Richmond Hill Scheme
Heres the Cycling Forum response to Bournemouth Council. You will notice that there are many more facets to this than just a scheme designed ‘for Cyclists’ . Taking it back to 2011 context- the primary reason for this work was the D.F.T stats that showed slip road collisions to be the single worst location in the Borough, there are currently several other schemes in progress initiated by Active Travel promotion and L.S.T.F (Local Sustainable Transport Fund) backing. RICHMOND HILL ROUNDABOUT SAFETY SCHEME –USER REPORT Following the Cycling Forum meeting on 3rd December Forum members have cycled the roundabout on a number of occasions and also observed car and cycle behaviour. The Cycling Forum’s comments follow below. GENERAL The Forum supports the Council’s priorities in signalising the west bound slip road entry to the roundabout and also de-merging cycles and left turning vehicles on the Wimborne Road approach. The Forum regrets that the Council have not seen fit to deal with the pedestrian safety issues on the west side of the roundabout at the same time. This also affects cyclists. WIMBORNE ROAD (SOUTHBOUND) This issue was highlighted at the first working meeting and the Forum believes that this is still an aspect of the scheme which is economically capable of improvement and will have safety benefits. Kerbside parking is permitted from No13 Wimborne Road (Richmond Dene) to a point about 15m north of Dean Park Road. The painted build-out and the start of the cycle lane begins about 20m south of Dean Park Road. The gap of 45m or so between the end of the car parking and the build out is an unsatisfactory undefined zone which will give rise to road safety issues. The Forum asks the Council to commence a physical build-out and start the cycle lane from the end of the street car parking. This would include the Dean Park Road junction. The build out would continue all the way to the start of the left turning vehicle lane. This would put both vehicles and cycles into the correct positions on the road in good time for the approaching junction. No car parking will be lost as a result of this proposal as the road is already double yellow lined. This is an innovative safety scheme with new features. Both car drivers and cyclists need to be given advance information through clear signage so that there is understanding of the layout ahead. ROUNDABOUT ENTRY Driver and cyclist observance of the new lining is improving as users become familiar with the new layout. There are no comments on the road markings at this time, but the previous comment about advance signing and understanding of the layout applies. TRAFFIC SIGNALS The Forum awaits your confirmation that the early start for cycles will be incorporated into the permanent scheme. ROUNDABOUT DEPARTURE TO RICHMOND HILL The natural cycling line heading for Richmond Hill takes cyclists into the lane signed “Car park” and then into the left turn lane to Richmond Gardens/Dean Park Crescent. The current white lining seems confused and does not help the cyclist at all. Perhaps the lane should be made continuous and marked as a shared between left turning traffic and ahead cycling. In Spain the cycle lanes are marked, not at the road edge, but down the middle of the lane in this sort of situation. WEST SIDE OF ROUNDABOUT One cannot fail to be struck by the very large numbers of pedestrians using the west side of the roundabout. As a matter of urgency two things need to be done. First to regularise the informal use of the outside hatching of the roundabout as a footpath and kerb and surface this at an appropriate width. There is plenty of room. Second to restrict the eastbound slip road to single lane entry. The two lane entry is unnecessary on capacity grounds and presents undue danger to pedestrians and cyclists passing the slip road. We trust that all these items will be given serious consideration as part of your on-going scheme evaluation. Kind regards, John Hayter for Bournemouth Cycling Forum and Dorset Cyclists Network