Mark1978 wrote:Traffic calming measures are very very bad for cyclists, I can't really think of anything that makes my life easier.
One of the best ways to slow traffic down is increase the subjective risk, that can often be done by narrowing the carriageway, often this is done by putting in a centre hatching, which doesn't help as it seperates the flows, better to narrow the carriageway from either side and put in good wide cycle lanes.
e.g. This road
http://goo.gl/maps/M6sIu really wide (former Great North Road) plenty of room for wide cycle lanes but they install crappy narrow useless things and give motor traffic more space than it actually needs.
As other have explained, the speed bumps used in other countries seem to slow motor traffic effectively without impeding cycle traffic.
Personally, I hate cycle lanes of any sort. They may be of some use in the UK, where motorists habitually bring their vehicles within inches of a cyclist, but IMO, they make things worse rather than better in other places. And cycle lanes create problems for cyclists at junctions. The Dutch typically deal with it by taking the lane off the road and onto a spearate facility, or at least a segregated lane (which I still don't like, even in the Netherlands, but that's another post). In the UK, USA, and many other countries, the lane is carried through the junction, or dropped altogether. Either way, a cyclist who is out of the flow of motor traffic at a junction is *much* more likely to get hooked or hit by a motorist who does not see him. Even the Danes found that cycle lanes make thing worse for cyclists at junctions. They have improved their designs considerably, but you'll note that the news coming out of Copenhagen these days is not about cycle lanes, but cycle highways; segregated cycle facilities with priority signalling for cyclists.
The Dutch only install cycle lanes these days when there simply is no other alternative. The most common place to see them is crossing bridges. A limited number of river/canal crossings means they connot be converted to cycle-only traffic, and the limited space (especially on very old bridges) means they cannot install a segrated path. So, the segregated path joins the road as a cycle lane for the span of a bridge, then returns to the segregated path after the bridge. Even so, it is more likely that the next bridge down, will, if possible be turned into a cycle-only route, leaving one for motor vehicles and one (or more) for bicycles.
Even most Dutch cycles lanes don't allow me to get the width of my trailer safely within the lane. At least in the Netherlands, people don't yell at someone for hauling their kids around by bike (unless maybe it's encouragement
)
“In some ways, it is easier to be a dissident, for then one is without responsibility.”
― Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom