Removal of safety wands and dividers from cycle lane will “make it safer for all road users”, claims council – but cyclists say plan is “vindictive and insane”

Plans to remove the light segregation currently in place on a controversial cycle lane – which, despite improving conditions for pedestrians and cyclists, has been branded a “death trap” due to the earlier removal of protective wands – will “make it safer for all users”, Croydon Council has claimed.

However, some local cyclists say they are “angry and disappointed” with the decision to reduce the protection for people using the lane to painted markings, which they described as “vindictive and insane”, while opposition councillors have accused the local authority of pursuing a “political agenda at the expense of a road safety agenda”.

The cycle lane scheme on Croydon’s busy Brighton Road was introduced in April 2023 to “make it easier and safer for cyclists and pedestrians” to navigate the stretch from Bartlett Street to Purley High Street and to encourage sustainable travel, through the creation of wider bike lanes with light segregation, namely traffic wands and defenders, to “deter vehicles from entering”.

A review into the scheme, carried out throughout its experimental period (which was originally due to run until October) and published last week, has found that the widened cycle lanes improved conditions for cyclists and pedestrians, while there has been a general reduction in the speed of motorists using the road between 7am and 7pm.

However, the review also found that fallen wands – usually knocked off my motorists – had created trip hazards for a number of cyclists (including one who broke his wrist after crashing into an “invisible” divider), while the bike lanes couldn’t be mechanically swept, leading to a build-up of debris, blocked gullies, and localised flooding.

All three emergency services also reported difficulties and delays in responding on the road due to being unable to pass traffic kerbside, and residents said they were unable to receive deliveries. During the consultation period, 458 objections were sent to the council opposing the scheme in its current form.

Last week, in response to the consultation and technical review, the Conservative-led council agreed to make the cycle lane scheme permanent – but with the caveat that the remaining light segregation will be removed entirely to “make it safer for all road users”.

“Light segregation to be replaced with road markings alongside the mandatory and advisory parts of the lane,” Nick Hibberd, the council’s corporate director for sustainable communities, said.

“We will also install buffers in some areas in the form of a minimum of half a metre wide hatch markings to separate motorised traffic from cyclists. This is intended to lower speed profiles, particularly along the southern section of the cycle route to improve safety for all road users.”

In a statement, Croydon’s executive mayor Jason Perry, a longstanding opponent of the then-Labour led cycle lane scheme who campaigned to “stop the Brighton Road traffic chaos”, said: “Thank you to everyone who has shared their views in the public consultation on the Brighton Road cycle lane. We’ve listened and are now proposing changes that will address the concerns raised by residents, local business, partners, and our own technical review.

“Whilst we are removing the wands and defenders, we are confident that these changes will benefit cyclists using the widened lanes, as well as supporting local businesses and helping to reduce congestion.”

> Croydon cyclist breaks wrist after hitting base of cycle lane wand removed by council

However, the decision to remove all forms of segregation from the scheme, while not enabling it to run for its full trial period, has been criticised by opposition councillors and local cyclists.

Labour’s opposition leader Stuart King has accused Perry of pursuing a “political agenda at the expense of a road safety agenda”, while the Croydon Cycling Campaign believes the decision “may well cost life and limb”.

“Safe road design – especially on the borough’s heavily-trafficked, 30mph ‘A’- roads – is a matter of life and death, and not to be approached in haste or without due process and the involvement of expert stakeholders such as Transport for London,” the group’s coordinator Angus Hewlett told the local democracy reporting service.

“It is clear to us that the mayor is making an inappropriate use of executive powers in a rushed way, to placate his political base. This is a decision which may well cost life and limb.

“We call on the mayor and his officers to pause any further action while TfL can be consulted, and further funding sought to remedy the Brighton Road scheme’s apparent design flaws, to build a future-proof scheme which meets the Borough’s commitments on climate and provides comfort and safety for all road users.”

“It’s not often that council decisions affect me as directly as this,” local cyclist Adrian Waters wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, after the changes were announced.

“I’m angry and disappointed to learn that this cycle lane will go. I frequently cycle its entire length, in both directions. It adds greatly to the safety of cyclists. Its removal is vindictive and insane.”

“Seeing as it’s only cyclists that use the segregated cycle lanes (clue is in the name), how is this going to make it safer for all road users?” asked CM Luckhurst.

“Are you thinking about those on two wheels or those moving around in a tonne of metal?”

“What about listening and speaking to cyclists who actually use the cycle lane and asking them if they feel safer with them there or not?” asked Kasper. “Rather than just giving in to the local naysayers. You are supposed to be encouraging people to use active travel rather than sit in their cars.”

While cyclists in Croydon are left scratching their heads at the claim that removing protected infrastructure will make a cycle lane “safer”, last November we reported that the initial removal of the Brighton Road lane’s wands left one cyclist requiring a steel plate in his wrist.

Richard Lander was cycling into the centre of Croydon when he had to pull out to pass a vehicle that had been parked on the cycle lane, hitting one of the defender bases, causing him to come off his bike and breaking his wrist.

He told road.cc that the black cycle lane divider had “no markings, no reflectors, no cats’ eyes” and that it was “totally invisible in the dark.”

Mr Lander continued: “The invisible brick is a really serious hazard. It’s ironic that it is intended for cycle safety, but it has resulted in a nasty accident.

“It seems that they start off with reflectors, that get knocked off by traffic until only the black brick remains. Surely there is some responsibility for road furniture markings?”