A Sunny Southern Seaside Safari Part 3: Cycle Track Bliss(ish)

I have had a good load of material from the Cycling Embassy of Great Britain's AGM and Gathering which took place earlier this month and this week is my third and last post on the infrastructure safari part of the weekend. (Part 1; Part 2)

At the junction with The Drive looking east onto the hybrid track.

I have said before that engineers need to live their designs, but the next best thing is to live other people's designs, or at least ride them. Apart from New Road, the highlight (for me) of the infrastructure we rode was Old Shoreham Road, although it is not without its problems and compromises.

Operational for a couple of years now, the scheme was aimed at improving walking and cycling along a road which although classified (A270) it was bypassed years ago by the A27 which was built to take long-distance and heavy traffic. What was left was a very wide and now firmly suburban road which was still dominated by and for the convenience of motorised traffic.

Passing a bus stop.

The space has been repurposed for hybrid cycle tracks which has some hints of what is done in Copenhagen - there is a one-way (or uni-directional) track on each side of the road. A hybrid track has a kerb upstand between the carriageway and cycle track and then a second upstand between the cycle track and the footway. The tracks run from The Drive to Dyke Road, the former being the end of a route of variable quality from the seafront.

The junction of The Drive and Old Shoreham Road is a crossroads and for cycling, has a four-arm (not staggered) set of Toucan crossings whereby pedestrians and cyclists cross on all arms at the same time. From memory (and I stand to be corrected) traffic runs in two stages north - south and east - west and so the method of control is relatively simple. It did seem a long time to get green on the Toucan though.

The cycle track interrupts vehicle accesses to private homes, but
the stepped arrangement means the vertical alignment changes
remain smooth and comfortable.

To join the cycle track, one is given the two tier approach whereby you use the dropped kerbs to use the Toucan and turning right from The Drive means doing this in two parts (unless you just go diagonally!). Alternatively, one can stay on the carriageway. 

As the footways around the junction have been designated shared-use cycle tracks, left turns can be made without waiting for signals, but 3 of the 4 corners are so narrow, I can see conflict with pedestrians being the issue.

At some side roads, a kerb is carried round into the side road, but
the set back give way line shows that the cycle track has priority
over side roads. The track is 2.5m wide here.

The corners are narrow because although Old Shoreham Road is one traffic lane in each direction, they flare out to multiple lanes at the junctions at each end of the section with the hybrid cycle track and the signalised junction half way along (The Upper Drive). This means that on most arms of the 3 junctions concerned, there are short sections of narrow on-carriageway cycle lanes and two traffic lanes approaching (left lanes being left/ straight on and right lanes being right). 

The scheme could have maintained the cycle track through the signalised junctions and provided cycle signal stages. I don't know if a radical layout was proposed or if Toucans at the signalised junctions was the original concept because of traffic impacts, but they are certainly a blight on the scheme from a cyclist and indeed pedestrian point of view.

Eastbound, approaching The Upper Drive. The wide cycle track drops
down into an increasingly narrow mandatory cycle lane to provide
space for a right turn vehicle lane. Those cycling straight on can
stay on the carriageway or use the Toucan crossing which has little
space for people on bikes and on foot. Right turns would be with
traffic or over two arms using the Toucans.

The cycle tracks are mainly 2.5m wide, going down to 1.8m in places. Where wide, people can easily cycle next to each other and chat, although this would block anyone wanting to overtake. The narrower sections can still take riding two abreast, but the outer person starts to get close to traffic. There is one short section of shared-use, unsegregated track where the route passes over a railway bridge. To have prioritised cycling, traffic could have been taken down to a single lane with traffic signals or "give and take" priority signs. I assume traffic flow made that unpalatable (my second guessing might be a bit unfair of course).

Here is a uni-directional cycle track in Copenhagen by way of a
comparison. It is notable that pedestrians get squeezed in many
places to provide cycle tracks rather than taking traffic lanes.

Side roads either have kerbs continuing into them (with tight radii to keep left turns by vehicles slow) or they are made very tight with quadrant kerbs (we call them "cheeses" in the trade!). In both cases, the give way line in the side road is set back to give priority to the cycle track and the "cycle" area is kept a little higher than the main traffic lane - almost, but not quite a hump. 

