Fwd: [osira] Botley Road/Osney Bridge - cyclists beware

[Kit and Liz Thompson]

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: 'Ben Thomas' via Osney Island Residents Association <os...@googlegroups.com>
Date: Mon, 29 Aug 2022 at 09:56
Subject: [osira] Botley Road/Osney Bridge - cyclists beware
To: Osney Island Residents Association <os...@googlegroups.com>

Some work has unfortunately been done to worsen the approach to Osney Bridge, heading into town on Botley Road.  

The old bike lane, which used to end quite a distance away from Thames Water’s permanent temporary concrete blocks on the bridge, has been re-painted and extended until it almost meets the blocks. Here it turns at a sharp angle into the carriageway on the bridge, and ends.  

If you’re cycling into town while traffic is flowing, it would be a good idea to ignore this bike lane. Instead I’d suggest you check behind you and aim to take a central position in the main traffic lane shortly after passing the bus stop (or if coming from Bridge Street, immediately). Following the bike lane as intended, and jackknifing out into the traffic at exactly the point where the road narrows, leads to a reasonable chance of being injured or worse. 

The only other thing this new paint will achieve is drivers angry to see “another cyclist not using the bike lane”, but there is no safe alternative. Cyclists need to show drivers from a good distance back that they are taking the whole traffic lane as they go over the bridge. 

An example taken as I walked past yesterday - the cyclist has used the new bike lane as a car gradually  overtook him, instead of pulling out much earlier, and has literally run out of road at the concrete blocks. The car cruises happily on:

Take care and safe travels (wherever possible)

Ben

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[Graham Smith]

More ‘brilliance’ from County Highways?

Either Maintenance and possibly even the ‘line markers’ alone, or confidently contributed by Milestone Engineers’ (engineers for the Botley Rd)? 

Or perhaps even a self-activated contribution by Thames Water? 

Will anyone ever consider the users?

Graham 

Graham Paul Smith, Urban Design

gpsmith.u...@gmail.com

On 29 Aug 2022, at 17:13, Kit and Liz Thompson <kita...@gmail.com> wrote:



---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: 'Ben Thomas' via Osney Island Residents Association <os...@googlegroups.com>
Date: Mon, 29 Aug 2022 at 09:56
Subject: [osira] Botley Road/Osney Bridge - cyclists beware
To: Osney Island Residents Association <os...@googlegroups.com>

Some work has unfortunately been done to worsen the approach to Osney Bridge, heading into town on Botley Road.  

The old bike lane, which used to end quite a distance away from Thames Water’s permanent temporary concrete blocks on the bridge, has been re-painted and extended until it almost meets the blocks. Here it turns at a sharp angle into the carriageway on the bridge, and ends.  

If you’re cycling into town while traffic is flowing, it would be a good idea to ignore this bike lane. Instead I’d suggest you check behind you and aim to take a central position in the main traffic lane shortly after passing the bus stop (or if coming from Bridge Street, immediately). Following the bike lane as intended, and jackknifing out into the traffic at exactly the point where the road narrows, leads to a reasonable chance of being injured or worse. 

The only other thing this new paint will achieve is drivers angry to see “another cyclist not using the bike lane”, but there is no safe alternative. Cyclists need to show drivers from a good distance back that they are taking the whole traffic lane as they go over the bridge. 

An example taken as I walked past yesterday - the cyclist has used the new bike lane as a car gradually  overtook him, instead of pulling out much earlier, and has literally run out of road at the concrete blocks. The car cruises happily on:

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[Robert Paynter]

I was in Botley a few days ago and noticed one of those "Don't Overtake Cyclist Over The Bridge" signs in someone's front garden.  I later had reason to go over Osney Bridge and tried to tell if any were missing as I passed - I'm not sure, but after checking Google street view (Jun 2022 according to the history) I'm still not sure.

Perhaps they're keeping it as a memento, but what of - cyclists' safety, or bad grammar?

Should I grass them up - who to?  Maybe there's a legitimate reason it's 1.5 miles out of place.

Cheers,

Robert

To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cyclox-forum/ED29BBDB-7D3D-411D-9C82-92024B461E2D%40gmail.com.

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If you've got a bit of spare cash:
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[james.dawton]

Report it on Fixmystreet. It might not be the garden owner who put the sign there (unless carefully mounted of course).

The out bound one was there on Saturday (albeit with the word "please" removed).

Cheers,

James

140 Poplar Grove

Kennington,

Oxford,

OX1 5QP

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