Cyclist explains why riders “aren’t very grateful for tiny painted cycle lane” on notorious route where council ripped out segregated bike lane; Pothole “roads emergency”; The incredible lengths London bike thieves will go to steal + more on the live blog
First Published: Oct 3, 2024
SUMMARY
Under-fire council warned of "roads emergency" from "dangerous" potholes — as cyclist claims £6,000 after breaking shoulder in crash
We’re starting the day’s news in Staffordshire where members of the Stafford Borough Council have backed the formal declaration of a “roads emergency” in the county due to the “worryingly poor state of repair” of potholes. StokeonTrentLive reports that the declaration comes as one councillor presented the motion by pointing out cycling with his two daughters is “dangerous at the best of times” but has been made “very nerve-racking” by the state of the county’s roads.
Green Party councillor Scott Spencer continued: “On his way to the station last year, my friend who lives in Stafford and commutes to Birmingham and cycles to the station hit a pothole and broke his shoulder. He then claimed against the county council and got £6,000.
“I ride a motorcycle and I also cycle with my two young girls. Both of these activities are dangerous at the best of times, but the conditions of our roads make it very nerve-racking as a parent. I’m even told by some residents that they fear driving, cycling or even walking and in some cases no longer opt to drive due to potential damage or injury to themselves or their vehicles.”
However, in response, county council member Jeremy Pert blamed the weather for the issues and claimed the council had put “really impressive” funds and effort into fixing road defects.
He said: “We’ve just come through the wettest winter in the last 130 years and the problem with the weather wasn’t that it was cold, but the dampness and rain fundamentally undermined the quality of the road network that we have not just within Stafford Borough but the county.
“To me it’s not what you deal with, but it’s how you respond to it. Back in May the county council put an extra £8m into fixing the county’s roads; they currently put £42m into operational repairs and £83m into capital schemes. We’ve seen £5.6m spent across six schemes in Stafford Borough, including Radford Bank, Weeping Cross, Gaol Square and Newcastle Road in Cotes Heath. But the bit I think is really impressive is the 191 locations where over £5m has been spent doing patching and repair work.”
He also suggested that “some of the motion is backwards” and “relates to something that has been a problem the county (council), which is the highways authority, has dealt with and done”. Sounds like there’ll be no problems with fixing potholes in Staffordshire this winter then…
Images for illustration purposes only and aren’t Staffordshire potholes… these belong to some other lovely part of the UK road network…
Even if you locked your bike a London thief may still steal... your handlebars?!
BBC London Transport & Environment Correspondent Tom Edwards shared this on Twitter, saying a colleague had returned to locked bike on South Bank to find their bars, shifters and stem had been stolen… Oh, and it’s the second time it’s happened…
Shimano confirms Q'Auto technology will be seen on bikes in 2025
Shimano confirmed to us overnight that the reports out of Japan are indeed correct and we can expect to see this tech hit the market next year. Read all about it here…
YouGov poll finds eight in ten Brits want government to fix potholes rather than build new roads
On the subject of potholes, Carlton Reid’s latest piece for Forbes highlights the findings of a recent YouGov poll, with eight in ten respondents suggesting they would rather the government fixed potholes than build new roads.
The poll comes with the context of Labour’s Transport Secretary Louise Haigh ordering an urgent review into the Department for Transport’s spending, a decision on whether the new government will alter the UK’s road-building programme in a bid to cut costs expected imminently.
In the YouGov survey, 63 per cent expressed dissatisfaction with UK road conditions and 81 per cent said they would rather money was diverted to councils to fix potholes, rather than be used for new road projects.
Collapse of major UK cycling distributor "huge shock" after investor pulled out of Orro Bikes deal "at the very last minute" – but hope "someone in the industry" will rescue business
Tadej Pogačar to debut rainbow jersey this weekend at Giro Dell’Emilia
Tadej Pogačar begins his year in the rainbow jersey this weekend, making his first appearance in the famous bands at the Italian one-day race Giro Dell’Emilia on Saturday.
