Bristol City Council’s Transport and Connectivity Policy Committee is due to discuss a policy on Cycle Lane Legibility at its meeting on 20th March 2025. BWA offers our input to the development of this policy.
Whilst having a consistent way of distinguishing cycle lanes by surface colour would be useful, there are other significant considerations for cycle lane legibility which should be considered in any policy. We set out what we see as the general principles when considering legibility of cycle lanes in predominantly pedestrian areas.
There is already the desire to improve the experience for pedestrians and cyclists in Bristol Centre where cycle lanes are indistinct and lead to conflict. We suggest a detailed set of temporary measures that could be used to increase the legibility of the cycle lanes in the Centre, including some illustrations of how this might look.
Although I cycle almost everyday I consider that cycle lanes are counterintuitive and very much against the interests of pedestrians- except in so far as they protect cyclists from motor vehicles.
Painting them in distinctive colours adds to the problem, implying that cyclists have a right to that space and can therefore travel more quickly and with less regard to pedestrians than would otherwise be the case.
Where cycle lanes are absent the assumption will be that the pedestrian has the right of way and cyclists will behave accordingly.
This is a particular issue where young children are involved. The existence of cycle lanes means that children cannot be allowed to wander in case they stray into the cycle lane and are run over.