It’s been a month or two since our last visit to Boscombe – you know, the Bournemouth suburb the Daily Mail anguished about last year, the one with “no room left for cars”, yep, that one – and, you’ll be surprised to learn, dear reader, that the issue of illegal parking on the infamous Christchurch Road cycle lane has not relented in the slightest.
In case you haven’t been keeping up to speed with the latest parking developments on the south coast, here’s a brief recap…
Bournemouth, Christchurch, and Poole (BCP) Council’s fairly innocuous decision last year to paint bicycle symbols on the area’s roads– to encourage cyclists to take a “prominent” position – caused something of a meltdown in the national press, prompting the Mail and Daily Telegraph to claim that cyclists in Boscombe were being encouraged to “ignore” the town’s dedicated bike lane and “act like they own the road”.
In a shocking turn of events, that “dedicated cycle lane” eulogised by those papers, it turned out, is almost constantly inundated with parked cars.
Over the last few months, cyclists have regularly posted images of the blocked bike lane on social media, while councillors have called for “zero tolerance” towards the illegal parkers, noting that the “ongoing abuse” of the infrastructure has been the subject of “consistent complaints” from residents.
road.cc reader Guy got in touch this week to confirm that the calls for a clampdown have yet to take hold.
“I cycled the short stretch through Boscombe and counted 20 vehicles illegally parked on a single journey, which has to be a record,” Guy, who sent us a series of photos of the bike lane blockers, told us. “Some of these vehicles are repeat offenders.”
Ah, there’s a nice stretch of clear cycle lane… Oh, wait
But while the problem shows no signs of abating, there is a glimmer of hope for Boscombe’s cyclists – coming in the form of a council review.
The Daily Echo reports that a review on the viability of installing wands on the cycle lane is expected to be completed in the new few weeks.
Earlier this month, councillors Andy Jones and George Farquhar met with the authority’s transport portfolio holder Mike Greene in Boscombe so he could witness the problem “first hand”.
But after a few weeks of silence, Independent councillor Jones gave Greene a slight nudge at a council meeting last week, asking him whether the wands would be installed and, if so, when, given the “ongoing frustration with the volume of illegal parking in this area”.
Greene replied: “Following the site meeting, which only took place a couple of weeks ago, I asked officers to investigate the practicalities and costs of segregating the mandatory part of the Christchurch Road cycle lane with wands.
“That review is currently taking place and the results, which I expect will come over the next few weeks, will be shared with ward members so they can feed into what action might be taken.”
So, maybe, maybe, Boscombe’s cyclists will get some lightly segregated infra, soon… or not so soon. I don’t know…
‘Hello, is that Mr Musk? I have an idea you might be interested in…’
Like, when you really think about it, is it necessary?
> Five cool things coming soon from Wahoo, Giant, BMC, BTwin, and Bell
While the rest of us are slowly building up our mileage as the tantalising prospect of better weather draws ever nearer, for those rare specimens who like to partake in some ultra-distance bike riding, it’s been a busy winter.
Back in November, you may recall, round-the-world cyclist Leigh Timmis broke the world record for the greatest distance cycled unpaced in one week, covering a whopping 2,230 miles in just seven days (a lot more than most of us managed all winter) – with three of those record-breaking days in Florida hit by the small matter of a hurricane.
Well, unfortunately for Timmis, his record – which has previously been held by British cyclist Josh Quigley and Latvian rider Arvis Sprude – has already been broken, this time by Belgian Matthieu Bonne.
The 29-year-old, who took part in Belgium’s version of SAS: Who Dares Wins (I wonder if that’s where Ant Middleton ended up?), travelled to the flat lands of Arizona to take on the record, where he was faced with his own weather dilemma – a stiff breeze.
Nevertheless, Bonne put in 20-hour shifts, averaging around 26 and 27km/h every day, to notch up a staggering 3,619.72km (2,249 miles) during his week in Phoenix, beating Timmis’ record by 19 miles.
And there was me thinking I had a good week…
It seems that a very logical, rational reaction to a Low Traffic Neighbourhood in Oxford has been doing the rounds on social media this morning:
This 👇👇👇👇👇Oxford? pic.twitter.com/8FGPxuHXsr
— Mark (@markmaycot) March 27, 2023
And you know it’s a big deal when the nation’s beloved custodians of common sense and car-brained patriotism, Darren Grimes and Right Said Fred, weigh in…
Our politicians are enabling these cultists with every damaging policy twist and turn like this. https://t.co/aVZ2NkuOCr
— Darren Grimes (@darrengrimes_) March 28, 2023
@OxfordshireCC stopping people from getting to work. Council representatives get paid to stop other people from getting paid. This is where compliance leads. This bs should be ignored at all costs. https://t.co/begssF86Ol
— Right Said Fred (@TheFreds) March 28, 2023
However, you’ll be pleased to hear that not everyone has reacted to the clip with a ‘country’s gone mad’ style ramble:
Tell me you don't understand the highway code or have any respect for road traffic law without saying it.
Signage is clear.
Personally I would let them drive through and then report each driver to police for the offence. https://t.co/dFRyqRAJHm— Real Gaz on a proper bike: gazza_d [at] toot.bike (@gazza_d) March 28, 2023
Let’s do away with zebra crossings while we’re at it. Why should we stop at the command of those stripy bastards? https://t.co/lbIzwO5f9J
— Rob Burley (@RobBurl) March 28, 2023
You don't see many zebras around these days, anyway. Seems a bit profligate giving them their own bloody crossings. And don't get me started on those entitled pelicans.
