Cyclists to be allowed to go wrong way down one-way streets
Under a plan to encourage more people to leave their cars at home and cycle more, cyclists will soon be permitted to cycle the wrong way down thousands of one way streets across the country.
As reported in the Times, a trial is being run in the London Borough of Kensington and Chelsea where small plates will be attached to no-entry signs which read “Except Cycles”. If successful, it is likely that the scheme will be extended throughout the country, meaning thousands of one way streets will become two-way for bikes. The thinking behind the plan is that long diversions around one way systems in city and town centres across England is a big deterrent to new cyclists.
Under the existing laws, local authorities are required to build special entrances for cyclists so that they are not breaking traffic rules. It is believed that the cost of building these extra entrances has deterred local authorities from making more provisions for cyclists. In the Borough of Hackney, a scheme involving the contra-flow lanes has resulted in the highest level of cycling of any London Borough.
Similar exemptions for cyclists are already in place in many European countries and have proved successful there. In order to reduce the risks of an accident speed limits on the roads affected might be lowered to 20mph for oncoming traffic, although as many of the roads where the plan is likely to be implemented will be quiet residential roads, accident rates might drop anyway as cyclists will no longer have to take the heavily congested main roads.
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