One for all

Chaos on Barrow Road leading to St Philips Causeway yesterday. One lane was closed on the cycle path due to a sign on the cycle path informing everyone that one lane was closed on the cycle path.


This in turn, caused mayhem on the road as motorists slowed to "rubberneck", each doing their duty as fine upstanding (or in this case reclining) citizens checking that cyclists didn't stray on to the adjacent pedestrian designated side of the shared pavement as those mischevious villains are so often inclined to do. Pictured above is one such cyclist. We won't tell you if she actually encroached on the pedestrian area. I think you can judge for yourself by the look in her cycling induced rage crazed eyes and the flare of her nostrils as she snorts the air for pedestrians to plow down, what happened next. Excuse the blur in the photo, but as is typcal of lunatic cyclists in these situations, she was travelling at speeds well in excess of five miles per hour at the time.


EDIT: Word just in from our man in the Bristol Traffic helicopter that the sign was in fact to inform drivers that the road was down to one lane and not there for cyclists at all.

We have to say that we breathed a sigh of relief when we heard this news. After all the sign pictured looks very much like one intended for use on the roads, paid for by road using drivers. Why should cyclists benefit from it? At the same time we welcome the well chosen placement of the sign giving drivers and cyclists a level playing field. If the road is reduced by a lane then so should the cycle path. It's only fair and just desserts for those cyclists who are always banging on about being equal to motorists.

Extra EDIT: More news just in from our man on the Bristol Traffic Segway that similar signs were placed on numerous surrounding pavements throughout the Barton Hill and St Philips area, giving pedestrians their fair share of obstacles too, some covering nearly the whole width of the pavement.

All in all a good day spent sending out exactly the right message to those misguided tax dodgers who choose to walk and cycle. If anything's going to undermine their disillusioned beliefs that they're doing the right thing then it's schemes such as this. We believe it will be also be of great effect deterring those who are considering getting involved in the seedy underworld of treachery and hooliganism that is cycling. Well done to all involved.

Readers Letters

The Bristol Traffic mail room has been flooded recently with an unprecendented amount of letters, postcards and telegrams from readers in response to a recent post, with most correspondance expressing how underwhelmed readers were with the synchronised van display. One reader writes in to say that not only did she find it unimpressive, but she also feels she can do better! "What's so special about parking up the pavement? I do it every day! So does everyone! I don't see why those vans should get to have their photos on your website. How do I get a photo of my skills on your website? I've enclosed a couple in case you can show them. I think they're rather special and as you can see from the windscreen so do the authorities in charge of the awards. Not only have I got all the way up the pavement but I've done it in an area that will gain maximum attention from pushchair users. Hope you can show off my talents too, Shirley Parker RK06 TZG"

Well Shirley, although your skills are obviously impressive enough for an award, we have to say that your display is still not on a par with the vans. One area you are lacking in is stamina. While you managed to hold your position until just before teatime, the vans held strong for almost a whole week without flinching once. We do feel that your attempts deserve recognition though for good effort.We noticed too that you have used the often favoured pavement outside Playspace on Barrow Road in St Philips. We know that if your display was being judged by our panel then points would definitely be deducted for lack of originality. Although it has to be said, displays of pavement parking are become a rarer occurence here after partons of Playspace expressed a dislike of the parking methods, details of which were passed on to the management, who have obviously launched quite an effective awareness campaign to stop people parking in such a manner, as can be seen in the photo below.

A radical difference I'm sure you'll agree. Although driver WN56FTO didn't agree pointing out that unloading her child into a pushchair to get from the car to the building she was greatly inconvenienced by the extremely inconsiderate parking of driver WM06JFX which stopped her being able to get her pushchair and child along the pavement and they had to go around on the road to get past.

We'd like to offer a solution and show an example of the parking configuration the following day.
Although it looks remarkably similar the configuration of cars in the above photo is actually subtly different from the previous day. Whereas the cars were previousley arranged with one at the front and two at the back, they are now the opposite way around. Having WR53 ZVN and WF53YWN arranged next to each other at the back means that R869 DTG at the front has clear access to the entrance without having to risk the road and everyone is happy. Subtle yes, but it's amazing what a difference a small change and a bit of common sense can make.

Of course there is also the option of parking over the road on the other side, and while it will involve crossing the road it's a danger and sacrifice that some people are willing to make, because they're selfless and kind like that. Driver YG58HXX has not only parked over the road but also a few yards down the road meaning they'll have to endure some serious walking to get to their destination too. But that's ok becuase if it means putting other peoples safety and convenience first then they're all for it.

Not only are they going out of their way for others, they are also letting unobservant cyclists know that the dedicated cycle path that passes under Barrow Road helping cyclists avoid having to cross over the Barrow Road / St Philips Causeway crossroads, has well and truly come to an end at this point.So it's not all just about winning, it's also about due consideration for those around you as exemplified by YG58HXX. After all life's not a race. It's not about reaching the finish line the quickest, but enjoying the scenery on the way.

As the famous saying goes, If you don't stop to smell the flowers once in a while, you'll probably spend less time standing on the pavement next to them and statistically be less likley to be in the way of someone who needs to park on it.

Play parking at the playspace

Contributor "A" sends in these photos with a superb commentary:

At first glance it does look like the driver of the silver Golf T813GLG is parked across the pavement, but on closer inspection it is clear that Playspace has gone the extra mile, not only providing facilities to encourage play and learning for children inside the centre, but also a space outdoors for the parents to gradually learn to park in car parks.

