8:54pm Sunday 5th August 2007
By Mike Freer
On Yer Bike! Yesterday evening I decided to cycle to the restaurant where I was meeting friends for dinner. Not too far, it took just 20 minutes on my new hybrid bike (a cross between a
‘racer’ and a ‘mountain bike’ designed for use in the city. As I weaved my way up Ballards Lane (admiring the new flower beds outside Victoria Park – flower beds that
were so magnificent and colourful they might just keep one of my Council colleagues quiet for 5 minutes) and then across Friern Watch Avenue etc. I was struck by how useless cycle lanes would be). We
appear to be on collision course with Mayor Livingstone’s Transport for London who seem intent on forcing the council to spend money on creating cycle lanes across the Borough. Well I like
cycling but in suburbs where most of our roads have parked cars (and even the main routes are not clear of parked cars) what would be the point of bright red (or green or blue) asphalt being laid;
I’d still have to weave in and out of parked cars.
Alternatively we could put the cycle lanes on the pavements – if you think that is a bright idea – go and look at Harrow. They have miles of lurid green cycle lanes in the middle of the
pavements – mostly unused except for the occasional cyclist who scares the death from some shopper oblivious to the bike cycling down the pavement towards them!
The sad fact is that in suburbs cycle lanes can be wholly ineffective and possibly dangerous. Cyclists weave in and out of parked cars, drivers don’t often pay enough attention to the bikes
moving in and out and they can create a false sense of security for cyclists. Most cyclists are hurt by trucks entering the cycle lane or turning left across cycle lanes.
In the city the lanes can be helpful – with care. In the suburbs we have different problems and I’d rather spend money on making the roads smoother to ride on! Hitting a pothole is more
dangerous (and uncomfortable). My derriere is telling Transport for London to get on their bike and leave Barnet alone.
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