Where the cycle tracks pass opposite a side road, there is a section of flush kerb (with the carriageway) to allow riders to turn right into or out of the side road. Turning right off the cycle track would mean stopping on the right hand side and then looking over one's right shoulder to find a gap in the traffic.

The cycle track is dropped flush with the carriageway when passing
a side road opposite. In this view, the dropped area is in the shadow
of the bus.

Bus stops on the route have been made accessible, but passengers board and alight from the cycle track. In response, the layout provides for the area passing the bus stops to be shared. The layouts get messy in my view as the kerb between the footway and the cycle track is maintained, but but the footway and cycle track portions are both marked as shared.

Perhaps it would have bee simpler to accept the compromise and make the sections passing bus stops just shared with (yes I know) a bollard at each end to guide cyclists back to "their" side. Tactile paving is provided to guide blind and partially-sighted people to the "footway" side at each end of the bus stop area anyway. The bus stops weren't busy when we rode the route, but I can see conflict here. This is kind of similar to some (narrow) layouts in Copenhagen where passengers use the cycle track to board and alight although I understand that passengers have priority. Time will tell I guess.

One of the narrower sections. Even at 1.8m, it is pretty good, but
overtaking gets one a bit close to traffic. I must preferred the wider
sections which were 2.5m!

The other feature of note is a zebra crossing at the eastern end of the scheme, outside the Brighton & Hove 6th Form College which is built on a large speed table and seems to act as a link to Chanctonbury Road which is closed to traffic (but not bikes).

Surfacing-wise, the cycle track looked like machine-laid 55/10 HRA for the most part (I may be wrong!) which basically made up of 55% 10mm sized stones with binders and other smaller stones and fine material. In other words a great surface to cycle on.

In conclusion, there are big compromises for cycling at the signalised junctions which are arranged for traffic capacity which does affect user experience, but the cycle tracks are great, especially at 2.5m wide. I might have liked a 45 degree chamfered kerb between the cycle track and the footway, but I think the original kerbs were mainly used (and left in place on the whole) and replacement would have cost a lot. Really, this scheme gives the minimum standard for cycle tracks and as I cycle around, my mind starts to project what cycle tracks like this would look like in places I know. 

Trying to write a post a week is challenging to say the least and so I welcome those days or weekends when I see lots of different stuff, so thanks to CEoGB for the weekend, it has given me plenty to blog about. Perhaps more importantly as a designer, I have some new ideas on how things can be done and I will able to share my photos and experiences with others in my field. I will leave you with a shaky video!

A Sunny Southern Seaside Safari Part 2: Smart Streets & Compromised Confluence

A couple of weekends ago was the Annual General Meeting & gathering of the Cycling Embassy of Great Britain. We did some riding as well as talking!

In the second of three posts, I want to cover some of the other interesting things we saw cycling around Brighton & Hove. In the cliché of countless travelogues, it was a land of contrasts, but actually, there are all sorts of different road layouts which kind of show experimentation over several decades. So, in no particular order, here is some of what we rode.

Gardner Street

North Laine
This is the area roughly south of Brighton Station (and I apologise if I get it wrong). It is a strange mish mash of tatty old streets and sleek redevelopment. The main thing is many streets are narrow and many are one-way with the area being in a 20mph zone, so there are various bits of traffic calming around.

We saw plenty of contra-flow cycling in the one-ways, even in places which felt quite narrow with oncoming cars, but it was OK and much of the back street traffic was only there for access.

Gardner Street is worthy of mention, not because it has been particularly designed for cycling, but that it seemed a reasonable place to cycle. During the day it is a pedestrian zone which bans motorised vehicles (so cycling is allowed) and out of hours, it can be accessed for deliveries and general driving (although it does seem to be an access street). During the day, pedestrians dominated and with the mix of shops it was buzzing.

