Cotham Hill

The bike/lorry collision on Cotham Hill -suspiciously a week after a "ghost bicycle" appeared on that road- has triggered a quick review of our data on the area. Neil Harrison, the local councillor states that there will be changes coming in the next 12-18 months as part of a Showcase Bus Route down Whiteladies Road, which will be interesting to see. Until then, the buildout make a nice parking area for YA55VDY, who is quite a regular visitor.

Cotham Hill is an interesting road: interesting shops, and the primary traffic is foot passengers to and from the University and Cotham Grammar; hence the various shops and cafes. But cars sprint up it to get to St Michael's Hill; it saves you going down to the lights at Tyndall's Park Avenue, and so gains 20-30 seconds. There is a price: you can wait for a while at the mini roundabout at the summit, unless you are extra aggressive there and pull out ahead of vehicles who have the right of way -and not just bicycles!

For cycle traffic, it is two way at the top, which is not something all vehicles expect. Cars sprinting across it are your main threat heading down on a bike, especially at peak redland-mum hours; 08:15-09:00 and 15:00-16:00. Then there is the junction at the bottom. Getting off and walking over the pedestrian crossing is the easiest way of dealing with that. Through some quirk in the software, pedestrians get lots of time on these lights, even during peak car commuter hours.

Cotham Hill is useful for anyone driving to the Clifton Down shopping area as it offers the only free, short-stay parking in the area now that the railway car park is pay-and-display. This means that any car/van traffic that doesn't want to pay to park heads up here, but of course the free parking spaces are gone, nobody wants to turn round so they park on the double yellow stretches instead. This is a classic example of "transitive" free parking: when you set off with the intent to park for free on a road, the absence of any legal parking space does not get in the way of your plans, you just park in the closest area remaining. Adding a nominal fee to the (limited duration) parking on this stretch might have some effect.

The Builder's Merchants adds the hazard of large vehicles entering/exiting, and their customers: van drivers. We have examined our back catalogue of data on this road, and have two videos from November alone

Van Pullout #1 on Cotham Hill

Notice the large domino's pizza lorry parked on single yellow lines and a bit of the zig zags., obscuring all visibility. We have seen them before.

As the bicycle approaches the junction, a white van pulls out in front of them from the builder's merchants. Fortunately, this tax-dodger was not "cycling too fast" so there were no problems.

Van Pullout #2 on Cotham Hill

This van shows the correct way to pull out in front of a bicycle: aggressively. By putting his foot down and going forward before pulling out, the driver of van HN56JYJ manages to get in front of the bicycle even though there wouldn't be room to do this safely if they pulled out directly.

Apparently, the cyclist, at the lights they not only held up the driver, they walked over to express their concerns about the van's lack of indicator use. You can hear the van driver -rightfully- disputing this: there's no need to indicate to non-tax payers; you can also hear his the horn as he is finally allowed to go. Note, sadly, the extremely damaged state of the front of the vehicle; he may have been driving over-aggressively at least once in the past. You have to remember to only run over pedestrians and cyclists, as they do less damage than other motor vehicles.

Farm Pub Path: Signage

Signs have appeared on the Farm Pub Path. Oddly enough, they do not mention the Farm Pub, or Muller Road.

Sadly, the presence of the lamppost in the middle of the path appears to prevent the owner of the pickup J343GHY from being able to follow the directions.

Instead he has been forced to abandon his car and make the rest of the journey on foot

Stolen

Some people point to our linking to Stolen Bristol bikes, as a sign that we are not really anti-bike. However, we don't like bikes being stolen as (a) they get replaced, so increasing the number of bicycles in our streets and (b) the people who steal bikes move up to cars later. Believing that bike thieves should be put to their death before they have learned to drive does not conflict with our other belief, namely that cyclists should be beaten soundly with their own bicycle before being made to pay 15 years worth of back-tax on their vehicle. Indeed, we hope to see the DVLA van performing such a service rather than clamping car drivers who innocently forget to tax, MOT and insure their cars.

We do not like to hear of stolen bikes. Sadly, today, this one: a Marin aluminium mountain bike, rock-shock suspension forks. The key features: small child seat on the front and the seat-post attachments to clip a tagalong and second small child on the back. Taken from near Fairlawn Road, Montpelier, while the father was returning the tagalong to the house.

