Sussex Place Junction

The previous post today makes a valid point. I have some video footage that I'll share one day.

It has, though, reminded me about the consultation for Sussex Place (or St Agnes Gateway - as the Highways Department call it).

Here you can take a look at the recent 'improvements' to this junction.

I made representations to the Council regarding certain urban design aspects of the scheme (there were none), but I missed the obvious...

The plan clearly sets out the key changes to the roads. It shows where pavements are to be narrowed, and bus stops moved etc. What it doesn't show is the removal of existing cycle lanes. Lower Ashley Road used to have one. So, I think, did Ashley Road on the approach to Sussex Place. Because they weren't shown as being removed on the plan I didn't object to their removal. Which I regret every time I cycle this route and have to sit behind the cars and lorries (I don't do pavements, no matter what the Evening Post may say).

Cunning stunt by the Highways Department of the Cycling City.

On the gentrification of Stokes Croft

Stokes Croft is in transition.

The PRSC are doing their best, but various other interests are at work. The Council have produced Planning Guidance, and the big boys have moved in. In the rush to 'improve' the area there will be many casualties...

This photo is of The Junction, sadly unmentioned as of cultural importance by the Council in their document, but a vital and lively venue. After a long struggle to survive it's about to close, which will be a great loss to the area, and to Bristol. Anyone got a slush fund for a good cause?

(Aside: For anyone reading this who hasn't been there, it has big black doors and inside it can be very loud. They're the sort of doors that most people would never push open without about 20 mates in tow. The patrons can appear rather intimidating, so it's not really on the tourist agenda. However, push the door, pay a couple quid for a gig and it's one of the most friendly of places you can visit. Anyone is accepted, respected and welcomed - even me. The music is great.)

But what has this to do with traffic?

Well, there have been recent 'improvements' to the Jamaica Street and City Road junctions.

Do they actually make things better? As a law-abiding citizen I can't now get to Brunswick Square from Stokes Croft unless I take a much longer route (2 wheels or 4). A minor inconvenience, perhaps, but a larger carbon footprint (with 4 wheels) or larger thighs (with 2 wheels). I can probably live with this in the name of 'Health and Safety', though.

The real downside, however, is the loss of The Junction. Could it be that by removing the railings - which were the only secure cycle parking in the area - and not replacing them with even one Sheffield stand as part of the 'junction improvement', Bristol's Traffic Engineers are putting The Junction out of business?

As all Traders Associations will tell you: No parking = no trade.

UWE shared paths

We've been picking on Bristol University for a bit, which is unfair. They have a staff-pay-to-park policy in their limited parking spaces, no-student-parking, and even cross-charge the departments for their vehicles parking permits. Most students at the university probably walk there.

But UWE, out on the fringes, is a different story. It's very isolated. Some people walk, but otherwise -bus, bike or car. The U1-U5 buses are fantastic, and as students who live on-campus get free bus permits, their existence must help reduce the number of students killing themselves from being stuck in an industrial estate somewhere near parkway.

Time for a closer look. Here is the Coldharbour Lane shared pavement.. The Cyclists Touring Club are very critical of pavement cycle lanes, as they are so inordinately hazardous at the junctions. Is this lane safe for bikes?

Well, there's an expectation that you cycle on the right of the pavement, which must help foreign students blend in. But you are expected to pull out and cross a junction -does it have signs warning traffic out of this housing estate about the risk?

Sadly no. The give-way signs are painted for the road junction, not the pavement. The presence of the (listed?) pillar helps reduce visibility

Further south, the same thing: the path just has a give way -not a stop, just a give way- that pushes you straight under cars. Nice. And, because bikes heading in both directions are expected to stay on the same side of the pavement (white line -no crossing), there's the risk of a head-on collision with oncoming bicycles.

Do note that bikes are given give-way to pedestrian signs near the pedestrian crossings.

Whoever designed this lane must have been concerned that some bikes may survive the first two junctions and so threaten pedestrians, hence the give way.

There are rumours that much of the Cycle City funding is dedicated to such lanes. These particular pavements are in South Gloucester -a council that seems very fond of shared pavements, dual carriageways and roundabouts. We will have to explore nearby, to see their most recent development.

Portsmouth: corner cases

When a road in Cycle-Town Portsmouth is a 30mph road, there's now an implicit message you can drive faster. Given the ambiguity of speeding enforcement, that means up to about 30-38 miles an hour. Yet there are all these side roads now with a 20 mph limit. Do the drivers slow down to the allowed 20 mph range (max about 24 mph) before entering, or do they turn in at full speed slowly coasting down later.

In this photographer's limited experience, it's the latter. If you are crossing a 20mph side road adjacent to a 30 mph main road, you still need to fit enough to sprint across the side road at speed -more speed than 20-mph everywhere areas.

Sometimes they've tried to deal with this by narrowing the pavement, and adding bollards to stop you cutting over the pavement at speed. This road looks like it is actually two-way, so narrowing down to one lane at the junction is very aggressive.

Presumably bikes can take the corner on the pavement and let their front suspension handle the high-speed landing as they push off the edge of the build-out.


Other roads have less traffic camling; this child who has the audacity to ride his bike on the pavement is as at risk to cars turning at speed on a 20 mph side road as if it didn't have a speed limit.