Jubilee Street

Next up we have Jubilee Street which has two-way cycling (which a contraflow one-way) and is restricted to access only for motor traffic. It is a little smarter than Gardner Street, but seemed to have little going on. Still, nice to cycle along, even if there are delivery vans to dodge!

Then we have perhaps the nicest street we saw in the area which was New Road. This street is a single-surface shared-space. By single-surface, I mean that the highway is paved at the same level across the whole street and without kerbs. Shared-space means that pedestrians, cyclists and drivers all share the area - and this does not always mean a single-surface.

There is often a debate about this kind of scheme and views are often polarised. On the one hand, the hard-core urban designers and architect types enthuse endlessly about them. At the other, access groups worry about the impact on pedestrians, especially blind and partially-sighted people.

The lovely New Road

As is very often the case, it is all about context. Any shared space scheme where motorised traffic is able and allowed to dominate will never be successful. Pedestrians and cyclists cannot ever share the road on equal terms with traffic and so controls and limits are needed. In fact, unless there are controls and limits, it is not shared space - it might be very pretty, but it is flawed.

New Road does shared space well. Traffic can access the street from one end and really, the local road layout means that drivers entering the street are only doing so for loading or to access blue badge parking. Pedestrians dominate the whole space and drivers have to move through on pedestrian's terms. Cycling is allowed both ways and again, share the space on pedestrian's terms.

New Road is also pretty. The surface is laid out in various grey-shade granite blocks. There are some benches, street lighting and a couple of signs and that is it. It is a restricted parking zone (RPZ) which means no yellow lines anywhere. My criticism of the street is that it is only one within an entire city centre and will have cost a fortune (not to mention having some rock-star designers on the project!). It was part of a larger strategy to be fair, but the challenge is to do the same in "normal" materials

As it was (image from Google)

Seven Dials
The Seven Dials is a junction of 7 streets just north-west of Brighton Station. It used to be a tiny roundabout in a sea of tarmac. Pedestrian guardrail was everywhere to push pedestrians to the various pelican crossings in the side roads. Brighton & Hove City Council wanted to transform the area for several reasons and work was undertaken last year. 

We were riding round the city looking at cycling infrastructure and I am afraid the first impressions were not good because traffic still dominates the space. But, compared to how it was before, it is so much better for walking and for cycling I guess there are views either way. As someone used to cycling in pretty grotty places, it wasn't too bad, but not a layout to use as an example to show someone who would like to take up cycling for transport.

The central island of the roundabout has been replaced with a much bigger area, which is more of a long oval. Footways on the edges have also been widened and the arrangement now squeezes traffic and will certainly have reduced speeds through the junction. The guardrail has gone and the crossings on the side roads are now zebras, which are much more flexible than pelicans in use for both pedestrians and drivers.

The central island area also has an over-run strip around it which has been designed to accommodate occasional large vehicles while keeping cars to the main carriageway. The strip has a kerb with a small chamfered edge as not to damage tyres, although I wouldn't want to catch my bike wheel on it.

I did notice some kerb movement in the over-run strip which is often a construction detailing issue which is often found where vehicles are able to drive over paving - tricky to get right.

Over-run area to the left of a kerb with a slight chamfer

It is a nice tidy job by and large, but not successful in traffic volume reduction, although it must be slower - I did jump onto the island to get some snaps and had to dash rather than walk. I did have the weird thought that there needed to be a couple of zebra crossings on each of the long sides of the roundabout to let people cross through the middle.

Kings Road/ Kingsway
These two roads form part of the A259 which runs east-west along the sea front and connects Folkestone with Chichester, although some parts are bypassed at other south coast towns. As for Brighton & Hove, it is not a place for comfortable cycling or crossing the road as much is dual-carriageway with staggered crossings and busy junctions. There is a section of cycle track on the seaward side of the road which has been there for many years. It is better than the road, but not really wide enough. There is no height separation and so pedestrians wander in and out without realising and so intimidating to some on foot.

Grand Avenue/ The Drive
Running away from Kingsway, Grand Avenue is another dual carriageway, but with only one lane in each direction. I assume that years ago there would have been more lanes, but lots of space has been given over to parking bays. In addition, some of the space has been made into an island-protected cycle track (basically a long, skinny traffic island to protect cyclists from traffic).