The owner and his small children will now have to walk to school, which will still inconvenience us car-driving parents, especially as such an ex-cyclist is going to be the kind of troublemaker who ends campaigning against cars driving down the pavement.

Hopefully whoever stole the bicycle will realise that child seats are uncool and abandon it, in which case the owner will be grateful for any sightings.

Wilderness near UWE

We've celebrated this before: a bit of the wilderness near UWE. A river crossing. Something that forces pedestrians to turn back, and ensures that the only people who cycle through are doing it on mountain bikes. When they get to their destination they can feel pleased with themselves, and justify the extra expenditure on suspension and disc brakes.

We car drivers like it because it makes commuting by bicycle more miserable.

Which is why we have some bad news. This feature is no more. This week the builders of the housing estate behind MOD Abbey Wood dug some ditches, and as a result, the water feature has drained away.

This is part of a local anti-car conspiracy. They should be turning this path into a road for more driving options between Lockleaze and UWE and its business park, just as they did for the Old Filton Road, but instead this: wasting money on tax-dodging cyclists. Worse than that, tax-dodging student cyclists!

The St Werburgh's Van Problem

A photo comes to us of the note left on van windscreen's encouraging them to attend the discussion on the van problem.

One issue we hope was raised there is how the presence of all the vans along the street forces the driving instructors to use the bike lane area of the tunnel as the place to practise pavement parking.

A well-established company like Keith's Driving School in their car KU07BGY wouldn't deliberately teach their students to park in a bike lane without even putting the hazard lights on; that's one of the things you have to remember not to do during the test. Yet by choosing to live in these quiet streets, the van owners are forcing L-plate learners to learn things they aren't ready to do yet.

More Cotham Hill/Whiteladies Road lorry/bike crash photos

This is the rest of the photo set.

It's pretty depressing to see this, especially on a road that is almost entirely given over to students walking and cycling in to college on.

The lorry was turning in from Whiteladies Road -probably heading inbound (left turn), though it may have turned right.

This is the view from the builders' merchants; there's a small lane before the entrance. The parked cars on the side make getting into the building site a fairly tricky turn; presumably it had to to swing out wide, and somehow a bike ended up on the inside of the bend.

AY56AEP, for the databases

Note this closing scene here: the road is closed and yet still a white van tries to get past the police car; ends up being waved down by the police and made to/helped to back out onto Whiteladies Road, then go down a block before turning off. This may answer some questions about delivery van driver literacy, else "Police Road Closed" doesn't apply if you are just on your way through quickly.

"Life Changing Injuries" on Cotham Hill

Cotham Hill, 11:30am, December 1. Crisp, and traffic free. Lovely.

Or is it? Why exactly is it traffic free? It looks like the road is closed and one bystander was talking about a group of police chasing someone down a side road.

What's that at the end? A lorry. One turning into the builders' merchants.

Why has it stopped?

The bike under the passenger front wheels provides a clue. Apparently while the lorry was doing a wide turn into the site, someone on a bicycle managed to end up under its wheels. At the scene, people were saying "broken leg", but the story is now that a woman cyclist has been left with life-changing injuries.

All we can say is that we hope that is not the case -that she does recover.

Paveparking: it's greener, you know

We don't normally read the Evening Post; there is little point, but we are pleased to see that they are only ten days behind us in denouncing 20 mph speed limits.

As usual, some of the best insight comes from the comments; it is reassuring that many other people out there blame pedestrians for being in the road where they can get run over; and blame the parents who can't afford houses with back gardens for endangering their children by letting them out the front door.

Our favourite comment has to be from one Rob Green of Bedminster, whose insight deserves more coverage:

We've only just started parking on the pavement to keep the traffic moving - and make less pollution.
Why slow the cars down at this stage?

You see that? We thought it was to protect your mirror and paintwork, and help discourage pedestrians from walking round, as they will only slow us down later on. But now we see that there is environmental benefit too.

By eliminating stop-go motoring, we reduce fuel consumption costs and reduce pollution.

These vehicles in Freeland place, Hotwells, are parking here for the environment, including car WV56OCW.

