Cobble rumble strips for popular Royal Parks cycle route

36 harsh cobble strips is too much for me and my old alu frame. Ruined the nicest section of my commute.

I have seen these cobbled strips in person, they're quite large.

Unfortunately in making the path more difficult to traverse on a bicycle they also make it more difficult for wheelchair users and people with impaired mobility.

I think there is a reasonable case that these cobbles contravene the Disability Discrimination Act as they make the park considerably less accessible.

Good luck getting a sensible answer out of RBKC.
if you want an example of their joined up thinking on cycling, bear in mind them spending tax payers money to block the superhighway and then spending more taxpayers money to warn cyclists of the danger they have persisted in maintaining

My local canal towpath got upgraded recently and actually most of it is pretty good except that vast sums of money have been spent on putting in mini cobbled speed humps and lots of signs saying "share the path", "cyclists dismount", "pedestrians have right of way and "thank you for slowing down".

An idea of the sign styles can be seen from the dog walking ones which say "to owners - please clear up after your dog; to dogs - grrr, bark woof!" I know, hilarious isn't it...

Most cyclists just ride round the outside of the little speed humps or bunny hop them.

Yeah pram commuters, slow down!

I just emailed Kensington Gardens to complain about these cobble strips as they are seriously unpleasant. The contact details are on this page: https://www.royalparks.org.uk/about-us/contact-us.

The speed bumps are so rugged that I've literally opted not to go through the park 50% of the times if I can avoid it and they're on my commute route at least 4 days a week. Why oh why? Why spend so much money and efforts on making a cycling experience worse when they could encourage green transportation? Beats me. Clearly, their engineers need to hop on a bike and feel the pain themselves. Can't even start to imagine what it must be for people in wheelchairs and kids in prams:(

Cynical moment.

1, Royal Parks invent fictitious conflict between cyclists and pedestrians.

2, Royal Parks install cobbles to alleviate fictitious conflict.

3, Cobbles are dangerous (especially when wet)and collect broken glass between them, so, cyclists avoid cobbles by riding round them on the grass.

4, Royal Parks ban cyclists on the grounds that they are damaging the grass.

Please tell me I'm wrong!

This is complete bollocks from the Royal Parks. The problem is the number of peds and cyclists using a narrow path, and there is plenty of room to widen it as shown in the photo. These rumble strips will just push me and other users onto Kensington Gore. Either that or drive on the grass to avoid the humps. Great result from a so-called cycle route!

good work Royal Parks, include cobbles as more of a challenge to many who have MTB's ! 

" There are too many people in cars, and they're going too fast, what shall we do?!

                "Build more roads!"

" There are lots of people cycling, and they're going too fast, what shall we do?!

               "Make cycling harder and less convenient!

Atkins Consultants wrote:

 carried out for the Royal Parks, in six hours on a Tuesday 70 per cent of cyclists were found to exceed the “design speed” of 12mph for Mount Walk, with 60 of 2,214 cyclists travelling at more than 18mph

So in six hours, 2% of users were doing more than 18mph? Hardly Champs-Elysées in late July.

I suggest the real problem is the volume  of users and that they should be working on accomodating  the modal shift

Quote:

70 per cent of cyclists were found to exceed the “design speed” of 12mph for Mount Walk, with 60 of 2,214 cyclists travelling at more than 18mph

So that's a "design speed", it's not even a posted speed limit.

These 70% of cyclists are quilty of breaking a "rule" no one told them about.

Meanwhile in the The Regent's Park motorists have been clocked at 84 mph - which is clearly illegal - and nothing is done about it.

Quote:

The role of the cobbles is to provide a “tactile and visual reinforcement of the concept of shared space and promote considerate use of the pathway”.

They mean: "The role of the cobbles is to discourage those 'orrible cyclists from riding through our park."

Give it a year, after someone comes off on the cobbles and injures themselves, and lots of 'Cyclists Dismount' signs will start appearing...

the main problem with cobbles is that you have to gain speed in order to bunny-hop them successfully....

Not sure about the need for these cobbles.  I have been through here most working days for 5 years and I have to say this is just about the only place on my 15 mile commute where I haven't seen any 'conflict'.  Usually it is a dog running across the path that causes the most chaos(!)   There are always a few speed merchants going too fast but I doubt a few cobbles will slow them down.  I came off my bike at low speed on some cobbles in another part of the park after I had to go around some bloke who was standing in the middle of the cycle lane.  So the cobbles can be slippy.

how hard would it be to physically separate user groups. There seems to be this idea that bikes and cars are bad but bikes and pedestrians are fine! Have these designers ever ridden a bike in a shared use environment? There is a reason why slow vehicles are banned from Motorways, yet this escapes the designers when it comes to cycle provision. 

Do you think there is any chnace that cyclists will simply go around the cobbles on the grass? I know that is what has happened on the Leeds Liverpool canal towpath.

"so why do we design Cycle Superhighways with the inspiration of the Tour de France?"

So that's what he meant, the bloody cobbles!