Cyclists will be permitted to ride the wrong way up one-way streets to encourage more people to give up their cars.
Kensington and Chelsea council is testing two-way access for cyclists on several residential roads with the scheme set to be extended across the borough if there is no increase in collisions.
New signs will advise cyclists where they are allowed to cut through and avoid the long circulatory one-way routes motor vehicles must take.
Road surfaces will not be changed and there will be no dividing line between cyclists and oncoming vehicles - instead they will be left to navigate their own paths.
Cycling up a one-way street will soon be legal in Chelsea.
12 comments:
Bad, Bad, Bad! This just is a recipe for disaster allowing people to get hurt. Who is going to be held accountable when someone is injured??
I think, its a good idea. In Berlin, Germany there are a lot of one-way streets open for cyclists in both directions and it works pretty good.
Not necessarily a bad idea. It can work quite well if the lanes are well marked. In Santa Cruz, CA for example there are a few one-way roads (for autos) but well marked two-way bike-paths on the road. And I think nothing will make a car-driver switch to biking faster than when he/she realizes that the bike lane is going faster!
The key there is "if there is no increase in collisions". Actual collisions only account for a fraction of the problem-- there will be 100 times as many near-misses, which won't be accounted for in the stats. This could "work" for months before there's an actual accident. I think the more dangerous thing is that some cyclists may mistakenly believe they can go up any one-way street, and then you're going to have a real problem.
It sounds like Chelsea wants to appear that they are doing something about the enviornment/high gas prices with the least amount of effort and spending possible.
Street design has historically been all about cars and not efficient travel. Whether it is good or bad will be determined by the quality of research, behavior and law enforcement. Runners are always seen on the wrong side of the road and few complain about the inherent risks. Cyclists and auto drivers can coexist with this wrong way running so now why not cyclists too? The greater the variables, the more cautious drivers tend to be. Let's hope that sufficient space is provided to the cyclists and joggers for a change.
Jack
...i can imagine this working (w/ a spirit of cooperation) in most european cities...but here in the good ol' u.s.a. ???...fuggetaboudit...
...invitation to a disaster...
This is already the law in Pennsylvania.
Seems like if they "do it right" like the success stories overseas, then it's brilliant and easy.
But on the other hand, even if we DO "do it right," are we ready for it?
It already happens, all Chelsea are doing is saying to the motorist "Don't get annoyed, it is legal"
If it's already happening then mebbe it's not so bad... on one-way streets... tho' it would be better IMHO if a lane were delineated to say - "okay, now this *isn't* a one-way street." And have one on the other side, too, for folks going with the traffic. In fact, take the auto traffic lane away ;)
If thetwo directions for cyclists are on opposite sides of the road, mebbe...
great idea, all the old guys do it all the time down here in key west. i used to give em the stink eye cuz I was so into being the good little cyclist. then some guy said to me he's been riding down that road since before it was made one way. probably to accommodate cars. it's success is probably site specific, but we cyclist navigate a world where design and public policy don't take us into account. so it's nice to see new ideas doing just that.
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