Yet as usual, in this anti-car city they come down against those drivers who, in a selfless attempt to reduce pollution in the city, parking up on pavements outside schools on weekdays like the mini WP05VHM. It's for the kids! The lower the air pollution, the better it is for them! When will the politicians realise this!

Christmas shopping in Bedminster

Look at this: the bike parking outside Asda, Bedminster, is full, with cyclists having to struggle to get their bicycles in an out of the six racks assigned to them.

This is the only bike parking on this side of the supermarket, the rest of area is dedicated to people who drive there.

It may seem a bit odd for a supermarket in a Cycling City to only have room for twelve bicycles and what appears to be thousands of cars. But consider this. Asda is owned by Walmart, the world's largest retailer. Do you seriously think that Walmart got so big by people cycling to the shops? Of course not. Their business model is built on bulk purchases, for which you need a car, ideally a proper 4x4.

Look more closely at the cyclists and compare them to the people making their way to and from the car park.

The cyclists: little bags, barely big enough to hold a snack. The car drivers: trolleys full of goods. Walmart's business model is based on high-volume low-margin sales, and cyclists bringing at most a rucksack just aren't buying enough food or other goods. These cyclists should be grateful that Asda has provided any parking, instead of turning this space over to support two more cars, especially on a busy weekend in the runup to Xmas.

The Recession Is Over - Official

These are hard times, but the end is apparently in sight.

As part of our ongoing Product Placement series, we see a new enterprise in the Gloucester Road. The photo is taken during the fit-out period, but it is good to see a new independent on Bristol's most famous street. Providing the sort of service and products so necessary in this part of town. Even better that this is taking place during a recession.

Notice how the new entrepreneurs have settled in seamlessly with their new neighbours, allowing their frontage space to be immediately occupied by the drivers of T8CKX and XZ4CCX in a real expression of community spirit.

We do wonder, however, just how long they expect the shopper to protect their escape route. Or is this performance art?

Here at Bristol Traffic we can't wait for the opportunity to sell our gold for cash and then buy a phone with the proceeds.

Communication on Richmond Road

Some footage of one of our cyclists shouting at car drivers. Do we car drivers do this? Rarely. A quick beep of the horn, a friendly little note, that's all. Yet here, this tax dodger can be heard repeatedly shouting "Wait" at the vehicle pulling out, despite the fact that that vehicle has paid real money to use the road.

Yes, the vehicle pulled out without indicating or looking, but the fact is that indicators are for indicating intent to other cars. There are none in the area. Therefore they are not needed. We also note that if there had not been a group of tax-dodging pedestrians walking down the middle of the road, the van would not have been held up so long, and this near-miss would never have occurred. Yet again, if there had been a collision, who gets the blame? The bicycle, merely because of its right of way? Or the van that just pulled out without looking. That's right, the van, despite the fact that's the kind of thing that everyone does every day and nobody else on the road has any right to be there.

What is the bicycle speed for College Road?

After Dru Marland got penalised for cycling too fast, we sent one of our unwitting cyclists down College Road to see what speed cyclists should do down it.

Notice how, although the bicycle was going at the same speed as the car in front, it was still holding up a Volvo XC90, school-run, presumably. This car was forced to overtake the bicycle, which, with the oncoming traffic and narrow gap in front was not an easy move, especially in such a large car.

This is a busy road with a school, Clifton High, just passed on the right, with the parental parking/dropoff zones on either side of the road. Forcing cars to overtake aggressively right in front of a school is a dangerous action and it is selfish for the bicycle to do just that. To make matters worse, the bicycle then immediately swings past the Volvo only to come to a complete halt in front of them. This is a selfish operation that will slow down the important driver whose time is, according to DoT equations, worth more than pedestrians or cyclists.

Clearly then: a bicycle travelling at the same speed as motor traffic speed is going too slow and holding up important people. But going down this road at above traffic speed, as Dru showed, is too too fast. The obvious solution is to ban bicycles from such important roads, namely any road near a school. It is for the safety of them and pedestrians, you understand. Think of the schoolkids!

Product Placement: R.P. Glass of Bristol

It's notable that our denunciation of the 20 mph zones came out on November 17 -it was 24 hours after we broke the news that the Evening Post discovered the news.

As you may recall, we also complained that the so-called mainstream press would be seeking quotes from such organisations as the Association of British Drivers, and not us, Bristol's premier pro-car news organisation.

