Is Contra-Flow Cycle lane Bi-Directional in UK?

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drkfuture
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Is Contra-Flow Cycle lane Bi-Directional in UK?

Post by drkfuture »

Hi, I am very confused abt this part, bcoz I have seen this on many sites, "the contra-flow cycle lane allows you to cycle in BOTH DIRECTIONS" , I have also seen TWO LANES Contraflow cycle lanes where cyclist ride on both directions, hence I m very confused. What should I do when I get the contraflow road sign? Should I ONLY go against the flow, or I can go in any direction?
There is also Bus And Cycle Contraflow lane.

Plz See the Picture here:
https://pasteboard.co/otEGZamclfFi.jpg
https://pasteboard.co/fSjPtJAO8GWg.png

ContraFlow Road Sign:
https://image.shutterstock.com/image-ve ... 371805.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... nnes_2.jpg
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gaz
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Re: Is Contra-Flow Cycle lane Bi-Directional in UK?

Post by gaz »

drkfuture wrote: 15 May 2022, 4:25am Plz See the Picture here:
https://pasteboard.co/otEGZamclfFi.jpg
The traffic lane is one way and should be used by cyclists when traveling in the same direction as the general flow of traffic. The contraflow cycle lane allows cyclists to travel against the general flow of traffic. There is nothing to indicate the cyle lane is bi-directional.
The road in the above pic has two traffic lanes, allowing all traffic to use the appropriate lane to travel in either direction. There is also a bi-directional cycleway on one side of the road.
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Pete Owens
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Re: Is Contra-Flow Cycle lane Bi-Directional in UK?

Post by Pete Owens »

gaz wrote: 15 May 2022, 1:59pm
The road in the above pic has two traffic lanes, allowing all traffic to use the appropriate lane to travel in either direction.
But nobody should be passing through the islands on the main carriageway in the direction of the right-most red arrow.
There is also a bi-directional cycleway on one side of the road.
Which looks particularly nasty - if you are using that riding on the right hand side of the road you end up sandwiched in a narrow space between two oncoming streams of traffic. Fortunately there is no obligation for cyclists to use it.
drkfuture
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Re: Is Contra-Flow Cycle lane Bi-Directional in UK?

Post by drkfuture »

drkfuture wrote: 15 May 2022, 4:25am The traffic lane is one way and should be used by cyclists when traveling in the same direction as the general flow of traffic. The contraflow cycle lane allows cyclists to travel against the general flow of traffic. There is nothing to indicate the cyle lane is bi-directional.

The road in the above pic has two traffic lanes, allowing all traffic to use the appropriate lane to travel in either direction. There is also a bi-directional cycleway on one side of the road.
Thank you very much, so that means, the contraflow cycle lane ONLY allows unidirectional traffic flow(i.e. against the oncoming traffic) unless this is a dual carriageway with bidirectional traffic, which may have a bidirectional cycle lane as well.
thirdcrank
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Re: Is Contra-Flow Cycle lane Bi-Directional in UK?

Post by thirdcrank »

I think the answer to the part in bold in your original post is that cyclists can ride both ways in that they can ride with the general flow of traffic or against the flow - "contraflow" - in the marked lane, (I thought gaz had explained that clearly.) Beyond that, variations are possible as with your examples and these will be signed, again, as in your examples.

If you want the exact detail of what's allowed at a given location, this will normally be in the relevant traffic regulation order (TRO) at the local traffic authority. A TRO is needed to create a one-way street and if there's an exception for cyclists it will be included, with precise details.
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Re: Is Contra-Flow Cycle lane Bi-Directional in UK?

Post by Jdsk »

drkfuture wrote: 16 May 2022, 6:04am
drkfuture wrote: 15 May 2022, 4:25am The traffic lane is one way and should be used by cyclists when traveling in the same direction as the general flow of traffic. The contraflow cycle lane allows cyclists to travel against the general flow of traffic. There is nothing to indicate the cyle lane is bi-directional.