The parking is on the outside of the cycle track and so it feels really safe. Passengers in cars can also open their doors without swinging them in front of bikes. Although I would have preferred 45 degree chamfered kerbs, the kerb heights either side of the track are low and so not too much risk of catching pedals.

Look mum! No lycra!

Bus stops are treated well with the track going behind them and a gentle ramp bringing the track up to footway level where passengers cross back to the main footways. For people wanting to cross the road on foot, they can, but it means crossing the track, the road and parking bays. Anyone who needs a flush crossing point are at a major disadvantage and they are forced to use crossings at the signalised junctions along the street.

There are gaps in the protection island at accesses and on the approaches to the signalised junctions, the protect goes and we are back to painted cycle lanes (albeit mandatory), and staggered pedestrian crossings. The worst thing at the junctions is that cyclists are placed to the left of left hand turn lanes and so left hook is a big issue (some of our group experienced it first hand). The further north one goes on the route, the more patchy the protection which disappears into a mandatory lane at the junction with Old Shoreham Road - and that will be the subject of next week's post.

A Sunny Southern Seaside Safari Part 1: The Brilliant Brightonian Bus Stop Bypass

Last weekend was the Annual General Meeting & Gathering of the Cycling Embassy of Great Britain. The two-day event was held in Brighton & Hove and there was the opportunity to have a bike ride or two!

In this week's post, I will concentrate on the second day which rounded up the AGM with a ride along the A270 Lewes Road, ably led by Mark Strong (@ibikebrighton). We went to look at the Lewes Road Transport Scheme which includes several bus stop bypasses or floating bus stops which have cyclists passing behind the bus stop area. This is important as it means one doesn't need to pull out into traffic to get round a bus in the stop. Our ultimate destination was the Amex Stadium and University of Sussex area where we turned around and headed back into the city taking in the infrastructure as we went. 

The A270 starts at the southern end of a large park called "The Level" and branches off from the A23 in a north-easterly direction towards the A27. It is a bit more complicated because of gyratories and as far as cycling is concerned, it is a work in progress. The first part of the ride took us along cycle tracks next to Richmond Terrace. They were paint'n'signs shared, segregated cycle tracks along a wide path, broken up with several two-stage staggered toucan crossings. As there were quite a few of us on the route, the sheep-pens in the crossings were difficult to negotiate.

We were then unceremoniously dropped into an advanced stop line "box" with us spreading out like a starting grid at the start of Lewes Road. Then we were off. The route was standard fare of an advisory cycle lane interspersed with bus stops, loading, illegal parking and a horrible gyratory at Hollingdean Road (known as the "Vogue" gyratory). We paused to hear about some plans for the gyratory which includes a floating bus stop and various cycle lanes. A plan can be viewed here.

Beyond the gyratory, things started to get better as we got onto the section of Lewes Road which had been improved. 

The general approach to the scheme was to take a 2-lane (in each direction, albeit with a mandatory cycle lane) dual carriageway and make one lane a bus/ taxi/ cycle lane and the other, a general traffic lane. As I understood it, it was principally a bus priority type of scheme, but cycling has also benefited quite a bit from the changes.

The bus lane is wide by the standards we often see and it has an advisory cycle lane marked within it. When there is no bus, the bus lane acts as separation from general traffic. The advisory lane is on the whole quite wide (certainly from what I am used to) and it is possible to overtake slower bike riders. At some points, we were riding two-abreast and being a person on the outside felt a little unsafe when buses went past.

Junctions are highly variable. Side roads joined the main road without anything specific to protect cyclists, although being on the main road gives them priority. Some signalised T-junctions had a protected cycle track running through them on the side opposite the side road which meant that unless pedestrians were crossing, cyclists could bypass the signals. It might have been possible to have pedestrians crossing the cycle track without signals and then using the push button to cross the traffic lanes. This would mean that those on bikes wouldn't need stop and the traffic crossing times for pedestrians would be shorter which means a quicker cycle time (of the signals) overall. Of course, there will be pedestrians who prefer to have signal holding cyclists - I am thinking of blind and partially-sighted people who might finding crossing the cycle track and then pressing a button difficult or cumbersome.