When will they realise: the ABD do not represent Bristol Drivers!

Look what they say about this proposal:

"It's difficult for drivers to stay at 20mph in modern cars, you have to keep it in third gear and keep your eyes on the speedometer. You could be skittling over pedestrians at 20mph that you would have seen if you were going 30mph.

It could make the situation worse."

See that? The ABD are worrying about the safety of pedestrians. When did we, the city's drivers care about that? We want them banned from the streets along with their bus using and cycling friends. There shouldn't be any pedestrians out there for us to worry about.

But what really hurts us is this claim that having to keep an eye on the speedo will cause drivers to take their eyes of the road. This shows us, sadly, how out of touch Captain Mainwaring and the rest of the ABD folk are. They may go out for "quick jaunts" in their beige Austin Allegros, taking care to top up the windscreen and radiator water levels, and wearing both driving gloves and a flat cap, but the rest of us have moved on. Driving round town is not about watching where you are going: it is about phoning ahead to your destination complaining that you will be late because there is another bastard cyclist in the way. You don't look down to see the speedo, you look up from the phone where you are trying to compose a text message.

These people have just lost touch. Pity. We could have made a great team.

Now, if you are going to use "safety" as a reason to argue for 30mph limits -you really need some good arguments that are up to date with modern driving techniques. For this end, we have co-opted the white van of R.P. Glass, on their way up Shaldon Road to Kellaway Building Supplies.

First, an apology not just for the sound but the placement of the camera, our unwitting cyclist is still trying to adjust it to get the "light" to work. If only only they knew.

As you can see, the cyclist is pootling up a hill at 10-15 mph, the van is coming up at 30+. As it passes the cyclist, it has its left turn indicator on, indicating it is about to swerve in front of the bicycle and enter the building supplies site.

The only way this operation can be accomplished safely, for the van to clear the bicycle, is at speeds of 30 mph or greater: proper speeds. At 20 mph the van isn't going to go fast enough to get past the cyclist, it's going to end up having to pull in right over the cyclist. Which will then be the fault of this cyclist, who is clearly guilty of not following Transport for London's Cycle/Lorry safety guidelines; guidelines which tell bicycles not to get on the left of left-turning lorries. But it will also be the fault of all those cycling campaigners who pushed for lower limits. Yet who will get the blame? That's right, van drivers like the one driving R.P. Glass of Bristol on Tuesday November 23.

Kingsdown and cliftonwood RPZ update

Breaking news: the detailed Kingsdown and Cliftonwood RPZ plans are up on the council site, go look for them.

Looking at the Kingsdown proposal:

• The Council also wants Saturdays to be RPZ only, 9-5. This will ensure revenue to Cabot Circus by reducing lower cost alternatives
  
• Will allow resident parking on the top of nine-tree-hill, a road that is currently only of interest to cyclists and pedestrians.
• Will add more yellow lines on corners etc.
• Have dodged the Kingsdown Parade bullet by still allowing parking on one side, except where there are yellow lines already

Although it will inconvenience commuters, out of hours it should still be OK to park as this car CN53MZZ has done: far enough onto the pavement that the double yellow lines no longer apply, and with the wing-mirror safe from being clipped

Control Alt Debate

This just in from a concerned St Werburgher:

Dear Friends

You may be aware of the recent campaign by a few local residents against
trucks, vans and caravans parked in Easton, St Pauls, Montpelier, St Andrews
and St Werburghs.

This activity has extended to vandalism, personal threats and serial complaints
to the police. Local PCSOs at Trinity and Newfoundland have responded by
issuing obstruction tickets to legally parked vehicles, along with threats to
tow and/or destroy them. The people committing vandalism or threatening
behaviour to owners of vehicles have not been challenged.

As a friend of a truck owner and St Werburghs resident, I have been
alarmed by the language of the attacks, which have included stickers
reading 'you're not welcome here'. My friend is often afraid to approach
her vehicle out of fear of attack and harassment.

I believe we need to broaden representation of the issues involved beyond a
vocal minority whose prime objection to the vehicles appears to be aesthetic.
As residents we should be able to park legally in our own neighbourhood without
fear of aggression or harassment.