The road in the above pic has two traffic lanes, allowing all traffic to use the appropriate lane to travel in either direction. There is also a bi-directional cycleway on one side of the road.
Thank you very much, so that means, the contraflow cycle lane ONLY allows unidirectional traffic flow(i.e. against the oncoming traffic) unless this is a dual carriageway with bidirectional traffic, which may have a bidirectional cycle lane as well.
I think that this might be making it more difficult than needed.

The cycle lane signs show unidirectional permission which is the other way to the other traffic. The road is bidirectional because it includes more than one lane, but that doesn't mean that it has to be "a dual carriageway".

Please can you show the sign that you think is indicating "a bi-directional cycleway".

Thanks

Jonathan
Richard Fairhurst
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Re: Is Contra-Flow Cycle lane Bi-Directional in UK?

Post by Richard Fairhurst »

drkfuture wrote: 16 May 2022, 6:04amThank you very much, so that means, the contraflow cycle lane ONLY allows unidirectional traffic flow(i.e. against the oncoming traffic) unless this is a dual carriageway with bidirectional traffic, which may have a bidirectional cycle lane as well.
You appear to be expecting some sort of consistent system.

This is British cycling provision. We don't have consistency. We have whatever the highway engineers feel like building today, according to their own personal prejudices and what side of bed they stepped out of this morning. One council might build a bidirectional lane in a place where another would build a single-direction lane and yet another would just paint some bikes on the road.

In theory the new Government guidance (LTN 1/20) should have put an end to this. In reality we already have the situation where local authority cycling officers are going round giving talks about why LTN 1/20 is wrong. :roll:
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Re: Is Contra-Flow Cycle lane Bi-Directional in UK?

Post by Bmblbzzz »

Richard Fairhurst wrote: 16 May 2022, 9:24am In theory the new Government guidance (LTN 1/20) should have put an end to this. In reality we already have the situation where local authority cycling officers are going round giving talks about why LTN 1/20 is wrong. :roll:
:shock: :roll:
thirdcrank
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Re: Is Contra-Flow Cycle lane Bi-Directional in UK?

Post by thirdcrank »

IMO, the fundamental point is that increasing motor traffic has caused increasing traffic problems which have been managed by means detrimental to cyclists eg lengthy round-the-houses one-way systems, even though cyclists are not the cause of the problems and may offer part of the solution. IMO, the starting point has to be exempting cyclists as far as possible from these traffic schemes. This seems to go against everything highwaymen stand for, but the reality is now that a lot of riders just ignore anything that doesn't suit them
drkfuture
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Re: Is Contra-Flow Cycle lane Bi-Directional in UK?

Post by drkfuture »

Thank u very much guys, now its clear to me. Sine I m a newcomer, these variations confused me. What confused me more is that MANY A SITE defined the contraflow cycle lane as this: "contraflow cycle lanes offer a safer alternative, allowing cyclists to ride either direction along one-way roads". Now I know its normally unidirectional and "against the flow" but can be bidirectional as well.

check how these sites describe it:
https://www.cyclinguk.org/campaigning/v ... ay-streets
https://www.drivingtesttips.biz/contraf ... ystem.html
https://www.passmefast.co.uk/resources/ ... stem-guide
Pete Owens
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Re: Is Contra-Flow Cycle lane Bi-Directional in UK?

Post by Pete Owens »

drkfuture wrote: 16 May 2022, 6:04am Thank you very much, so that means, the contraflow cycle lane ONLY allows unidirectional traffic flow(i.e. against the oncoming traffic) unless this is a dual carriageway with bidirectional traffic, which may have a bidirectional cycle lane as well.
You need to think of the one way restriction and the cycle lane separately. The one-way restrictions just restrict which way you can travel - not which part of the carriageway you must use. And in the UK there is no requirement to use cycle facilities.

Allowing contraflow cycling can be achieved in a number of different ways which may or may not involve a cycle lane. For example an "Except Cyclists" sign under the no entry sign, a "false one way" - where motor traffic is bared from entering the street at one end, a shared bus & cycle lane etc.