“This period of the year is always one of my favourites for racing and it will be even more special now with the World Champions jersey on my back,” he said. “What happened in Zurich was a dream for me. Whatever happens from here on is a plus but given the amazing season we’ve had as a team we want to push right until the last race and end on a high note. These end of year classics in Italy are beautiful, exciting races and we’re ready to give them a good shot.”
Lachlan Morton logs another monster day as finish of Australia-conquering endurance ride nears
Another huge day in the saddle although, given some of the 400km+ days Lachlan’s been bashing out, this may be a rest day…
"Not everyone can leisurely take a bike": Active travel scheme branded "most expensive cat litter tray in history" by residents threatening to move away from "nightmare" area – but cyclists say town centre will become "safer and more pleasant place"
Transport for London announces details of new cyclists only shuttle service under River Thames
A quick bit of news next…
The Evening Standard has reported that Transport for London is to have three single-decker buses converted into “bike buses” to take cyclists through the Silvertown tunnel, with Stagecoach East being awarded a three-year contract for the service which will be free for at least the first year of use.
Silvertown tunnel is expected to open in the first three months of 2025, the bike bus the only way for cyclists to travel through (from North Greenwich to Canning Town), with “at least” five services an hour in each direction during operating hours of 6.30am to 9.30pm seven days a week.
Some more evening browsing for your way home (unless you're riding back of course)
When you’re done with the blog be sure to check out the latest road.cc Recommends for all our kit and tech recommendations this month…
Jamie’s also been over to Italy to find out what goes on behind the scenes at Pinarello and got to take the new Dogma F for a spin… it’s a tough life, isn’t it…
Adwi will be here in the morning for your Friday live blog fix, have a good evening…
Cyclist explains why riders "aren't very grateful for tiny painted cycle lane" on notorious route where council ripped out segregated bike lane
You might remember the cycle lane saga on Kensington High Street that is coming up to its four-year anniversary this winter. For those who don’t, here’s a 30-second recap…
The major route had a segregated cycle lane [pictured above] installed during the Covid pandemic. However, come December of 2020, Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea’s (RBKC) Conservative-controlled council decided to remove the protected cycling infrastructure, returning the road to its old state after pressure from the area’s Tory MP and actor Nigel Havers over congestion concerns. To nobody’s surprise, the congestion the bike lane was apparently causing was not addressed by scrapping the scheme and long queues of backed-up stationary traffic can still be seen at almost all times of the day, the cyclists who use the route questioning for what benefit their journeys have been made more dangerous and less accessible.
Now almost four years on and the council, in its heart-warming benevolence, decided to give cyclists a thin strip of painted cycle lane instead, a decision that Jeremy Vine told the council it can “shove up their exhaust pipe” and prompted the London Cycling Campaign (LCC) to accuse the local authority of prioritising drivers.
Well, courtesy of Ryan Wilson, here is a cyclist’s experience of using the new infrastructure, a cycle lane that RBKC councillor Cem Kemahli claimed “strikes the right balance between keeping our major through roads moving while allowing space for everyone”…
Q: Why are cyclists not very grateful for the tiny cycle lane @RBKC have painted on High Street Kensington?
A: Here are a few reasons from today’s pretty typical commute. pic.twitter.com/itUCBjNzDs
— Ryan Wilson (@rhwilson83) October 1, 2024
Vine said the footage was of an “average” day too, implying it can be worse still.
When the former segregated lane was ripped out, the decision was branded “shameful, callous and retrograde” by the LCC, with more than 200 joining a protest ride against its removal. Among those in attendance were parents, children and staff from nearby Fox Primary School who said the infrastructure had allowed them to travel to school by bike.
Then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson was said to be “ballistic” at the scheme’s scrapping, while an analysis of Transport for London (TfL) traffic cameras on the route suggested congestion had actually worsened in the month after the local council removed emergency bike lanes.
