preferred option, further consideration is being given to other funding sources to address the issues,” he added.

But the competing views of the environment and the planet can go and........

Further consideration of other funding sources=when hell freezes over.

I'll bet that they Hull transport policy, congestion policy, pollution policy, health policy and climate change policy are all totally against this decision, but hey, policies are only decorative, there to fill otherwise empty shelves.

As somebody said, "Making more lanes for cars is like loosening your belt to cure obesity."