Cycle lanes and pavements should be kept open during roadworks, and, if that’s not possible, an equivalent space should be provided on the carriageway to compensate for the closed bike lane, ensuring that cyclists, walkers, and wheelers are given priority – even if it holds up motorists, the Scottish Road Works Commissioner has said.
Kevin Hamilton, who was appointed in November 2020 to independently monitor roadworks in Scotland and promote good practice, told the Scotsman that the first major review for decades of the ‘Red Book’ roadworks code of practice – due to be completed by the UK, Scottish, and Welsh governments in 2025 – must prioritise those at the top of the Highway Code’s hierarchy of road users.
> Highway Code: One-in-four drivers still don't know correct rule on cyclist priority
Roadworks in Scotland have recently reached record levels, with 150,000 currently taking place across the country, 60 percent of which are on pavements.
Hamilton says this has resulted in pedestrians being confronted with ‘footpath closed’ signs, while many segregated cycle lanes have been suspended.
“Most works take place on footways so they impact pedestrians most,” Hamilton noted. “The code of practice, which dates back to the 1990s, was written at a time before the concept of a sustainable travel hierarchy became government policy in Scotland.
“It was written very much at a time when the emphasis was on minimising congestion and delays for people in cars and buses. It’s overdue for a review and needs to reflect the sustainable travel hierarchy – to put pedestrians and cyclists at the top.
“At the moment, it says you ‘need to consider’ the needs of these groups, but what it doesn’t do is put them as the priority group. ‘Consider the needs’ is different from ‘You must provide for them’, even if that means you are going to introduce delays and congestion.
“That’s the tricky balancing act, but if we want to encourage people to walk and cycle and wheel, that’s the trade-off there has to be.”
> Council slammed for sending cyclists onto busy roads during bridge repairs
He continued: “At the moment, if you look at a whole load of roadworks sites, you will see a lot where the pedestrian comes up to a barrier and it says ‘Footway Closed’ and they have to cross the road. There is a caveat in the code that allows the footway to be closed if there’s one on the other side [of the road]. That’s fine if you’re fit and able, but it’s not so good if you’re in a wheelchair or have a visual impairment. It can be the difference between completing your journey and not getting out of the house.
“The difference that I see in the future would be you would have to provide something to allow people to get round your works and that might mean that you needed to take up some carriageway space. In an extreme example, you might need to put in some more temporary traffic lights to allow for that to happen, in more scenarios than currently happens.
“If it’s a main cycle route, such as a segregated lane, it may mean you have to provide an equivalent facility on the carriageway.”
The commissioner’s stance has been supported by Ian Maxwell of the Lothian cycle campaign Spokes, who told the Scotsman: “The restrictions and reduced space caused by roadworks can make it dangerous for both pedestrians and cyclists and it's right to give them priority. It's important to make sure that pedestrians are provided with well-marked separate space.”
However, the suggested policy has been criticised by motoring group IAM RoadSmart, whose Scotland-based policy advisor Neil Greig said it was “ridiculous to suggest that there is not enough room given to pedestrians at the moment when many small-scale pavement works already lead to delays for drivers and riders who are not directly affected by the work.
“Unsightly dedicated pedestrian corridors delineated by temporary barriers are often left in place when no work is taking place, or are left in a terrible state with no one knowing who is responsible.”
Meanwhile, Paul White, director of the Confederation of Passenger Transport Scotland, which represents bus operators, said: “Subjecting bus services to an increased level of congestion through roadworks will impact on reliability, increase costs, and is counter to government goals to improve air quality and reduce carbon emissions. A more holistic solution that considers the needs of passengers that cannot walk or cycle is required.”
The status of cyclists and pedestrians at roadworks was in the news a month ago, when we reported that signs advising cyclists to “dismount and proceed with caution” at a set of temporary traffic lights in Worcester were removed, after councillors and local cyclists complained that they were “discriminatory” towards people on bikes, as well as making things “more difficult for pedestrians”.
The temporary lights were installed at the end of July as part of work carried out by Cadent Gas on Worcester’s Malvern Road, and are expected to remain in place until the middle of November.