The driver of the Golf is actually making the transition from roadside parking to eventually being able to make the whole car fit in the carpark, hopefully one day without the help of any other grown ups! It's important to remember that this is a gradual process and although the car being on the pavement might cause minor disruption to pedestrians this driver has already made substantial progress over the last few visits as they are clearly already a long way beyond simple road parking. Next visit they are likely to be almost half way within the carpark and maybe with a bit more practise they could be completely within the carpark with only three or four more visits.

In the meantime at least they've had the common sense to put a "small dude on board" t-shirt sign and a "baby on board" tortoise toy sign in the back window to warn pedestrians with pushchairs of the danger they could pose if their pushchair hit the back of the car whilst trying to navigate the pavement and therefore pointing out the advantages for pedestrians and pushchairs to instead make their way around the car using the adjacent road. The driver is after all a considerate parent themselves with the safety concerns of children first and foremost in their minds.

Cycle City

Today, Bristol Council announces the Cycling City plans. While the Bristol Cycling Campaign haven't got any of the details, as a nationally recognised news outlet we do have the official cycle city leaflet

One thing that makes us suspicious of that leaflet is only two or three of the many happy cyclists are wearing waterproofs. Since the Bristol Traffic project started its photographic documentation of Bristol in July, we have collected no photographs of people not cycling in some form of warm or at least waterproof covering. This raises suspicions that the people in the photographs are not actually Bristol residents, but models photographed somewhere sunnier.

We also have the map of improvements. Of the one that is new, it is #36: a cycle path over the St Philips Causeway. Interesting, and perhaps even backed up by a lowered speed limit on whole M32/A4 road system?

Note also an apparent failure of communication between the BRT team in the West of England Partnership and the Cycle City group. The Malago way is marked as a cycling route to be uprated; Princes Bridge is having money spent on it, more changes are planned round Hotwells. Yet there is no mention of BRT on the Malago, or changes to the Chocolate Path (which is mysteriously and suspiciously absent from the map). Perhaps the Cycling City team have realistic idea of whether or not the BRT project will get the go-ahead.

Cycle City proposals: the riverside route

One of the new routes proposed for cycle city is a route between Templemeads and the south-east of the city along the river.

As you can see, no such route exists today. To be precise, such a route does exist, but it is unpleasant, dangerous and not fun to cycle.

The area is built up and you are left pining for such quality infrastructure as the St Philip's flyover, visible in the distance.

It is certainly a relief to get off this unpleasant and dangerous path and into the safe cycle facilities around Templemeads.

Victory to Oceania!

Parking Services at work

It's a tough job for Bristol Council Parking Services. A losing battle. Resented by the people parking illegally for their enforcement of the rules, bemoaned by the cyclists for their unwillingness to enforce rules. Look at this as an example. A van on double yellow lines and a bike lane in Midland Road, St Philips. Should it be ticketed for half-blocking a bike lane?

What about having only two thirds of the vehicle length on the lines? Again, tough call.

This is a tough problem. These are the decisions that Bristol's Parking Services have to consider, day after day. Should they punish someone for parking illegally during an attempt to get their work done, or should they just say, "no, we understand what its like. Just park where you want, we won't ticket you"

Certainly for this vehicle, WDO4 RXP, propery of Bristol Parking Services, whoever was driving it on at 14:02 on 27 August 2008 managed to dodge the bullet -no ticket on their windscreen!

Feeder road: what does this bike lane do

Looking at this view of a cyclist going along a bike lane in Feeder road, you'd think that the car was deliberately about to run over this bike

But they aren't -they are just driving along stuck behind a bike. Why go along halfway in the bike lane?

Well, lorries like this may have something to do with it.

The only safe place for a car is half in the bike lane. So of course they do it. They'd do it even if it had stricter markings than the dotted hint of a bike lane here.

It's not exactly clear what this bike lane does. It does hint to cars that they should expect bikes, but since motor traffic was moving up and down here fast, it's not clear that its a safe place to ride. What it does do is discourage bikes from pulling out just enough to completely block cars from behind getting past, and stop bikes from getting lined up to do a right turn into the (signed) route under the Saint Philip's causeway. So maybe it's there to keep bikes under control while adding to the quota of bike lanes in the city. A double benefit then, for Bristol.

Saint Philips: not bike lanes- segregation

Here are a couple of snips from the St Philips Causeway area. This is very car friendly. It has dual carriageways with 50 mph limits, a bridge that bans pedestrians (who still walk along it) and the junctions are all roundabouts. Best of all, for a car, all the bikes are pushed out the way.

Here's one example, a bike junction that encourages bikes to turn off the approach lanes and go under an Heavy Goods Vehicle instead.

When the lorry clears, you can see that the 'approved' way to cross the road consists of trying to cross -with no right of way- the vehicles entering and exiting the roundabout. The best bit, a little green sign that says "cyclists please give way to pedestrians"

If you actually follow this signage, you switch from being a road vehicle with rights of way into not just a second class citizen -a pedestrian- but a third class one. Everybody cuts you up. Nice.

Furthermore, having explored all these back lanes, it slow and not that safe to zig-zag round behind the KFC drive-in restaurant, through the back of the showcase parking area and then up through Barton Hill. For an efficient commute, and indeed a good walk, the Saint Philips Causeway is more direct and faster. Possibly safer too, were it not for a 50mph speed limit, which creates two expectations from cars: (1) there are no bikes and (2) they can go at 50mph.

Perhaps dropping the speed to 40mph and making one lane each way walking/cycling would be a bike city improvement we could aspire to. Then again, probably not. With all the car showrooms round there, its our own little bit of Bristol - Car City.