Sadiq Khan too appealed for the cycle lane to be reinstated, something the council rejected before campaigners lost a High Court challenge against the decision to rip out the protected infrastructure.
In July of 2023, the council announced the painted cycle lane plans, prompting even more criticism and taking us up to the present day where cyclists’ experience of the route is the video shared by Ryan.
Simon Munk, infrastructure campaigner at the LCC, said: “This is still a borough where the approach to cycling still seems to be doing the least possible and revving up residents to perceive cycling as an issue for their driving rather than an opportunity to cut car use and climate emissions.”
However, when the paint plan was announced, Councillor Kemahli insisted: “It’s heartening to see that people are open to the idea of some cycling infrastructure on our streets and this scheme strikes the right balance between keeping our major through roads moving while allowing space for everyone.
“Making our roads safer as well as greener is a priority for us.”
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Latest Comments
I cannot edit my post; the need for a clear distinction between the two is not for semantics, but for those of us who are convoy drivers, who are licensed for that role. We take it very seriously and can incur fines and punishment from the UCI for wrongdoing. Those in front, in the caravan, are just normal everyday drivers and do not have the experience of driving in a race convoy, sometimes at speed, with riders all around us. Therefore, should not be taking risks on any part of the route.
Your wording on this needs to be clear, you've mixed up two different parts of the race. The vehicle was from the publicity caravan (Out in front of the race), similar to what you get at the Tour de France, they throw out merchandise to roadside fans, but later in the article, you say "Tour du Rwanda’s official convoy". The convoy on a UCI race is the vehicles which travel behind the race "in convoy" which include the team cars, officals cars, neutral service...etc. You need to have clear distinction between the two. This was not a convoy vehicle, it was a caravan vehicle.
“when the government confirmed that Nottinghamshire County Council will receive £6.7 million for active travel over the next four years, with part of this funding to be used to repair the greenway” Wow - 6.7 million for the WHOLE council for a WHOLE four years for active travel. And once this one shared route has been repaired and the barriers paid for, there could be a WHOLE five million left for the rest of the county. For four years! Astonishingly generous. Imagine how much excellent infrastructure they will build.
Standard journalist protection against any possible action for libel or defamation when mentioning any accusation that hasn't been proven in court. Obviously it's pretty unlikely that an unidentified person (it doesn't even say in which country the incident occurred) would be taking legal action over this but it's good practice always to include it. While there is no reason to believe Swenson has made up the story there are always different perspectives: the driver or passenger might well claim that the door was already open before he arrived and he wasn't paying attention. Unless/until a case is proved in court or by admission it remains an allegation and so it's safest to add the "allegedly" proviso.
Swenson was hit by "a motorist’s car door, which was 'allegedly' swung open into his path." Allegedly swung open? Is there some reason to believe Swenson is making up this story?
And to show the sleeves with the dummy in the riding position.
The people who would listen to them aren't much of the problem. What're needed are for [insert high profile sportsball people of your choice] to do this.
Get some help you tedious fool.
No, now everybody can see the space after your opening bracket!
What he means is there's nowhere to park all day for free! Morrisons has a 2 hour limit and the shopping centre is pay and display.
52 thoughts on “Cyclist explains why riders “aren’t very grateful for tiny painted cycle lane” on notorious route where council ripped out segregated bike lane; Pothole “roads emergency”; The incredible lengths London bike thieves will go to steal + more on the live blog”
I think someone has stolen
I think someone has stolen the handlebar story.
Road Emergency. Its true.
Road Emergency. Its true. Over the years, I spend less time enjoying the scenary and relaxing on my rides, instead its ever-more time with my eyes glued to the road, looking for the next crater that could kill me. Sad.
I will say that, when I
I will say that, when I started my LEJoG, I was warned by several people who live in the UK about the state of the roads and all the potholes that would try to kill me.