In some locations, left turn lanes have been created which means for those riding ahead, there is the issue of drivers moving through the cycle lane into the left turn traffic lane (a "mixing" area) which is not great and did trip a few of us up as well as drivers turning left. There are numerous signalised crossings along the the route, with many being toucan from what I can see which allows cyclists to branch of into other areas. The crossings tended to be two-stage and some without staggers.

Then we have the bus stop bypasses or "floating" bus stops. These make use of the old bus layby layouts to bring the advisory cycle lane into a uni-directional cycle track which runs behind a "bus stop island" which carries the bus stop and shelter. 

Pedestrians continue on the existing footway, but cross the cycle track using a pair of dropped kerbs. The cycle tracks in the bus stop bypass are 1.85m in width and with the track surface finished to high standard using AC10 surfacing from what I could see.

The bypasses have nice gentle tapers in and out around the bus stop which meant that one's pace can be maintained (a nice gentle pace for us on the day). There is a cycle logo placed at the pedestrian crossing point, perhaps as a cue to pedestrians.

The pedestrian crossing points have dropped kerbs and tactile paving with a very gentle slope down to/ up from the cycle track. The crossing points were always on the approach side to the bus stops so pedestrians and cyclists could see each other without being obstructed by the bus shelters (which were all clear-glazed without adverts to keep views through clear).

Rejoining the advisory cycle lane require no thought, the cycle track bypasses just flow back into the lanes and the physicality of the bus stop islands protect riders from oncoming buses.

I think the floating bus stops are very successful from a cyclists' point of view, although I can fully understand that some pedestrians might be intimidated in crossing the cycle track when they didn't have to before. What helps greatly is that the layout is consistent and everyone should be able to understand how it all works.

I have ridden Cycle Superhighway 2 which runs through Stratford in East-London. There are floating bus stops there, but they are narrow (I understand to slow cyclists and get them in single file), have tight tapers and with the full-height kerbs next to them, don't feel comfortable to use. Brighton's have low kerbs (45 degree splays would have been perfection of course) and are wide enough to pass people or ride together which what we did.

On reaching the Amex stadium and University, we had a quick look round and indeed an impromptu Brompton freewheel race down a long slope, although those of us on full-sized bikes sneered at the obvious cheating!

On the way back to Brighton, it was more of the same, but with a couple more stops at bus stops!

All of the bus stops are fully compatible with low floor buses which means that the road-side kerb of the bus stop island has been raised to meet the entrance to the bus. Where buses can "kneel" (lower their suspension) this gives an almost step free entry and exit to the bus which makes services accessible to all.

The kerbs were specially made for the job - a "Kassel" kerb or similar. The high kerbs have been laid long enough to accommodate bendy-buses which use the corridor and which were booted out of London by Mayor, Boris Johnson!

At peak times, there is a bus every two minutes along the A270 and so the arrangement of the bus stops allow drivers to easily pull into and out of the stops without having to squeeze into laybys built before we bothered making bus stops accessible and without the hassle of rejoining traffic.

The other interesting kerb (for me at least) is the dropped kerb giving access to pedestrians across the cycle track. 

The detailing is spot on and clearly, the contractor has been instructed to lay the kerbs properly flush with the track surface. Tactile paving is present to guide blind and partially-sighted people over the crossing point and the consistent layout of the bus stops mean that you always walk in the same direction (towards oncoming cyclists when one gets off the bus!)

Dropped kerbs normally come with a rounded top edge to fit in with other kerbs. Here, they have bee turned upside down and everything laid to a square edge. Kerb perfection and more importantly, no trip hazard or lip to catch the wheels of buggies or wheelchairs.

Drainage hasn't been forgotten (unlike the pond on CS2!). Most of the gullies from the "old days" remain in place and the new connections are made to new gullies in various positions. Whenever a gully grating is within an area used by people riding, a wheel-friendly grating is provided so we don't get wheels caught in the bars throwing the rider. Again, excellent attention to detail.

