Here in the UK the provision of advanced stop lines at traffic lights combined with cyclist boxes is seen as a way to help cyclists through junctions controlled by lights.
They also have a cycle lane leading into then, sometimes next to the curb, other times in the centre of two lanes of traffic.
They just don't work. Either the lane leading to the box is blocked by parked cars or traffic waiting for the lights, or the box is full of car- or in this case bus!
In assen cyclists have dedicated traffic lights, but of course any suggestion that a similar setup is provided here is dismissed as impossible.
Hi Bob,
ReplyDeleteFollowing my visit to Assen in Summer 2008, I wrote a centre page spread comparing Dutch cycle facilities with those in this country. See the Summer 2008 edition of the Coventry Cyclist:
http://www.coventrycyclist.org.uk/coventry_cyclist/covcyclist08_12.pdf
(almost 3 Mbytes!)
Includes a photo of a traffic controlled junction with a cyclists only phase.
Sad to say that we won't get much of a cycle only infrastructure in this country in the near future. There just aren't the numbers of cyclists to justify the expenditure.
We have to watch out for councils implementing tokenistic efforts pretending that they are good enough.
I'm trying to keep tabs on road schemes proposed in Coventry here:
http://covandwarkscyclists.ning.com/group/agroup