However, the ongoing roadworks and, in particular, a ‘Cyclists Dismount and Proceed with Caution’ sign located at the lights, attracted the ire of residents and politicians in the West Midlands city, with one councillor urging the local authority to intervene due to the disruption caused to locals.
What do you think? Should carriageway space be devoted to replacement cycle lanes and footpaths at roadworks?
It seems that Scottish roadworks commissioner Kevin Hamilton’s rather sensible comments concerning prioritising the most vulnerable road users have struck a chord with our readers, who are often baffled by the need for cyclists to ‘dismount and proceed with caution’ at roadworks.
“Has anyone tried that,” asked eburtthebike in today’s comments section, “by walking along the middle of the road wheeling your bike at a cautious 2mph?”
Meanwhile, Carol on Facebook asked: “How often have we seen signs advising motorists to get out and push their cars through road works?”
Also on Facebook, Kevin Holland, who says he has helped put together temporary traffic management guidance, wrote that the guidance “already exists to ensure the safety of all road users particularly the most vulnerable”.
But, he continued, “the problem is poorly educated traffic management contractors not adopting the best practice and ignorant councils that don’t know what they should be encouraging and permitting on the highway.
“My advice is if you see a red traffic sign telling you to dismount and you can’t, don’t. If you see a sign telling you to dismount and you legally don’t have to, then you choose.
“Cyclist dismount signs are a valid sign but they are signs of last resort. They are used too frequently when other better options exist.”
Finally, Derek noted: “Cyclists and pedestrians don’t delay drivers. Other cars do.”
Meanwhile, on the subject of leaf-covered bike lanes, Geraint said: “At least when the path is covered in leaves you can’t see the tree roots or broken glass.”
Every cloud, and all that…
More autumnal cycling antics for you… But wait, I thought cyclists didn’t commute to work in the cold and rain?
“Wait until the pissing rain, they’ll be no cyclists…” pic.twitter.com/4CKyYMyMnq
— Rory McCarron (@CyclingLawLDN) October 12, 2023
Readers, it’s finally happened.
After years of complaints, exasperated YouTube videos, and roadside tutting, Mr Rim Brake himself, Christopher FroomeDog Froomey Froome, has finally admitted he’s warming up to the idea of those devilish disc things on his wheels.
> Chris Froome posts Bentley ASMR parody bike video – and even touches his disc brake rotor
“When I first started riding with disc brakes, the industry was still quite new to disc brakes,” the four-time Tour de France winner told reporters at Factor’s headquarters in Taiwan this week.
“No fault of Factor, but I think some of the components we were using on the bike weren’t necessarily 100 percent compatible.
“That combination, chopping and changing pieces of equipment, when I joined the [Israel-Premier Tech] team, wasn’t a great thing for the disc brake scenario. It did lead to problems in the first year with the team. My initial impression of disc brakes on the road was skewed by that experience.”
But, despite denouncing disc brakes once again after a few botched wheel changes at February’s Tour of Rwanda, Froome says that “in the last year and a half of running disc brakes I’ve definitely had way less problems and it’s certainly been a lot better, a much better experience for me.
“I have warmed to disc brakes. There's no two ways about it, it does take more maintenance, more work. But when it works, it is great.”
Has one of pro cycling’s longest running storylines finally come to an end?
With the help with Matt Walls, Nico Denz prevails in the sprint to win Stage 5 of the @tourofturkiye! 🤝 pic.twitter.com/m5TGDsDOtF
— Eurosport (@eurosport) October 12, 2023
At the end of a twisting, wince-inducing, downhill final few kilometres in Bodrum – where this writer spent an, ahem, interesting week on holiday with his friends when he was 18 – Bora-Hansgrohe’s Nico Denz pulled a Mark Renshaw, capitalising on his own lengthy lead-out to take a surprise win on stage five of the Tour of Turkey.
Denz’ teammate Matthew Walls struggled to hold the wheel of his German lead-out man – who hit the front with two kilometres to go – on the plethora of sweeping corners towards the finish, with the 29-year-old holding on for an impressive win as Walls sat firmly behind him for second place, with Astana’s Cees Bol, who was left with too much to do in the closing metres, in third.
While the day in Bodrum belonged to Bora, a late crash during the frankly dangerous finale scuppered Jasper Philipsen’s hopes of a sprint quadruple in Turkey, while Alexey Lutsenko navigated the madness to retain his race lead.