Festival, surfer and camping vans have been part of the economic and cultural
life of one of the UK's most diverse and progressive areas for decades. If the
complainers and threateners succeed in clearing these vehicles off the streets,
your own way of life might potentially be the next at risk.

There is a meeting being held at the Jack Brimble Hall, on Lynmouth Road, St
Werburghs tomorrow Tuesday 24 November 2009 at 19:00.

Please come.

Keith Hunting


(Real name withheld for reasons of National Security)

Contraflow

We must apologise for the lack of interesting photographs or videos, but it has been a dull week. Our secretly "instrumented" cyclist has not been doing anything dangerous or exciting, apart from an incident with a car on shaldon road that did not appear on film. This is a pity, as the "you cyclists don't pay road taxes so should get out of the way" lecture the tax-dodger apparently received would be worth sharing more widely.

What we do have is this video of one of our monitored subversives cycling the wrong way down a one-way street.

It is only through the selfless actions of the red car that chose to drove the wrong way down Marlborough Hill, that no oncoming traffic could endanger the cyclist. We praise this car for recognising the dangerous situation which was developing, and addressing the safety issue in a non-confrontational manner. This is why the car drivers of Bristol deserve more praise than the cyclists and pedestrians -whine, whine, whine, that's all they do. But this car, sees a dangerous situation "bicycle going the wrong way down a hill" and rather than complain or create conflict, just slid in front to protect the bicycle. Sadly, we cannot see the vehicle's registration number to award it the full recognition it deserves, it will have to go down as an anonymous samaritan.

The Shortest Cycle Lane in the Universe?

I reckon the Bristol to Bath railway path must be the longest cycle lane around here, a glorious traffic-free 14 miles to Bath (despite having a ring road built through it and recent attempts by First Group and the previous administration of Bristol City Council to turn it into a glorified bus lane). It was the first facility that Sustrans - then cyclebag - built and something that we can all be proud of. It's famous the world over, you know!. Well, here's another first that the cycling city can be proud of. Tucked away along Newfoundland Road and nestling quietly beside the M32 is possibly the shortest cycle lane anywhere. Not having my tape with me, I paced it at about 3 metres - my trusty steed added for scale. At either end is car parking, so it can be regarded as a separate lane, unlike the other side of the road which does have a cycle lane, punctuated by occasional bits of red asphalt, but is actually a lot longer.

We'd better give it some kind of protected status, just in case the powers that be want to run a bus route along it. So there you have it, the shortest cycle lane in the known universe. Unless, of course, you know better....

Secret BRI Parking

If you ever get directed by the NHS helpline to drive a small child down to the BRI kids A&E, you are left with the problem of parking.  Assuming you do have an emergency, go into the ambulance only bit outside the Bristol Heart Institute, then -staying outside the warren of buildings- go down to the A&E unit. Drop the kid off and then nip out to worry about the problem of parking without getting fined.

Even if there is space in the parking area, it's minimum cost is £4, in coins, and if you are on an emergency run you may not have it to hand. Out in the street is cheaper as you can pay in smaller amounts. But pay you still do.

Which is why we are pleased to pass on some news about secret BRI parking places, this time credit to the Kingsdown Conservation Group for tipping us off.

Southwell Street. Between Horfield Road and St Michael's Hill (the direction the camera is facing). On the left, St Michael's Hill hospital, on the right, the BRI's new Southwell House. And what's that on the right? Parking. Big enough for a truck

Coming from St Michael's Hill, you can fit a van or estate car in. Even though you poke out into the road, the large yellow barrier ensures that there will no passing traffic, not even passing bicycles. Your paintwork is better protected here than in any nearby roads.

Here then, is our secret BRI parking. There's just one small problem, according to the signage that appears to have gone up as an afterthought.

YOU RISK

BEING FINED

IF YOU PARK

HERE

THESE SPACES ARE NOT
DESIGNATED AS
PUBLIC PARKING

This is where it gets complex.The hospital clearly consider these parking spaces theirs, and not for anyone else. Yet in a lovely worded letter from the Kingsdown Conservation Group, we are let onto the true nature of the parking spaces. They are, technically, pavement. As the KCG put it

UHB has appropriated the whole of the pavement for private parking. Photograph 1 shows the path on the north side of Southwell Street to be continuous. Buried in the modern concrete are the remains of traditional stone paving slabs. KCG is not aware of a Highways Act order that entitles UHB to block the pavement to pedestrians.