There were maybe three in nearly 1100 miles that I’d consider reporting if they were where I live in the US. The state of the roads around me is far worse, possibly because I live in a region of the US that sees several wet freeze-thaw cycles annually, and possibly because we’ve built more unaffordable sprawl here than anywhere I passed through in the UK.
Have a look around this stretch of Hale Avenue, for instance. This is signposted as part of our bicycle “network.” My Brompton’s wheel will nearly fit to the axle in some of them.
Stol;emn handlebars? Nah
Stolen handlebars? Nah that’s just some lunatic hillclimber going overboard 🙂
Tempted to say, “Clever Dick!
Tempted to say, “Clever Dick!”
“But the bit I think is
“But the bit I think is really impressive is the 191 locations where over £5m has been spent doing patching and repair work”
So it costs over £26000 per location, so presumably per pot hole? Probably cheaper just to pay out the odd £6000 then…
Sedis wrote:
Average cost to fix a pothole is about £70 – ref
Tom_77 wrote:
The average cost to fix it once might be £70.
What’s the average number of times a pothole needs to be fixed?
Don’t doubt the figures you
Don’t doubt the figures you quote but given local authorities inefficiency I cant believe it costs only £70 to fix a pothole. I think there is creative accountancy going on.
Report a pothole in Edinburgh, one person reads and allocates task, an inspector drives out to confirm it needs repair, if required send on the work team. Another person schedules work. A gang of at least three then drive out in an HGV and pour some putty into the hole. 5 weeks later repeat.
Add up these labour costs including overheads and that ain’t getting done for £70.
Stolen bars: certain eBay
Stolen bars: certain eBay accounts sell almost nothing other than used shifters and saddles. Just sayin’.
Perhaps BBC Tom Edwards could
Perhaps BBC Tom Edwards could present a news item on how employers could assist their employees by providing a secure place to store their cycles?
I believe Jon Snow had a total of three cycles stolen when he was working for C4 News.
Good luck.
Good luck.
Tom Edwards refuses to use the Road Collision Reporting Guidelines when shown how he (and most news sources) use incorrect language when reporting on them.
http://rc-rg.com
Living in North Staffordshire
Living in North Staffordshire I can confirm the roads are utterly shit.
I tend to ride out to Shropshire or Chesire now as the roads are so much better.
Quote:
…because it could be argued, “Why build new roads when you can’t maintain the ones you already have”
This just came up on the CUK
This just came up on the CUK forum.
Haven’t waded through all of it but it seems to suggest building new roads is not the best way to spend your money.
https://www.ippr.org/articles/making-every-pound-count
Great deal of “no shit
Great deal of “no shit Sherlock” there, but of course that all needs couched in terms of the existing bureaucratic and political mind-tools – and of course at the end of the day a few folks at the top have just got to *decide* to do it differently – and then stay the course (probably the hardest part).
People have been doing the math for decades and pointing out that motor traffic infra is (quantifiably) poor value for money – both absolutely and comparably to eg. active travel infra. And that the benefits of motor infra are oversold while some costs ignored (“externalities”).
I’ve often seen people riding
I’ve often seen people riding around without seatpost and saddle, but never without handlebars
Unicyclists can be an elusive
Unicyclists can be an elusive bunch, but I’ll bet a squirrel will ride round in a bit 😉
I love my bike wrote:
Never without handlebars on a
Never without handlebars on a safety style bicycle with two wheels
brooksby wrote:
hawkinspeter wrote:
Or if you actually meant a safety style bicycle with two wheels only,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tU1pRjqsRgQ
I’ll get my coat…
I’ll get my coat…
Finally something that isn’t
Finally something that isn’t a Brompton that has a fighting chance of being able to meet Eurostar’s ridiculous 85×85 size requirement for bikes on their trains (in a bag)! Where can I get one?
PS: The “bike” in pic seems to have 3 wheels??
Meet Guiliano Calore, who
Meet Guiliano Calore, who descended the Stelvio on a bike with no brakes or handlebars…
“Foot braking” – still mind
“Foot braking” – still mind-blowing though (not least … why??)