And the ‘Superfluous Lamppost Stickers of the Day’ prize goes to…
Please @deptinfra , just put some bollards up to stop the cars. pic.twitter.com/danG3NFHfJ
— Dominic Bryan (@Domsball) October 11, 2023
All is not well once again in Wiggle-CRC land, as Signa Sports United (SSU), the cycling retailers’ parent company, says it is suffering from “severe liquidity and profitability challenges” as it announces the delisting of its shares, citing subdued demand, inventory overstock, and weakened consumer interest in the cycling sector which has adversely impacted its overall performance.
The dark clouds hovering over Britain’s domestic racing scene show no signs of abating, as one of the country’s most successful men’s elite teams, ROKiT-SCRT – owned by World Super Bike rider Scott Redding – announced yesterday that it is closing its doors after failing to find sponsorship for 2024.
The team, which won three out of the four rounds of this year’s U23 National Road Race series, only last week put a call out to potential sponsors, but that appeal appears to have failed, with the squad now set to add to the growing list of casualties of British cycling’s funding crisis.
“It is with great sadness that we must announce that the SRCT will not continue after the 2023 season,” the team said in an Instagram post.
“This is due to a lack of sponsorship available to continue running the team sustainably. We would like to tank all of the current sponsors, staff, helpers, and riders for a fun and successful season and wish you all the best in the future.”
> British racing scene is “a real struggle”, says Ineos Grenadiers manager Rod Ellingworth
The news adds to the increasingly long line of collapsed British domestic teams in recent months, following the demise of the long-standing AT85 Pro Cycling team in March, just months after fellow Continental-level outfit Ribble Weldtite called it a day due to a lack of sponsorship.
Following SCRT’s announcement, the British Continental also reported that there are rumours circulating that two other elite men’s teams are also set to close, with Russel Rowes of the Embark Spirit BSS team confirming that they are currently “reviewing our position” and that a decision on the squad’s future will be made next month.
The USA lawsuit alleges that Shimano was aware “for years” that the bonded components of its cranksets could break, yet waited until just last month to issue a recall and inspection programme.
Elia Viviani just won his first World Tour race in over four years! 😍
Look at what it means! 👏👏👏#TOG2023pic.twitter.com/K2drdkPjuv
— Eurosport (@eurosport) October 12, 2023
As controversy-evading commentators used to say back in the doping scandal-laden days of the 2000s – ‘Anyway, back to the racing…’
And, after the start of the Tour of Guangxi was marred by stupidity and crassness, the Ineos Grenadiers’ Elia Viviani ensured that all our attention was fixated back on the road for stage one in Beihai, as the veteran Italian used all his tactical nous and years of experience to time his sprint to perfection and beat a stellar field including Jonathan Milan, Sam Bennett, Arnaud De Lie, and Olav Kooij.
The 34-year-old’s victory is only his fourth since returning to the British squad from Cofidis at the start of 2022, and marks his first WorldTour-level win for over four years, when he won the Hamburg Classic for Quick-Step in August 2019, at a time when he was regarded as one of the fastest riders in the world.
Class is permanent 👌🏻👊🏻🍺 https://t.co/5StkCQoTNU
— Luke Rowe (@LukeRowe1990) October 12, 2023
After that long drought, you could tell from Viviani’s celebration how much this morning’s win means…
Intermarché-Circus-Wanty riders Madis Mihkels and Gerben Thijsen – who were withdrawn by the Belgian team from the Tour of Guangxi, which started today, after posting a photo of a racist gesture on social media – have apologised for their actions, claiming that “it was never our intention to harm anybody”.
Yesterday, Intermarché announced that 20-year-old neo-pro Mihkels had been pulled out of the race after he was captured making made a crude, offensive gesture with his eyes as part of an Instagram story on Thijsen’s account. The 25-year-old Belgian sprinter was also withdrawn from the race later in the day.
The Belgian team said that “necessary disciplinary steps” will be taken “to close this incident”.
Some words about what happened yesterday pic.twitter.com/h1L7o0Qxi0
— Gerben Thijssen (@Thijssen_Gerben) October 12, 2023
And this morning, Mihkels and Thijsen issued a joint statement on the Belgian’s Twitter account, apologising for their behaviour and “lack of education about Asian culture” and accepting that the social media post was “offensive and wrong”.