In all these cases the street should be thought of a normal two way street for vehicles that are exempt from the one-way restriction - and you would use it in the normal way. Unless there is a solid white line demarcating lanes any traffic may use any part of the carriageway if they need to say for overtaking, parking, etc in the same way as they would travelling on a normal two-way street, but you should follow the normal rules of the road which means driving/cycling on the left.

In cases where there is a solid white line (eg a bus lane or a mandatory cycle lane) then you are not allowed to cross it apart from exceptional circumstance (your lane is obstructed or to overtake a slow cyclist). Again that is exactly the same as for solid white lines on two way streets.

The other way of doing it is an off road cycle track. In this case the cycle track should be thought of as a separate carriageway and any directional restrictions need to be specifically signed. This is very rarely done.
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Re: Is Contra-Flow Cycle lane Bi-Directional in UK?

Post by Pete Owens »

drkfuture wrote: 16 May 2022, 11:23am Thank u very much guys, now its clear to me. Sine I m a newcomer, these variations confused me. What confused me more is that MANY A SITE defined the contraflow cycle lane as this: "contraflow cycle lanes offer a safer alternative, allowing cyclists to ride either direction along one-way roads". Now I know its normally unidirectional and "against the flow" but can be bidirectional as well.

check how these sites describe it:
https://www.cyclinguk.org/campaigning/v ... ay-streets
That is not about lanes, but the principle of allowing contraflow cycling. The safety comes from allowing cyclists to use shorter quieter more direct routes. One of the key points is to emphasise that you don't actually need a separate lane.
Which is explaining the signage from a drivers perspective,
Again, explaining the signage from a drivers perspective though extraordinarily illustrating it with a photo of an obviously incorrect sign
Image
thirdcrank
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Re: Is Contra-Flow Cycle lane Bi-Directional in UK?

Post by thirdcrank »

To paraphrase Eric Morecambe, it looks like the right sign, but not necessarily in the right position. That looks as though it would be appropriate at the other end of the street, facing the other way to notify to road users that they were on a one-way street with a cycle contrflow. Perhaps the sign which should be in that image is misplaced at the other end of the street(?)
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Re: Is Contra-Flow Cycle lane Bi-Directional in UK?

Post by mjr »

Pete Owens wrote: 16 May 2022, 11:41am In cases where there is a solid white line (eg a bus lane or a mandatory cycle lane) then you are not allowed to cross it apart from exceptional circumstance (your lane is obstructed or to overtake a slow cyclist). Again that is exactly the same as for solid white lines on two way streets.
Cyclists are normally allowed to cross the solid white line demarcating a mandatory cycle lane on either one way or two way streets. I know of one where the highway engineer tried to be cute with the TRO to confine cyclists to the lane, but it failed. Not that the police will enforce it anyway.
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thirdcrank
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Re: Is Contra-Flow Cycle lane Bi-Directional in UK?

Post by thirdcrank »

@drkfuture

Bearing in mind that the wrong sign may be displayed - see above - or turned round by jokers - it's important to be aware of the sometimes subtle differences in signs.

The sign here - without the vertical white line - indicates a one way street with contraflow cycling but not in a cycle lane,

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.79480 ... 384!8i8192

I don't know anything about the history of this, unless its origins are in the time long ago when I routinely objected that one-way street TROs should have an exception for cyclists

For students of this type of thing, it's perhaps worth looking at the other end of this street which has NO ENTRY signs with no exception for cyclists.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.79455 ... 384!8i8192

There are occasional - now faded - markings, encouraging riders to keep to the left. although I could imagine the pavé encouraging some to use the smoother footway. The cycle contraflow ends with this short "lane" diverting riders to the left without a clear sign that the cycle contraflow ends.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.79469 ... 384!8i8192

A check of the streetview history shows a couple of examples of that "lane" being obstructed by parked vans
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