Leader: Cyclists beware - traffic managers at work

Newsdesk • Published 23 Sep 2009 10:00 0 Comments

WHEN it comes to road and traffic management there are almost as many fads and routine gimmicks as there are in the fashion or music business.

Double yellows are in vogue one week, squiggly lines the next; chicanes are the definitive solution for one problem while build-out pavements calculated to fool the unwary seem to appear for very little reason whatever.

One busy thoroughfare which suffers from such 'fashion statements' more than most is the Oxford Road, from Tilehurst through west Reading to the town centre, which over the years has clearly presented a constant challenge to generations of traffic managers and highways engineers. From epidemics of Art Nouveau streetlights to multi-coloured paving stones, cunningly disguised mini-roundabouts and more flashing lights than Piccadilly Circus, they simply will not leave it alone.

Unfortunately, not one of these innovators would ever appear to have watched the average cyclist trying to navigate safe passage along the Oxford Road, past its narrow, right-angled junctions and a plethora of bus stops and loading bays.

Built with almost Roman straightness in less hurried times, there is obviously little scope for major changes without banning all vehicles entirely. But before yet another unfortunate cyclist suffers serious injury it is surely not beyond the wit of someone to afford them a better degree of protection.

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