Canal Basin Bridge - not fit for purpose

Coventry Council is proposing to replace the Canal Basin pedestrian bridge over the ring road. The bridge links St. Nicholas Road / Canal Basin with Bishop Street.

Details of proposals: part1 part2 (pdfs).

James Avery has written a post on the issue.

Here's the contents of a letter from myself, published in the Coventry Telegraph on 13 March 2015:


The canal basin bridge over the ring road is not fit for purpose.

A safe cycle route between the canal basin and Bishop Street is needed. Cycling is banned on the pedestrian bridge as it's too narrow. Few dare to cycle across the Radford Road or Foleshill Road roundabouts.

At the Bishop Street end, the gradient causes trouble for wheelchair users and pram pushers. It's too steep.

This is not just about existing cyclists. Many more people would cycle if the routes were felt to be safe and convenient. But few are prepared to cycle on the roads as they currently exist. More cycling would mean improved public health and more efficient use of space. Cycle paths have seven times the carrying capacity of lanes dedicated to private cars.

A surface crossing is, perhaps, not the right answer. It would cause delay to motorists, pedestrians and cyclist alike. Has the council looked at an underpass for walkers & cyclists? What about a new, better bridge, perhaps with a spiral ramp at the city end?

Ideas from a Citizen

Last December, Mike Lees sent the following letter to Councillor Lancaster (Coventry Council's Cabinet Member for Public Services):

Dear Ms. Lancaster,

I was pleased to read of the improvements to cycling in Citivision. I would like to suggest some low cost improvements to help fellow cyclists.

1. Drapers Field bridge, West side - the kerb needs lowering or instead, place a wedge of tarmac in the gutter. There used to be a wedge but someone removed it! It didn't block the gutter.
2. Make Greyfriars Lane and Salt Lane two way for cyclists. (less need to cycle through the precinct)
3. Lower the kerb at Cooke St. Gate.
4. Make it legal to cycle on the pavements adjacent to the ring road.
5. Make it legal to cycle on the pavement on the east side of Foleshill Road from Harnall Lane round to White Street.
6. Keresley Road dual carriageway, both sides.Currently the inner lanes on both sides are used as a car park. They easily could be made into cycle lanes. All the houses (except for a handful) have rear car access. In the vast majority of cases there is no reason to park on the road. This section of road provides a quick route down to Radford. The road would be safer for cyclists and pedestrians.
   

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He was promised "comprehensive feedback to you in the New Year when I have fully investigated the proposals."

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I made some comments to Mike on these suggestions. Here they are with Mike's responses

1 Drapers Field bridge	The council want to greatly increase the traffic on Leicester Row - so that brings up the issue of what cyclists do when they get to Leicester Row! REPLY - Make a new cycle path on the pavement to Foleshill Road. It's quite wide. Then either go north or cross Foleshill Road and go south down new cycle path (see 5) to city centre.
2) Make Greyfriars Lane and Salt Lane two way for cyclists.	The council will no doubt claim that there's a safety hazard with the taxis. REPLY Is there any evidence this is the case? Cyclists use it the wrong way even if its not legal Would the council prefer people to cycle through the precinct?
3) Lower the kerb at Cooke St. Gate.	Yes!
4) Make it legal to cycle on the pavements adjacent to the ring road.	Yes. I often cycle on the fragment that goes past Queens' Road Baptist Church, connecting Queens Road with the subway under the ring road.
5) Make it legal to cycle on the pavement on the east side of Foleshill Road from Harnall Lane round to White Street.	Good idea, although the footway probably needs widening (esp. near bus stop) and there needs to be a safe and convenient way of cycling on and off the path at the Harnall Lane end.
6) Keresley Road dual carriageway, both sides.	Unfortunately there would probably be great resistance from the residents. Is there enough room to move the parking further toward the centre of the road to provide a cycle track between the parked cars and the footway? People find cycling with a barrier of parked cars between them and moving traffic better than a white line. The side road junctions would have to be carefully re-designed to ensure that cyclists got priority over turning traffic. All rather expensive I'm afraid! REPLY The west side of Keresley Road between Kelmscote Road and the Old Shepherd island is served by a service road - Stennels Close - double yellow lines would not inconvenience the residents . A cheaper solution would be to severely restrict parking on the rest of Keresley Rd - say to 1hr max. This would still be a considerable improvement on the current situation. Have there been any complaints about road safety on Keresley Rd? If so reducing car parking and thus increasing visibility would surely address the issue