Gap In The Hump

Those who have followed this blog for any length of time will know that I am a fan of the little design details which make all the difference.

This week, I want to share a little road hump layout which was designed by a former colleague who not only cycles, but who has a member of their family who has been using a wheelchair.

The location for the hump is an entrance/ exit to a car park (about 45 spaces) which serves a local park complex. The access point is only one vehicle wide and go drivers have to use give and take to get/ in. Some people also walk and cycle through the gate if it is on their desire line.

There has been a long standing problem with the behaviour of some drivers leaving the site not doing so slowly enough and people walking past on the main road are put at risk. Visibility is not wonderful and so driving needs to be walking pace.

A pedestrian's view across the entrance.

In order to make sure people drive out slowly, an off-the-shelf modular hump system was used to place humps where motor vehicle wheels would run, but with a 1.1m gap between them for people walking, using wheelchairs, mobility scooters and pushchairs as well as people cycling. For reference, my Christiania cargotrike is 0.85m between the outside edge of the pair of wheels.

I suppose if I was being completely pedantic, I might have gone for yellow end pieces for maximum conspicuity, but the design works very well with drivers having to slow to a crawl because the humps are quite severe otherwise.

Even a relatively narrow Mini cannot escape

The humps are set back from the gates at the distance the front of an average car sticks out beyond the driver's position to ensure the emerging speed is very low. Just before the rear wheels go over the humps, a driver should have a good view of people walking past.

The humps set back from the gate.