Cycle Lane design - right of way question

Chiparus

https://www.flickr.com/photos/150385870@N04/35091597162/in/dateposted-public/Waterford council have built a new pedestrian crossing on the Dunmore road, this is at the end of a long down hill section.

AS part of this crossing they have included a short section of cycle lane.

At the end of this is a painted yield sign ( see attached photo)

The question is : do cyclists in this lane have to give way to all traffic , including traffic turning left and traffic turning right??

Chips Lovell

Yes, that's what the yield sign means.

Annie get your Run

Jesus that's a dreadful design Where are you supposed to go if you want to go straight??! I'd be emailing them asking that exact question, why is there an island to the right of the lane and how long does it go on for? Stay on the road and don't bother with the lane but yes, the yield sign means they expect you to bow down to our masters in cars yield to all other traffic. Shocking design.

07Lapierre

Ah C'Mon! thats a Lovely Cycle Lane! Nice smooth Black Tarmac, Beautiful smooth concrete! all paid for by Road tax doncha know!

At least it doesn't end at a pedestrian crossing: https://goo.gl/maps/aw8cJJQaTfv

RacoonQueen

07Lapierre wrote: »

Ah C'Mon! thats a Lovely Cycle Lane! Nice smooth Black Tarmac, Beautiful smooth concrete! all paid for by Road tax doncha know!

At least it doesn't end at a pedestrian crossing: https://goo.gl/maps/aw8cJJQaTfv

Are you meant to dismount, cross as a pedestrian and then go back straight?

I actually used a footpath cycle lane there a week or so ago. Came up behind three lads walking in it. They turned around, saw me coming and didn't move. "It's a cycle lane, lads"
"F*ck off"

Charmers, obviously.
Damned if you do...

Annie get your Run

07Lapierre wrote: »

Ah C'Mon! thats a Lovely Cycle Lane! Nice smooth Black Tarmac, Beautiful smooth concrete! all paid for by Road tax doncha know!

At least it doesn't end at a pedestrian crossing: https://goo.gl/maps/aw8cJJQaTfv

That's just mean!!! At least on mine there's a little drop zone where I can pop onto the road to go around the roundabout...

[IMG][/img]

07Lapierre

RacoonQueen wrote: »

Are you meant to dismount, cross as a pedestrian and then go back straight?

I actually used a footpath cycle lane there a week or so ago. Came up behind three lads walking in it. They turned around, saw me coming and didn't move. "It's a cycle lane, lads"
"F*ck off"

Charmers, obviously.
Damned if you do...

Once you are on a Cycle Path, you are now a "Mechanically propelled Pedestrian". Once you bear that in mind, they make sense. But if you actually want to cycle and get from A to B as quickly as your bike is capable of, use the road!

crosstownk

07Lapierre wrote: »

At least it doesn't end at a pedestrian crossing: https://goo.gl/maps/aw8cJJQaTfv

Not just once, but 3 times in about 750m. Awful messy set up.

TheBlaaMan

That lane went in last week - I live 500m from it - and I fully expect that yet another set of pedestrian lights are going in there too, so the are not finished yet ! The markings for the lane only begin c50m before you photo location.

IMO, that cycle lane is only for turning left and going up Ballygunner Hill, in which case you have right of way in any case as you are leaving the main Dunmore Road - in my mind, I like to think that the planners are catering for school kids commuting to the two local schools - in reality, next to none do. Stopping at the end of that cycle lane will require heavy breaking as it is on a decline and you will need to come to a complete stop if continuing into Waterford on the D/R - madness. The is a proper (albeit, disintegrating...) cycle lane that commences a further 200m in the road where the white van is located.

If you are continuing in the Dunmore Road, then unless you want to be 1)killed or 2) severely inconvenienced, I would ignore the lane completely and stay on the outside of the island and in the main traffic lane - that's what I'll be doing.

buffalo

TheBlaaMan wrote: »

IMO, that cycle lane is only for turning left and going up Ballygunner Hill, in which case you have right of way in any case as you are leaving the main Dunmore Road

Are you talking about the OP's photograph? If you're in that cycle lane you don't have right of way over anyone.

Chiparus

buffalo wrote: »

Are you talking about the OP's photograph? If you're in that cycle lane you don't have right of way over anyone.

Yes it seems to me that if you stay out of the cycle lane and turn left you have the right of way , but if you cycle in the cycle lane you must give way to all traffic.

The question of mandatory use here will also be interesting as the cycle lane appears not to be exclusive for left turning only.

Wishbone Ash

RacoonQueen wrote: »

.... "It's a cycle lane, lads"
"F*ck off"

Charmers, obviously.
Damned if you do...

It's a shared footpath/cycle track, that is, with no delineation.

HivemindXX

TheBlaaMan wrote: »

That lane went in last week - I live 500m from it - and I fully expect that yet another set of pedestrian lights are going in there too, so the are not finished yet ! The markings for the lane only begin c50m before you photo location.

Probably still a year until the council can start saying this is part of the old existing sub-standard infrastructure that they are working to fix but can't do so overnight!

Rokta

Annie get your Run wrote: »

That's just mean!!! At least on mine there's a little drop zone where I can pop onto the road to go around the roundabout...

[IMG][/img]

That part confused the hell out of me the first time I cycled there, it is a typical example of awkward design of cycle lanes. I always get the feeling they did everything first and then in an afterthought painted a cycle lane hastily too make sure there is one.

thegreek

TheBlaaMan wrote: »

............ - in my mind, I like to think that the planners are catering for school kids commuting to the two local schools..............

That is exactly what they are designed for, I was told on a previous query to my council that the design is prioritised for kids going to school.

I just wonder how many kids cycle from the airport to Santry to go to school. Real pity because it is a great cycle lane except for the fact that you have to not only yield at every junction but stop dismount walk to the pedestrian crossing and wait for the lights while cyclists on the road continue with their journey.

Fian

thegreek wrote: »

That is exactly what they are designed for, I was told on a previous query to my council that the design is prioritised for kids going to school.

I just wonder how many kids cycle from the airport to Santry to go to school. Real pity because it is a great cycle lane except for the fact that you have to not only yield at every junction but stop dismount walk to the pedestrian crossing and wait for the lights while cyclists on the road continue with their journey.

One of the fundamental problems with cycle lanes like these is that they lead cyclists to distrust perfectly adequate lanes. I have found myself:

• channelled left when I wanted to go straight on, (sometimes even fenced off from getting on the road to continue straight)
• being required to yield at side roads when if I had stayed on the road I would have had a right of way,
• juddered over lunar surfaces or navigated broken glass,
• Coming to a dead end while the road on my right continues straight on,
• Expected to dismount instead of continuing,
• Dealing with pedestrians in the cycle lane
• dumped dangerously back into traffic

and basically inconvenienced and discommoded versus remaining on the road too many times.

10 times bitten 11 times shy - basically now if I come across an unfamiliar cycle lane I don't use it on the basis that I am more likely than not to be better off staying on the road. I do keep an eye on it for future reference and if it is designed in such a way that it is a benefit to me to use it rather than a detriment I will try to remember that to use it the next time.

They need to sort the crap ones out so that the balance of probabilities will favour using an unfamiliar cycle lane rather than avoiding it.