See that? Not hospital parking. Pavement. It may have concrete on top, but the slabs are still there. Which makes it our pavement. Open to any of us city tax payers to park on.

The KCG include some questions in their letter

We would like the City to answer a number of questions. They are:
1. Does UHB have a legal right to invite drivers to park across and block the whole of the northern pavement of Southwell Street?
2. Does UHB have legal authority to erect and to maintain a permanent barrier across Southwell Street?
3. Does the Highways Department have a right to approve the quality and appearance of a legally authorised barrier?
4. Does the Highways Department agree that vehicles emerging from the hospital car park into a Southwell Street are a danger to pedestrians and cyclists?
5. Does it propose to improve the safety of Southwell Street?

We have some of our own.:

1. If the north side of Southwell street is technically pavement, who is authorised to fine vehicles for parking there without permission?
2. In particular, does that "you risk being fined if you park here" sign mean that it is Bristol Parking Services, Avon and Somerset Police, or the BRI?
3. If you do park there, and the BRI do issue a fine, can they actually enforce it?

We await answers. We would also be very curious to know what happens when you do park here. Anyone willing to experiment would have an entertaining day. Alternatively, someone malicious could call Bristol Parking Services or the police and report a number of illegally parked vehicles. That would be fun too, especially if they hung around with a video camera to see what happened next.

In the meantime, we would like to draw attention to the fact that this popular student route suffers from bicycles on the pavement, just by the barrier. It seems that a wide yellow barrier and a chain on one side is not sufficient to prevent bicycles. We propose a low barrier at the height of a cyclists head. They may get knocked off, but provided they have a helmet it will do no damage -and they are at least outside a hospital.

Selfish Parking

There is room for two cars on this build out, yet the mini VN02ZGU has taken up the middle of the build out, blocking all other vehicle access. Yet we have seen that there is room for two cars here.

They may protect their bodywork and mirrors, but one other Clifton Resident will have to park their car further away from where they live.

Of course, the real blame goes to the council. If they did not have those needless bollards on the build out, it would be much easier to squeeze a second car in.

Whose Side Are You On?

Remember the Thali Corner 'Easi-turn' scheme, installed by a lone fanatic van driver fed up with residents parking their hippy cars on the corner ? He is very modest, and tried hard to keep a low profile - even allowing people to think Living Streets had something to do with it.

The power hungry will always fill a media vacuum, of course so no surprise Living Streets Bristol invited local residents to what they laughingly called
'an official re-opening of the footpath linking the Thali Cafe to Herbert's Bakery, popular in the last century. This path fell out of use in the 21st Century as the path became blocked by cars and then bins'.
They prattle on
'since the Easi-turn Scheme, not only is the corner free of cars, but we are delighted to see that those parking on Wellington Ave, along the side of the Thali Cafe, are aligning themselves with the planters and bins in the gutter, and not blocking the pavement.'
Yawn.

As you can see, more people attended this than a Living Streets meeting, but interestingly, the van driver actually attended the opening! We aren't going to tell you which one he is as it would blow his cover - but it has set us wondering whether he is, in fact, a double agent...he seems a bit too pally with certain well known local subversives like Dr Rogers.


The group even held a ceremony to officially bless the new bike racks outside the Thali Cafe,not realising they are actually there just to ease traffic flow. Or are we the ones being fooled? Is this a double bluff - an alliance of the forces of darkness, pretending to be pro-tax paying drivers pretending to be a pro-cycling and -walking alliance? I'm getting confused as to who is on which side.




Anyway, there are clear benefits for us drivers. This is the pavement right opposite the Easi-turn feature above: now there are no cars there opposite, there is no longer any need for us to park close to the houses on this side! Like sands shifting with the tide, within ten days, the 'accepted' line for vehicles has shifted back south into the roadspace. This means drivers and passengers can now open their doors fully on both sides without houses getting in the way.

Attempts last year by our friend Bob Bull to get the houses moved back a bit failed, but now we have clear door space both sides. Result! This will help win over dubious residents - there might be 2 fewer parking spaces but the quality of those remaining just got better.