Before spending a lot of time cycling in UK towns for my commutes, I used to spend a lot of time cycling in French towns for my commutes. I wanted to highlight pieces of bike-friendly infrastructure, which are mostly unknown on this side of the Channel. I think they would make a nice addition to the toolbox of town planners.
The tiny traffic light
In the UK, there is often a secondary signal across the junction, after the stop line, so that if you’re the first in line, it’s easy to see when it’s your turn. In France, this is achieved by having a tiny traffic light on the same pole, called a “répétiteur”.
Of course, this is also convenient for cars, but as a cyclist, it’s quite handy to have the signal right in front of you, instead of looking across the junction, where it can be hidden by a bus or a lorry. Plus it’s so cute!
The sign to ignore a traffic light
Right next to this signal, you sometimes see a strange triangular sign with a yellow bike and an arrow. This means as a cyclist, you can jump the red light!
You don’t have the priority though, so you have to let pedestrians and cars pass first. This sign is quite common in Paris at all the pedestrian crossings: once the road is clear, you can go… and beat the cars!
The contraflow
Cities usually have narrow streets, but bikes are narrower. On one-way streets, it’s usually possible to fit a bike going in the other direction. This allows more freedom for cyclists — and also forces cars to slow down, if they don’t want to damage their bumper.
I have a LOT of ideas where this could be super useful in Reading town centre! Luckily, the lovely folks at the Reading Cycle Campaign made a map which already includes most of them. Check it out!
As a campaigning group, we work to draw attention to areas of Reading where improvements to cycling infrastructure are needed. However, I think it’s also important to notice where cycling infrastructure works well. Here, therefore, is my list of things I love about Forbury Gardens.
1. Bike Specific Infrastructure
Approaching Forbury Gardens from the South, after crossing Forbury Road, cyclists find themselves for a short stretch in their own specific path. In most of Reading cyclists are either expected to mix with motor vehicles (with a painted line to protect us, if we’re lucky), or to share space with pedestrians (with a painted line to suggest that we take half the path each, if we’re lucky) which substantially reduces the speed at which we can safely travel. Here the bike path runs along side the pedestrian path, but, crucially, at a different height to it. It makes a big difference, and I’m glad the new bike lane on Shinfield Road has been built this way too.
2. Low Motor Traffic Levels
Cars are definitely permitted on the roads around Forbury Gardens – there’s parking and you see the odd one driving around – but for whatever reason (presumably the combination of one way streets/bollards/bus only zones) it isn’t an area that gets used as a rat run and the traffic that comes through tends to move at a sensible speed and observe give way lines. I think I see more buses than cars here, and the low traffic levels mean that it’s one of the few places (outside of Kidical Mass) where cars are allowed that we’ve let our children ride their own bikes.
3. The Amazing Bollard Placement
Presumably contributing to those low traffic levels are the bollards under the Abbey Archway. Every time I come through these they make me happy. The central one isn’t quite central, which means that one of the gaps is bigger. My cargo bike is (slightly) wider than a standard bike, and I can slip through easily without worrying. It’s a great example of how accessibility improvements can help multiple groups of people – wheelchair users, families with pushchairs and unusual bicycles can all benefit. I’m really glad someone put a bit of thought in when installing the bollards here.
4. Accessible Cycle Parking
Speaking of accessibility, I love that there is bike parking right by Forbury Gardens, and that the pavement is profiled such that I can walk round to it without having to push my bike over a kerb. I can do that, if I need to, but with two kids on the back it can get pretty heavy! So I really notice here that the bike parking is easy to navigate.
5. Kidical Mass Memories
All of our early Kidical Mass rides finished at Forbury Gardens, and some of them still do. We’ve ridden to climate festival and children’s festival events there (two causes very well aligned with Kidical Mass goals). I’ve eaten some excellent cake in that garden, and seen kids visit with Santa (and have their bike given a tune up by his elf). When I’m in the gardens it brings back lovely memories of seeing the kids run and play together.
If you too would like to come and make memories with us, please join us for our next ride on 20th April. We’d love to see you.
Last year, Reading Cycle Campaign ran a photo competition under the heading “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” for cycle infrastructure in Reading. I submitted under all three categories, and managed to win under the “good” category for the Tiger crossing on Gosbrook Road.
My entry for the “Bad” category was the bit of the cycle lane on Lower Henley Road which was very narrow and squeezed against parked cars. I felt it actively encourages cyclists to cycle too close to the parked cars, and drivers to not give them enough space when passing. I’m not the first person to have concerns about the safety of this lane: when the lane was first put in, just under a decade age, the then-chair of Reading Cycle Campaign made the local papers with his safety concerns. He wanted the lane to be made wider and for there to be more of a gap between the cyclists and the parked cars. The road is on the R4, an official cycle route according to Reading Council, and an important connection between lower Caversham and Caversham Park.
