Marsh Lane Contraflow - Scheme CHCRE 4291

The purpose of this cycling contraflow scheme was to improve connections between the University of Central Lancashire, Lancashire County Hall and Preston Railway Station. It has been funded under the Local Sustainable Transport Fund.

This scheme has now been finished for a couple of weeks now so last Saturday (8th August 2015) I thought I would take a look.

One-way 30mph motorised traffic travels in the direction A-C and the cycling contraflow lance C-A. The scheme begins at the Ring Way and continues up to Ladywell Street (not shown on map)

What caught my attention when I saw the plans was the buffer zone (hatchings) between the motorised traffic and the cycle lane disappears between the section B-C, as it passes under the rail bridge. Also, the motorised lane appears to widen. I passed these concerns onto LCC who told me that "road measurement should have been sufficient, however we will rectify that further more". Not sure what that meant by that.

Here is a picture I took last December approaching the rail bridge at section B.

There is in fact a pedestrian walking towards me on the opposite side of the road underneath the lights! So visibility under the bridge is an issue. Also notice that cycling contraflow runs downhill. Motor traffic travelling at 30mph and a cyclist riding down hill at 20mph, giving an head-on impact speed of 50mph, with poor visibility!

Here are some of the pictures I took last Saturday.

You can clearly see the previous centre line. So the new traffic lane is now wider here than it was previously. But why widen the lane under the bridge? Is this what LCC meant by "road measurements"?

But just how narrow has the buffer zone now become under the bridge? Especially when you compare it to how much buffer space is given further up the road. Again visibility is still an issue.

I watched a few cars travelling this section towards the bridge. You can see how the driver of the silver car has 'followed' the solid white line and driven to their right, away from the nearside kerb. A driver may think that the lane is now widening back out to two lanes as it was previously.

This scheme has been implemented exactly as shown on the plans I had received. Nothing has been changed nor rectified despite some serious cycling safety concerns regarding this section of the scheme.

UPDATE: 16/08/2015

I had word back from LCC and they wanted to "maintain constant running lane width" so they have widened the lane in this narrow section. They did concede that there should have been hatching lines between the solid lines. They also felt that this paint along with new signage was sufficient. I would have to disagree.

I also failed to notice last time was at the end of the scheme at the traffic lights we have my two least favourite cycling signs; End of Route and Cyclists Dismount. Groan.....

Neil Illing
CTC Right to Ride -  Preston