Cycle Coventry - First Impressions

Over the past month I have cycled along most of the proposed routes. I've a few general comments which I hope to raise at the Cycle Coventry Advisory Group meetings:

1. Monitoring. Early on is the only time to find the baseline cycle usage. Not only should the cycle use on the proposed routes be measured, but also on alternative routes, to check how much cycle traffic is generated by the improvements and how much is merely shifted. More accurate data about current usage might also be helpful in assessing the usefulness of various improvements.
2. Website It might be a good idea to establish a website early-on to report on progress and plans. Inviting comments from (would-be) users. An example from Lancaster & Morecambe
3. Could route 4 be extended along Corporation Street to join routes 2 and 3? If so re-installation of the facility for cyclists to by-pass buses waiting at the Upper Well Street junction could be examined. Buses block the carriageway as they wait behind other traffic waiting to turn right from Corporation Street at the traffic signals. At the moment there's a danger of cyclists taking to the footway to avoid the congestion.

I've also some comments about each of the routes:

North-East Routes

• Route 1
• Route 2
• Route 3

South-West Routes

• Route 4
• Route 5
• Route 6
• Route 7

Broadgate signs

If you look at the High Street entrance to Broadgate, you will see:

I queried this with the council and received the following response:
  

To clarify on the cycle provision within Broadgate the restrictions in place currently allow cycling in all directions through the square and cyclists are permitted to gain entry at the two access points.

You are however quite correct that the regulatory signage at the High Street access point does state No Entry and does not have the appropriate "Except Cyclists" supplementary plate associated with it. This supplementary plate was omitted as a departure from standards to maintain the decluttered look within the area and negate the need for larger street furniture to be provided to accommodate the larger sign plate.

Therefore whilst you are right that technically the signage in place does provide a mixed message to cyclists, extended observations on site clearly show that cyclists are choosing to freely use Broadgate and we are not aware of any issues where cyclists have deviated from their chosen route because of absence of this supplementary plate. 

Accordingly the intention is to monitor the new layout to determine whether this omitted sign plate is an specific issue, and should this be identified then appropriate action will be taken to mitigate this issue.

Cycle Coventry - grows!

Since my blog at the end of May, more money has been announced. This time to boost cycling in North East Coventry.

Click on this link for my understanding of the proposed routes.

Representatives of various cycling communities, Coventry University, UHCW and EON met with council officers for the first meeting of the Cycle Coventry Advisory Group on 24th August.

We were presented with an updated map, a diagram showing the project's management structure and an overview of the budget:

£,000's 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 Total Revenue funding 549.1 930.8 1085.1 2565 Capital funding 695 2079 1588 4362 Total 1244.1 3009.8 2673.1 6927

The split is about 50:50 between the North-East schemes and the South-West ones. The North-East schemes have a 45:55 revenue:capital split, the South-West 30:70.

We were asked about what we thought should be the priorities for the year 2012/13. Any of the allocation that Coventry can't spend by the end of the year (31 March 2013) will go to a scheme which can. I'll publish a blog post with my comments in the next few days.