Watch here (this one with handlebars, not that they’re used…):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZV4MJok1_2o
Wore through toes of bike
Wore through toes of bike shoes in 1980. Tight turn in a peak District into a short steep down slope that had tight turn at bottom. Teeming rain, side pull brakes on chrome steel rims, riding fast back to rest of the group to take some of their luggage after dropping mine at Youth Hostel.
And up!
And up!
And down again at night, aged 77!
Indeed, one of his barless
Indeed, one of his barless climbs also involving playing four musical instruments as he climbed (consecutively, not simultaneously, that would just be silly…).
Rendel Harris wrote:
OMG
Amazing. Seems to be using
Amazing. Seems to be using his right foot on the rear tyre to brake. His heel must have got very hot!
Hexlox is the answer.
Hexlox is the answer.
ktache wrote:
OT but are Hexlox any good? I’m torn between Hexlox, Pitlok, or just getting some cheap ‘its a pentagon hole not an Allen key hole’ skewers.
Annual Local Authority Road
Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) survey
Executive Summary – roads are fucked and it will take £16.3 billion and 10 years to fix them.
Well obviously that’s because
Well obviously that’s because of the War on the Motorist, wokeness and … er … cycling.
Could this be another case where (although they’ll privately understand) politicians just can’t say the obvious? e.g. that as well as looking at supply (of sufficiently maintained road surface) we can – and indeed should – also look at demand (for journeys driven, including road freight)?
EDIT – also demand for more roads (because more buildings / houses – apparently an increase in this coming soon because “need”). And demands by more utilities companies for digging up roads (and shoddy repairs)? There are economic drivers for this (and then political approval) because if you do it cheap you can get volume sales, and then repeat business as things you build / repair don’t last so have to be redone…
No doubt we have been under-maintaining, but the demand – and wear and tear – has been increasing and our politicians have nodded along to that. Or indeed encouraged it – “on the side of the motorist” and “growth” (which currently always means more driving).
The roads may end up as bad
The roads may end up as bad as the rails got in 1945 – what we need is a major change of direction, rather than throwing good money after bad.
Apart from UK long history of
Apart from UK long history of making and maintaining roads on cheap and our climate being particularly hard on roads, I remember sitting in on an analysis of road repairs and safety: apparently, funding approvals for such works are made such that the actual on site work usually has to be done at worst time of year. With our annual lose it or lose it funding cycle, it makes for unhappy local authority road management teams as they have to do a worse job than they know that they could do for the same money. They’d far prefer to do a much better job for a bit more well-timed money
Road management and
Road management and maintenance is a giant rabbit hole of a topic and I’m not a civil engineer… but it does seem to me the UK has a “laissez-faire” approach to private works and (private) utilities digging the streets up, plus as you say “potlach” funding (it appears then grab it before it’s gone). At least the planning for things is such a muddle we end up leaving some roads to get trashed for decades but others get dug up eg. for utilities as soon as they’ve been refurbished, then have to be redone again (Have seen this happen in England and here in Edinburgh).
The other thing is this isn’t “inevitable” – in NL at least they seem to have a different system of batching together road resurfacing and street improvements together with utilities works. I don’t know exactly how it works in NL – but I do know the local government organisation, laws and responsibilities are different. Which might mean “can’t get there from here”.
Rachel Reeves’ black potHole
Rachel Reeves’ black potHole in the economy.
“after pressure from the area
“after pressure from the area’s Tory MP and actor and unrepetant convicted drink-driver Nigel Havers over congestion concerns”
ftfy
Much as I share Ryan’s
Much as I share Ryan’s despair at RBKC’s “Yes we stole a pound but here’s a penny” approach to cycling infrastructure, pedantry obliges me to point out that not only is the road in question called Kensington High Street – only the tube station, for unknown (to me) reasons, is called High Street Kensington – but also the road in question doesn’t actually begin until about 100 m after his video ends, what his video actually shows is Kensington Road.
