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North Yorks cyclist wins campaign for changes to road layout

Short stretch of off-road path to be installed where rider thrown from bike after being struck by wing mirror

A cyclist in North Yorkshire has won a campaign to have the layout of a road changed to improve safety. Zdenka Rosolova began fighting for the changes after she was thrown from her bike after being clipped by a vehicle’s wing mirror as she rode to work towards the end of 2011, reports the Craven Herald and Pioneer.

North Yorkshire County Council has said that it will now lay a small section of cycle path at the point where the incident took place on the A59 as it approaches Broughton Hall, where Ms Rosolova works, from Skipton, where she lives.

“I was cycling along thinking about Christmas and what I was to bake for my colleagues when the next thing I knew I was on the floor,” explained Ms Rosolova.

“I was wearing all the proper lights and hi-vis clothes, but still the driver hit me with his wing mirror at full speed.

“Luckily, I fell into the ditch and not into the road where I could have been run over. I was not seriously hurt but very shocked.

“The driver stopped immediately and drove me to work at Broughton Hall and the accident was reported to the police.

“It was a very frightening experience so I was determined to try to get something done about it because a lot of people cycle along there to work.

“After nearly a year of communication and emailing, they promised to implement the changes. I was amazed,” she added.

Ms Zdenka, who competes in triathlons, says that as a thank you to the council, she plans to bake a cake for staff at the council’s highways department, adding: “Being from the Czech Republic, it’ll possibly be chocolate sponge and spicy,” she said.

A North Yorkshire County Council spokesman told the newspaper: “There is a short length of the A59 on the approach to the Broughton Hall turning where there is no ‘metre strip’ of tarmac behind the white edge line.

“We are going to build a short length of cycle track on the verge, about 20 metres long and one metre wide, so that cyclists can keep out of the line of traffic.”

While it’s encouraging that the council listened to Ms Zdenka’s appeal for safety improvements at the location where the incident took place, the one-metre wide strip on the A59 itself that the council refers to – it’s unlear if it’s designated as a cycle lane – is less than those stipulated by the DfT’s Cycle Infrastructure Design guidelines, which state:

7.4.1 A cycle lane offers cyclists some separation from motor traffic. Under the National Cycle Training Standards, cyclists are trained to ride in a safe position in the carriageway which is usually at least 1 metre from the kerb edge to avoid gulley grates and debris, and to ensure that they are within the sightlines of drivers waiting at side roads.

7.4.2 Cycle lanes should be 2 metres wide on busy roads, or where traffic is travelling in excess of 40 mph. A minimum width of 1.5 metres may be generally acceptable on roads with a 30 mph limit. For cycle feeder lanes to advanced stop line arrangements, a minimum width of 1.2m may be acceptable. Cycle lanes less than 1.2 metres wide cannot easily accommodate tricycles or child­carrying cycle trailers wholly within the lane.

The A59, designated a important east-west cross route, has previously featured in the Road Safety Foundatoin's list of Britain's most dangerous roads, compiled annually for EuroRAP. 

If Broughton Hall rings a bell, it's because the venue hosted a round of the Rapha Supercross Series last autumn.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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6 comments

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dand_uk | 11 years ago
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Not quite sure how 20m of cycle track would help - what about the road before and after this track?

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a.jumper | 11 years ago
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Not a cycle lane really, but I've used them on 60 mph roads and I think quite a few do. Not great, but understandable. On some dual carriageways, they are actually marked as cycle lanes - A5D in Milton Keynes is one example.

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sgcoates | 11 years ago
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I frequently ride on this part of the A59 and the strip is not a designated cycle lane. It is also more like 2 feet wide - about the width of a drain cover, which means you have to pull out of the strip to go around the grates.

It is a very popular cycling route as it provides a link between 2 sections of quiet country lanes. The layout of the junctions to these lanes was changed a few years ago to add a right turn zone following the death of a cyclist who was hit by a car which was overtaking another.

While it's nice of the council to do something it is a shame it seems to take an accident to provoke them into doing it.

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PhilRuss replied to sgcoates | 11 years ago
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[[[[[[ It "took the council nearly a year" to get their fingers out. Is that a shame too? Or is it shameful? Answers on a postcard to...
P.R.

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Sandy_l | 11 years ago
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What happened to the driver? Careless driving charge? No didn't think so...

Quote:

“We are going to build a short length of cycle track on the verge, about 20 metres long and one metre wide, so that cyclists can keep out of the line of traffic.”

Why do cyclists have to keep out of the line of traffic? This is what's wrong with out road policy!

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joules1975 | 11 years ago
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If the 1m strip is the standard extra tarmac to the outside of the white line, it is probably just the standard strip you see on any modern single carriageway road.

This strip is not and never was meant to be a cycle lane, but is actually there to encourage slower moving traffic to get closer to the white line without fear of dropping off the side of the road, thus aiding overtaking manoeuvres by others.

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