A cyclist in the London Borough of Bexley has spoken out about a segregated cycle lane next to a primary school that is “blocked twice a day by parents parking illegally” during the school run, the council apparently dismissive of the issue suggesting “it doesn’t matter because it’s only twice a day”.

A local rider who passes the school by bike every day has taken the matter to the press after the council’s comments, Loretta Brackstone telling News Shopper the illegal parking is “an accident waiting to happen” and parents “don’t listen” when Gravel Hill Primary School has asked them not to park there.

The cycle lane on the busy A207 dual-carriageway is blocked twice a day, every day, during term time as parents drop off and pick up their kids by pulling into the cycling infrastructure.

“It’s just madness,” Ms Brackstone told the local press. “If a child gets out on the wrong side, they’re stepping straight into fast-moving traffic. The school has asked parents not to park here, but they don’t listen. The cycle lane is completely pointless if cars are just using it as a parking bay.”

When she contacted the council, the cyclist reported being met with a dismissive response, the local authority suggesting it “doesn’t matter because it’s only twice a day”.

Andrew Bashford, Head of Highways, Traffic & Infrastructure at Bexley Council, said the cycle route should be unblocked and parking should not be allowed, but went on to make the aforementioned point that the issues are only for short periods of the working week.

> “Currently, it is not safe for some children to cycle to school”: Sustrans’ Head of Behaviour Change on “fostering a culture of active travel” in schools

“That’s twice every day when an accident could happen,” the cyclist responded. “It just feels like a box-ticking exercise – a bit of paint on the road so they can say they’ve put in a cycle lane, but they don’t actually enforce it.”

Bashford insisted enforcement officers visit the site but suggested it is challenging due to stretched resources and enforcement would be carried out “when resources allow”. The council said it would consider a trial involving temporary barriers to attempt to deter illegal parking, but Bashford claimed bollards are “likely to generate other problems for road users”.

“Parents might opt to circle the area and ‘quickly’ drop off or pick up their children from the live traffic lane,” he said. “This could create congestion and lead to children rushing out into the road.”

Earlier this month, we reported that a headteacher of a primary school in Cumbria had expressed excitement at the prospect of new cycle lanes being built, one outside the school to enable more children and families to make safe and active journeys to and from the site. However, there was less excitement from local councillors, many claiming the proposed infrastructure would “shrink” space for motorists and slow down traffic, one calling the scheme “barking mad”.

Likewise in Exeter, school safety and active travel made headlines this month as cyclists in the Devon city said they were “underwhelmed and disappointed” after the local council revealed that there is no funding for new school traffic safety schemes in an area where a low-traffic neighbourhood initiative was controversially scrapped last year – and where children on bikes were hit by motorists flouting the traffic restrictions.

Human bollards Exeter (@ExeterCycling/Twitter)
Twitter) (Image Credit: Farrelly Atkinson)

> “We can’t wait for some horrible accident outside the school before we do anything”: No funding for safety schemes at school where driver hit child on bike, as council vows to “deal with fallout” from scrapping of controversial LTN

One councillor claimed that since the Active Streets scheme was scrapped, locals have regressed to “bad habits”, including “cycling on pavements” and “parking on zig-zag lines outside schools”.