Rendel Harris wrote:
It reminds me of the fact that although there is a Bond Street Tube Station and a square on the Monopoly board called Bond Street, there is no Bond Street in central London. (Rather, there are two roads, New Bond Street and Old Bond Street.)
Not so controversial opinion
Not so controversial opinion but in most cases I would rather there wasn’t a “cycle lane” if it isn’t protected. I get worse passed on them because apparently once you are on the other side of that line you are protected and don’t need 1.5m. They aren’t cleaned by cars driving over them constantly so they accumulate debris and they are constantly interrupted by all manner of things.
If I recall, there was a
If I recall, there was a study recently that showed a 30% greater risk of KSIs on a A-road with a painted lane than a comparable lane without a painted lane.
In other words, painted lanes are more dangerous than no lane at all.
the little onion wrote:
Iirc, mandatory painted white lines (ie solid white lines) make no difference to cyclists’ safety, but advisory (dashed) lines make it more dangerous.
Been saying that for years.
Been saying that for years. Encouraging to know there’s evidence, now I’ll look it up. It helps win over drivers who are surprised to hear me deplore many (most?) bike lanes as spending-performance target box tickers that are more dangerous, for several reasons, than no bike lane and better layout
Not what drivers want to hear
Not what drivers want to hear though because what they’re saying is “needs protection” not “no bike infra”. So if we are throwing away – sorry, spending – so much money on the roads that we “can’t afford” proper separate cycle infra where needed, take a bit more space and plonk down eg. concrete Jersey barrier blocks to protect the cycle lane.
Of course that’s still “too cheap” as it doesn’t help much at junctions and gets in the way of pedestrians somewhat. But does at least keep vehicles out of the lane.
(“Cycle lanes” really aren’t the way, properly designed cycle *networks* are – which will have some separate cycle paths and some “very quiet streets”.)
Ultimate solution is drivers and those providing for driving realising that the best solution to help people driving is … having far fewer journeys driven.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=d8RRE2rDw4k
IF councils would pay more
IF councils would pay more attention to cyclists complaints about pot holes and poor road surface quality we would end up with far better roads for all road users. Can you imagine how much whingeing we’d get from motorists if they could feel the roads like we do.
Every road I ride on I notice imperfections that are damped out by motor vehicle tyres and suspension systems.
All the ‘safety’ systems built in to motor vehicles isolate the driver and occupants from more than impacts.
IME the council is pretty
IME the council is pretty rapid at fixing a pothole when I report it (usually with a picture of my bike wheel in said hole to demonstrate the danger). The problem is how they fix it, and how long it lasts. I actually think I notice the road surface more when driving, as you don’t always have the ability to go around a hole like you can on a bike.
Tbf, motorists also complain
Tbf, motorists also complain about potholes. £billions lost to economy due to tyre and shock absorbers wear from state of our roads. The larger wheels on soft roader SUVs do reduce the impact to occupants compared to, eg Nissan Micra a friend has, and the immediate cost to individual owner isn’t as obvious as snakebite puncture for bike, but cost to nation is vast
I recently advised a friend
I recently advised a friend who wants to move on from the urban bike he bought and used a lot for a few years. He asked about second hand road bike. After a few suggestions, I ended by advising to jump to a new fat tyre gravel or all-road bike to cater for bad roads. I mentioned narrow wheels getting into ruts, especially at junctions while signalling with one arm out. Also, if fat tyres, go shorter cranks. Then suggested a bike fit. He can afford it very easily but not a bike snob or show-off
Handlebar & brake levers from
Handlebar & brake levers from wife’s bike and seatpost & saddle from mine taken when locked up outside theatre in West London in early 1986. With very little money, we couldn’t afford to replace so had to take bus for our 10 mile each way commute for a few months.
Good outcome: discovered Shimano 105 dual pivot brakes. Total game changer from the Weinmann 500 and 730 we’d been using (they were high level brakes for the time), still have Weinmann brake tool