— Daniel Olley (@dolleyolley) March 28, 2023
And traffic lights, surely? How do we know who is controlling them. It could be an international socialist conspiracy of ... Conservative County Councils ...
— LDH Marketing (@LDHMarketing) March 28, 2023
Those pesky right lights, zebra crossings, pavements, gates, fields… Why can’t I drive where and how I want? I have to work! And I’ve got kids!
In yet another damning indictment of Northern Ireland’s approach to cycling and active travel, the Department for Infrastructure has axed its funding for cycling proficiency lessons in schools, telling the BBC that “budget constraints” mean it can no longer afford to pay teachers and instructors to deliver the scheme.
While the DfI says it will continue to provide training for teachers (who have to register with the department to deliver the scheme), schools will have to pay those teachers during the 12 weeks of lessons, which usually come at the end of the pupils’ final year of primary school.
The cycling proficiency scheme – known as Bikeability in the rest of the UK – has taught more than half a million children how to ride and look after their bike, as well as the rules of the road, for over 50 years.
In 2021/22, more than 300 primary schools took part in the scheme, with the department providing £32,000 in payments to teachers. So far, around £42,000 has been spent during the 2022/23 school year.
However, schools who were planning on holding the classes after Easter have now been told by the DfI that “there will be no budget available for the payment of instructors for delivering the cycling proficiency scheme”.
A spokesperson for the department told the BBC: “The cycling proficiency scheme is delivered by teaching staff in schools, who receive payment from the department for doing so.
“Due to budget constraints, we are not currently in a position to fund this payment to teachers. We will still provide training for teachers, should that be needed, and any practical resources needed to deliver the scheme, should schools want to continue to provide the scheme.”
Schools have until 21 April to inform the department if they intend to run the cycling proficiency classes before the end of the current school year.
In a year which has seen the Department for Infrastructure blasted for showing “zero ambition” when it comes to active travel, the news has, unsurprisingly, been met with disappointment and anger amongst teachers, politicians, and cyclists.
Kevin Donaghy, principal of St Ronan's Primary School in Newry (and, incidentally, this writer’s vice-principal when he was taking his own cycling proficiency lessons. Northern Ireland is a small place), told the BBC that uptake for the scheme had always been high.
“The kids loved it, they actually got a qualification at the end of it to say they were safe to ride on the road,” he said. “It’s a huge thing in the summer term for Primary Seven and at the minute we don’t know whether or not it’s actually going to go ahead.
“We can’t keep asking teachers to do more and more and more and get paid less and less and less.”
The Department for Cars strikes again. I've worked incredibly hard to push DfI in the right direction on active travel and space for people, but with every success we secure, we see two or three examples like this that set us all back. Time to break it up and start again. https://t.co/6gUmEFqKb2
— Cllr. Séamas de Faoite (@SeamasBelfast) March 28, 2023
Meanwhile, SDLP councillor Séamas de Faoite pulled no punches in his appraisal of what he calls “the Department for Cars”.
“The Department for Cars strikes again,” he tweeted. “I’ve worked incredibly hard to push DfI in the right direction on active travel and space for people, but with every success we secure, we see two or three examples like this that set us all back. Time to break it up and start again.”
“This is very disturbing news,” added Alliance Party rep Luke Patterson. “Stats released last week show only one percent of primary school children, and zero percent of post-primary pupils cycle to school.
“With climate and cost of living crises, cycling is a sustainable, healthy, and more affordable form of transport.”
Someone just needs to tell the Department for Infrastructure, eh?
Here's a street in Salford before and after it was closed to rat running traffic pic.twitter.com/ZzOWnMgGjj
— Harry Gray (@HarryHamishGray) March 28, 2023
Here’s one for the anti-cycling bingoists…
Leeds City Council has announced plans to install 25 ‘smart signal controls’ – which use artificial intelligence for detecting traffic – across the city in a bid to tackle congestion and improve active travel and public transport journeys.
The ‘AI for Detection’ controls (now that’s a name that’ll surely set some conspiracy theorists off on one) are made by transport technology scaleup VivaCity, and enable junctions to operate more efficiently by responding to real-time demand, Leeds Live reports.
In a similar manner to the “intelligent” traffic lights installed in Copenhagen in 2016, which aimed to ensure that cyclist need never hit a red, the sensors can be optimised for active travel by detecting people on bikes approaching from up to 70 metres away and providing a green light as they arrive at the junction.
> Copenhagen's "intelligent" traffic lights will speed up journeys for cyclists
This kind of technology will also be applied in Leeds to buses, while the sensors will collect data on the different transport types used on the city’s roads, anonymous journey time data, and speed insights (which should enable distinct green phasing waves for different transport types).
This data, Leeds City Council hopes, will also provide the local authority with a deeper understanding of road user behaviour in the city, which should help direct future infrastructure and sustainable transport investment.
> “Game changing” device allows cyclists to control traffic lights so children stay safe
“Our work with VivaCity is making Leeds a safer and more efficient place to travel sustainably. As a city, we’ve experienced increasing problems with congestion and pollution,” says Joel Dodsworth, Urban Traffic Management & Control Manager at Leeds City Council.
“We’re seeing real potential for this technology to improve our bus network because it will enable us to prioritise buses at junctions more effectively at crucial times of the day, while also balancing the needs of pedestrians and cyclists. Overall, Smart Signal Control is making travelling around Leeds more efficient and pleasant for our community, and the city less polluted.”
So everyone’s happy… apart from the ‘cyclists jumping red lights’ brigade, of course.