The Starley Fragments
Recently Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) named the West Midlands Cycling Network – the “Starley Network“.
The green lines on the map below show Coventry’s existing cycleways:
“Fragments” would be a more apt word than “Network”. The fragments are of poor quality in two key respects:
Contents of this page
Shared with pedestrians
Having cyclists pass closely at speed is unpleasant for pedestrians. It deters people from walking, just as people are deterred from cycling due to fear of close passing by fast motor vehicles.
No priority over side roads
Cyclists are expected to stop at every side road junction to check left, right and over their shoulders for approaching traffic.
Cyclists have significant kinetic energy, which they lose on stopping. To get going again they must replace what has been lost by their own muscular effort. Motorists also lose significant kinetic energy when they stop, but they can replenish the loss by simply pressing the accelerator pedal.
Some cyclists will get into the habit of not stopping, as usually a car will not be approaching. Sooner or later a crash will result.
A Cycling Plan for Coventry
Two elements are needed:
- Cycleways linking every neighbourhood with every major trip destination, such as the hospitals, universities, business parks, further education colleges and the Coventry Arena. These would be segregated from both pedestrians and motor traffic.
- Neighbourhoods becoming Low Traffic. That means excluding through motor traffic. Motorists travelling from one neighbourhood to another would first drive to the nearest distributor road, drive on the distribtor road network to their destination neighbourhood and then into the destination neighbourhood itself. Cyclists would share the road with cars within the low traffic neighbourhoods, but would have motor traffic free alternatives to the distributor roads.
Cyclist behaviour
Cycling is not an extreme sport needing specialised clothing, but a means of urban transport which involves sharing the road with large fast moving steel objects.
After mastering control of the bicycle, cyclists must learn to position themselves correctly on the road so that their presence and intentions are clear. They need the confidence to “take the lane” on occasion. Cyclists must also anticipate the actions of motorists and act accordingly. They should not rely on motorists being any more competent, considerate or careful than they are themselves.
In the Netherlands 25% of journeys are cycled compared to 2% here. There’s room for improvement with benefits in terms of both CO2 emissions and public health.
Further Reading
- A bold vision for Cycling and Walking pdf
- Enjoy Watham Forest – Low Traffic Neighbourhoods in a London borough
I completely with the broad vision of the article; but I’m not sure that the criticisms of the ‘fragments’ apply to the proposed segregated cycleways. My understanding of the news from the Cycle Mayor, Adam Tranter, is that many side roads will be closed off (thus creating low traffic neighbourhoods) and the ‘dutch entrances’ on some other junctions will give priority to active travellers. Or have I got that wrong?
I totally agree with this. It is not a network.
Future routes will have priority over side roads but there’s a lot out there that don’t.
My criticism of the Starley Fragments doesn’t apply to the new routes. But they haven’t been built yet!
The existing cycleways suffer from the priority given to turning traffic at side roads and with a number of them there’s a problem with sharing with pedestrians. They demonstrate the attitudes held in the past. The number of people cycling on the current infrastructure show the “success” of that approach.
What I find most remarkable about the current moment is hundreds of people have signed the petition in support of the Coundon cycleway and all but one councillor is in full support.
I think the Binley Road route has greater challenges and I’ll be interested to see how they are tackled. A Foleshill Road route implemented to standards common in the Netherlands would be remarkable.
A cycleway is currently being built on the north side of Rowley Road. That’s just inside Coventry’s border.
From start to the finish it’s about a mile with 14 places where cyclists are expected to give way to turning traffic. At certain times of day the entrances to some of the sites are often blocked by vehicles waiting to enter (particularly Mannheim Auctions and the vehicle distribution centre).
So one swallow doesn’t make a summer and one cycle way doesn’t make a network.
The existing cycleways suffer from the priority given to turning traffic at side roads and with a number of them there’s a problem with sharing with pedestrians. They demonstrate the attitudes held in the past. The number of people cycling on the current infrastructure show the “success” of that approach.