The route itself has a long way to go to be perfect. At we headed back to Brighton, things got a little routine (poor) again. One of the floating bus stops is entered after swerving around a loading bay which means cyclists have buses on one side, stationary vehicles on the other with the door zone to contend with. This could have been done better with the cycle lane passing on the inside of the loading bay, possibly on a cycle track raised about the road surface.

There is a bit of "early green" on the route whereby cyclists get a green signal a few seconds before drivers which reduces the possibility of a "left hook" conflict. If you are waiting at a red signal it is good as you are pretty much through the junction before traffic runs.

If there are a lot of you, the poor souls at the back of the platoon are still in the left hook area as traffic is released and if the traffic have a green, there is no advantage. It is not a huge leap of the imagination to provide a separate stage for cyclists or a separated left turn stage for traffic (which is a post in itself!). There were some Trixi mirrors in evidence which are yet another mirror for the lorry driver to keep an eye on - I am not a fan.

As we headed back to The Level, there was another example of a signalised T-junction bypass as mentioned above and it also showed another Brighton problem of big wheelie bins stored on the street. In this case, helpfully blocking pedestrian views.

On the whole, the route is far better than much one can find in the UK as even the wide bus lane with cycle lane is fair when cyclists are in single file. The feeling of safety is compromised a bit by buses going past and the left hooks at the signalised junctions are pretty horrible.

As we rolled back into the park, we stopped at the grass-roofed Velo Cafe for some much needed refreshment and a chat about what we had seen and life in general. Oh and it was there I agreed to write a blog post about the floating bus stops!

I saw and heard a lot in my two days at the CEoGB AGM and I will be writing a little more in the next week or two. But for now, let's celebrate the brilliant Brightonian bus stop bypass as it is a piece of infrastructure which is so well laid out, you soon take it for granted!

(Slightly) Prettier Permit Parking

Just a quick post this week on a little used alternative to yellow lines and parking restriction signs which I think could be used far more often.

Trying to post weekly is a bit of a silly target to have set myself and I have been running out of days. Luckily, I was downloading some photos and remembered this neat little parking wheeze, so decided to blog about it.

When putting in some kind of permit scheme (residents, business or whatever) one normally ends up with a mixture of yellow paint and plenty of signs (depending on what is being done). If you have a nice self-contained area (a few streets ending in cul-de-sacs for example), it can be really simplified.

Permit Parking Area entry sign.

It is possible to install a couple of signs on the entrance to the permit area which basically state that only permit holders can park beyond that point - a Permit Parking Area (PPA). There is also a small sign on the reverse so show the end of the PPA.

The signs can carry a bit more detail about how the scheme can operate such as an area reference (such as the RO5A on the photo) and the time of operation which basically removes the need for single yellow lines in the estate beyond. Signs are still needed within the PPA and these are smaller repeaters of the entry signs which restate the times of operation and the area reference for example. The repeater signs kind of do the job of permit parking bays and the single yellow lines at once and are the same as "normal" permit bay signs.

Repeater sign within PPA.

During the time the PPA operates, people are still allowed to load and drop off/ pick up passengers (like on a yellow line) and park if blue badge holders (like a bay). There may be places within the area where nobody should be parking and so we can simply install double yellow lines to keep these areas clear. Outside of the PPA hours, then anyone can park (although they can be specified to operate "at any time").

If the local authority is operating its own parking enforcement (having taken the powers on), then it can deal with people parked in front of dropped kerbs (driveways, pedestrian crossing points etc) using S86 of the Traffic Management Act 2004 (worth a read, honestly!)

Repeater sign opposite, but double yellow lines used at a junction
where we don't want people to park.

There is more information available in Traffic Advisory Leaflet 1/12 (paragraphs 77 and 78). The legislation is contained within the Traffic Signs (Amendment)(No.2) Regulations & General Directions 2011.

This approach won't be appropriate in all circumstances (it is just for permit areas), but for little residential areas or perhaps industrial estates with limit access points, it can save a bit of clutter on the streets which is a good thing in my opinion.