Opinion: Forcing Cyclists to Share Roads with Motorists Will Not Allow the Change We Need

Published on: 30 Nov, 2024
Updated on: 1 Dec, 2024

By Martin Giles

Whichever side of the argument the SCC Cabinet came down on over the London Road Active Travel scheme it was bound to upset a large number of Burpham residents.

The community was deeply divided on the issue but, as has been pointed out by some Dragon readers, local residents were not the only stakeholders.

See: County Council Cabinet Confirms Its Decision on London Road Scheme

But the transport problems we face in Guildford Borough remain and the root cause is the increasing population. Despite promises, infrastructure has in no way kept pace with population growth, locally or nationally, thanks to ill-judged and irresponsible government.

Local government has no control over population growth, which we now know was almost a staggering one million extra souls in the year ending June 2023 and 700,000 in the following 12 months. And councils only have limited control over planning because so much power has been centralised, with local decisions frequently overturned.

But the leadership of Guildford Borough Council is not in the vanguard of complaining about the new proposed housing targets, nor has it vociferously challenged the government about the risks further development poses to NHS services, sewage treatment capacity, water and power supplies.

All that is in addition to road capacity.

Last night, I drove to Bramley from St Catherine’s to report on a public meeting. If it had been daylight I would have cycled. By the time I got to Peasmarsh I wished I had used my e-bike, despite the darkness. Almost the entire length of Broadford Road was jammed. Because of the weight of traffic on the A281, cars were finding it hard to join the main road.

Broadford Road, which feeds onto the busy A281 Horsham Road, is often congested. Google

“A traffic snarl-up in Surrey? That’s not news!” And you’re right. In the country’s most densely populated county it can happen at any time of day, all of a sudden, for no apparent reason. Traffic slows to a crawl or a complete standstill.

But, as we all know, a lot more housing development is due that will use the A281 the road capacity of which cannot easily be increased without knocking down houses to build a dual carriageway. And who wants that?

So more people switching to cycling and taking up less road space is a good thing, isn’t it? But one of the sad aspects of the London Road Active Travel scheme debate was how quickly, many anti-cycling comments emerged. Why does cycling provoke such antipathy? It should also be said there were also some that were anti-driving but a smaller number.

There are many potential advantages of cycling.

I am a cyclist and a driver and also, like most of us, I am, at times, a pedestrian. Of course, most cyclists are also drivers, 80 per cent, according to Gov.UK, while only 30 per cent of drivers cycle (and a much smaller percentage of decision-making councillors, I suspect).

The Health Foundation says 17.3 per cent of the Surrey population cycles at least once a month, while Gov.UK says that in 2020, 47 per cent of people aged five and over owned or had access to a bicycle.

So perhaps cycling is not quite the small minority activity some believe it to be.

I am 69, overweight and not particularly fit. Until a few years ago I was still able to cycle around Guildford on a push bike. I still cycle but now with an e-bike, and I rarely get significantly wet, even in British weather.

Cycling in Guildford town is quicker than walking, often quicker than driving because there are no problems of parking and most traffic jams can be avoided. It also does no damage to the environment and it provides some exercise. In our house, we manage all our food shopping by bike.

But as we build more and more homes and consequently see more and more cars on our roads (the average locally is 1.5 per household) things will only get worse.

Perhaps we will just have to wait until the problem gets to the stage where more are persuaded that “something has to be done”. But in the meantime, more cyclists will die or be injured. According to Department for Transport data, 139 cyclists were killed or seriously injured in Surrey in 2022.

It doesn’t help that a minority of motorists are inconsiderate, a few even aggressive, when it comes to cyclists. And, of course, the overwhelming majority of cyclist casualties are caused by collisions with motor vehicles.

It is the separation of cyclists and motor vehicles that is the most needed improvement on our roads, the width of which were often set out well before the introduction of motor vehicles or today’s traffic levels.

London Road Burpham Google As the Department of Transport says, cycle lanes are not perceived as safe enough on busy roads.

I am convinced that a more flexible approach needs to be taken to mixing pedestrian and bike traffic. It is not just cyclists who are most at risk from motor vehicles. Although cyclists spend so much time in close proximity to people who walk, road casualty statistics show that cycles are involved in just two per cent of pedestrian casualties. The rest, 98 per cent, are hit by motor vehicles.

There are quite a few shared pedestrian/cycle routes in Guildford, for example the Wey towpath, one of those I use regularly, which is quite narrow in places. I am sure there are cyclists who are inconsiderate or even reckless, but I can’t recall the last time I noticed that.

The River Wey towpath – narrow but not a problem for considerate shared use.

However, I have witnessed poor behaviour from a small number of pedestrians. Very occasionally they appear to be deliberately obstructive but mostly the problem is caused because they are not paying sufficient attention, sometimes “plugged in” to earphones.

Nonetheless, by slowing down and taking care, using my bell, saying “excuse me” or “coming past” and “thank you” if they move aside, I find most encounters pass off perfectly well and safely. Sometimes I add a pleasantry eg “lovely day!” After all, they are my Guildfordian neighbours.

I do realise that some pedestrians are fearful of bikes but I am convinced it is a disproportionate fear. In the whole country only 2.5 pedestrians on average are killed annually because of a collision with a bike, regardless of any fault.

In other European countries cyclists and pedestrians share space routinely. It does not appear to cause major problems. We should really learn from their example.

Tomorrow: What went wrong with the Ash Bridge communications?

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