Scholars Way at Combe Down
This short discussion is about a short section of the western arm of the Scholars Way cycle route - the part shown in the green outline below:
To deliver this part of the Scholars Way it is proposed to install a parallel crossing and a section of shared use path on Bradford Rd:
The Parallel Crossing is shown in TRO016A and the route's continuation into Combe Rd is shown in TRO015, but they do not meet and the red section has not been in detail communicated or any publicly available information.
The cycle route cannot be properly understood without defining what cycles are supposed to do at the junction between Bradford Rd and Combe Rd when following the route W to E.
However from the consultation materials from 2022 it can be seen that shared path's cycle on/off ramp is opposite Bramble Way, though at that stage no other markings were shown.
So the only possible interpretation of the cycles' movement W to E along Scholars Way is this:
The shared path, is a pinch point for walkers on their way to three schools and a nursery, and after relocating the zebra crossing they will be concentrated on the south side. After cycles are allowed to ride on it as well, it will look like this mockup. Residents' doors open onto the pavement, like the one behind the cyclist.
Surely this cannot be a suitable location for a shared pathway.
Typical views of the shared pathway approaching Combe Road junction. Knots of children, parents with buggies, dogs and friends, crowd the pavement at times. The on/off ramp for cyclists approximately indicated in yellow, uncomfortable in prximity both with live traffic and children pedestrians.
And the front doors of the houses lead directly onto the pavement, the resident having no visibility until they step out, potentially directly into the cycle's path.
At the junction with Combe Rd, the No2 bus and any lorry turning like this, because of their turning circle must protrude over the roadway...and directly across the cyclists desired line of travel.
The bus driver can see well enough round the corner but if the vehicle design places the driver's eye further back from its front bumber, it starts getting tricky, especially when the lane that a driver intends to turn left into is the last place that danger is anticipated, and drivers anyway seem to have a blind spot for cyclists.
Entering the shared use path the cyclist risks becoming behind pedestrians who have not dected her.
...and when leaving must wait, part blocking the pedestrians, while waiting for a break in the traffic boht ways, in order oto make effectively a 270 degree turn to follow Scholars Way down Combe Road.
So the route:
separates cyclists from traffic for about 70m
but places them in contention on a narrow path with vulnerable pedestrians
Cyclists lose because their route is indirect, unintuitive and slower than if the new infrastructure were not there.
Pedestrians lose because they must contend with cyclists, neither sure of priority.
Motorists gain because they no longer need worry about the cyclists on the road.
But an alternate route over Backstones Open Ground is easily possible. This shows the most direct cycle route but there are several other options.
That is only the most direct route but there are several alternatives that could be better:
Considering alternate routes removes so many negatives:
-cyclists get natural, flowing route
-pedestrians do not have to share pavement
Active travel gains because
cyclists prefer alternate route to both current and proposed routes
Pedestrians are not turned against active travel by being forced unnecessarily to share pavement.
Here's a comparison of benefits
And a table of likely reactions
David Taylor
174 Bradford Rd BA2 5DA