“We felt honoured to be invited to participate in the Tour of Guangxi,” the teammates wrote.
“We feel really sorry for what happened yesterday morning, we realise that our social media publication was offensive and wrong. We feel really good in a multicultural environment, so it was never our intention to harm anybody.
“We want to apologise for our behaviour and our lack of education about the Asian culture to all people who felt offended, especially the Chinese fans and all parties involved in the organisation of the Tour of Guangxi.
“We accept our withdrawal from the race. This error is an important life lesson for us both, which will definitely guide us to adopt a more humble attitude in the future.”
Slightly different location this morning, a bit closer to home . This is a shared use path in Comber #reclaimthepath#AdoptACycleLane Once again neglected by the utterly useless AND Borough Council. Got about half of it done in the time I had. pic.twitter.com/iUZlGwHYKR
— Belfast Cyclist (@BelfastCyclist1) October 9, 2023
Today’s autumnal live blog theme continues, because while Cork cyclist Conn bemoans the foliage-dominated death trap, sorry I mean cycle lane, on his way to work, about 250 miles to the north one cyclist has decided to take matters into their own hands… by sweeping up every leaf-covered bike path within riding distance.
The cyclist, who goes by Belfast Cyclist on Twitter (or whatever) has spent the last few days filling bin bags full of leaves on the neglected bike paths and greenways of Co Down.
That's a wrap for this path, it took me five hours in total. I had to gather the leaves from some sections or they would just have blown back over the path. Eighteen of the bags you see in the photo filled and strategically relocated nearby 🙃.
Be the change you want to see.… pic.twitter.com/bZbYMa6j9f— Belfast Cyclist (@BelfastCyclist1) October 10, 2023
The cyclist’s selfless, exhausting work – one section of greenway took five hours in total to clear, while yesterday’s path looked like it had never been swept by the Ards and North Down Council since it was built, according to the rider/sweeper – has even inspired them, perhaps in a sleep-deprived haze, to think about creating a “leaf sweeping bicycle”.
I’m not joking.
“A reverse trike (two wheels at front) cargo bike, the cargo bit being the leaf collection receptacle,” they sketched out. “Some sort of sweeping device on the front which can be raised for cycling to the work site and then lowered to do the collecting.”
Hardcore scraper action - 🔞 pic.twitter.com/8xIE4DRhCo
— Belfast Cyclist (@BelfastCyclist1) October 11, 2023
Or maybe the “utterly useless” council could just, you know, clear the leaves every once in a while.
Because of you. https://t.co/8gCIM61rQe
— Jon Burke 🌍 (@jonburkeUK) October 11, 2023
That one’s going to sting in the morning.
Ah, that’s why gravel bikes are so popular these days…
It turns out that they’re not just for messing around off-road and aspiring to hipster status – they’re also pretty handy when it comes to navigating autumnal-themed cycle lanes neglected by local authorities.
> The joy of British bike lanes in autumn — leaves and puddles aplenty
Judging by the photos and videos he’s posted on X/Twitter over the last few days, Cork cyclist Conn could be doing with a set of knobbly tyres, as the increasingly orange and mulchy bike lane he uses to commute to work appears to be aiming high at road.cc’s coveted ‘Why don’t cyclists use cycle lanes? 2023’ awards night (and believe me, it’s a fierce contest, that one).
The bike lane on Cork’s Centre Park Road, described by Conn as “the only continuous cycle lane out of the city and the primary cycle to the south east suburbs”, has not been swept by the council for the past two weeks, prompting one social media user to label it “nice and lethal”.
This is the only continuous cycle lane out of the city and the primary cycle to the south east suburbs.
It's not unreasonable to ask for it to be swept 1-2 a week during the months of October and November.
Why wait until someone gets hurt? https://t.co/ZVWWZinDyjpic.twitter.com/3ZrhjU7Tj3
— conn donovan (@conndonovan9) October 11, 2023
“It’s not unreasonable to ask for it to be swept [once or twice] a week during the months of October and November,” Conn said.
“Why wait until someone gets hurt?”
Unbe-leaf-able… I’ll get my coat.