Well, the council heard our safety concerns and finally decided to take action in the recent round of road repainting and resurfacing…by removing the cycling infrastructure on the road in the direction going out towards Henley. Not just the bits that people complained about, but also the bits that they haven’t. In particular, they have removed the bike boxes by the traffic lights at the junction with Henley Road. There is a steep hill approaching the traffic lights, a hill that is very difficult to stop and restart on (if you’re not on an e-bike, anyway…). Previously, if the traffic stopped whilst you were halfway up the hill, you could filter safely to the front ready for the next phase of the lights, knowing you had somewhere to wait. Now, you cannot.
Frustratingly, despite the fact that there are several organisations attempting to engage with the council on the subject of cycling infrastructure, recent opinions were not sought. Apparently some comments from when the lane was installed about how it could be safer have been taken as a mandate to rip it out entirely. Compare and contrast, at a recent cycle forum meeting I asked about the feasibility of installing cycle hangers on some roads in Reading. I was told this would not be possible without a consultation along each road which showed a majority of residents in favour, as it would remove one parking space for motorists. One single space! Yet an entire bike lane on a key route was taken out without a consultation.
So, to the council, we have a few requests:
Reinstate the bike boxes immediately. There were never any safety concerns about that part of the infrastructure.
Come up with a plan for how you can put a safe lane in, and do it. Currently you have reallocated space from cyclists to motorists which is the reverse of your stated aims.
Talk to us! You have set up various forums, and we really appreciate that councillors attended the Reading Cycle Campaign annual general meeting, to have quite an awkward discussion about this change. We’re full of opinions and always happy to give them to you in advance of you making changes.
Looking at the bigger picture, it’s interesting to note that we are often told no cycling infrastructure can be put in because there is no funding. Perhaps we could get some bits in as part of the general maintenance and resurfacing plans, as it does seem layout changes can be made under this programme.
And to you, Dear Reader, please join us in emailing the relevant councillors – Cllr John Ennis and Cllr Jacopo Lanzoni – who were at the Reading Cycle Campaign annual general meeting and said the best way to get change on this point was to inundate them with emails.
Update 30-Nov-2023
We were really excited to learn todat that @ReadingCouncil has listened to the feedback and Lower Henley Road will have its Advanced Stop Line back, as well as a mandatory cycle lane! Thank you to everyone who used their voice to fight for people on bikes safety on this road.
As part of my daily commute to the Reading station, I cycle in the Palmer Park, through the little car park at the corner of Wokingham Road and Palmer Park Avenue. I mean the one here, near the church:
It’s one of the most stressful parts of my commute, because in this little space, you can usually find:
a lot of potholes
pedestrians, sometimes running
dogs, sometimes connected to the pedestrians with a leash
cars parked haphazardly, sometimes moving in unexpected ways
and not much light at night!
The combination of all these is quite dangerous, and I’ve seen a few near misses. More frequently, the cars are lined up so close to each other that I struggle to pass with my bike — and forget it if you have a cargo bike, a pram or a wheelchair.
The video below (and the picture above) give a good idea of the issue: you’ll see a car driving on the footpath, then deep puddles and finally a cluster of cars preventing access to the footpath.
Suggestions
The park should be a safe space for people. Allowing cars there is annoying, and dangerous. Here are a few ways we could improve it:
Add more light! A few lampposts will make it easier to see the potholes and the people 💡
Fix the potholes 🕳️
Confine the cars. They should not be able to cross the footpaths at all. And I mean: physically, with fences, bollards, planters, etc. 🪴
Actually, you know what? Ditch the cars completely! Maybe we can keep a couple of blue-badge spaces ♿♿ for easy access to the church, but otherwise cars are able to stay in the very nice, recently extended car park in the middle of the Palmer Park, just 30 seconds walk away.
Our children deserve a better, safer environment, whether they are in a pram, a wheelchair or just walking their dog. If you agree, do join us on our next Kidical Mass ride!
This is part of an occasional series on this blog, where we talk about particular cycling pinch points that we’d like to see addressed, in order to create safe routes through Reading that can be used by vulnerable cyclists.
Today I’m going to talk about a pinch point that doesn’t even exist yet! (Don’t ever say Kidical Mass Reading aren’t forward thinking). RBC are building a new secondary school next door to Rivermeads Leisure Centre. A lot of the catchment area for this school will be in Caversham, and it’s my belief that not enough is being done to create a safe cycling route from North of the river to the school which is suitable for heavy usage at school drop off and pick up times.
Reading the planning document for the school I found that the only adjustments for bike infrastructure were on Richfield Avenue itself. At the Caversham end this risks being another Sidmouth Street, without a good route onto the new path.
Any child cycling from Caversham will have to cross the river. This means, in reality, either over A) the cycle bridge or B) the shared use cycle path on Caversham bridge.
If they come over the cycle bridge, they are going to have to navigate the gates designed to stop motorcycles on the South bank path, which are also pretty inconvenient for bikes. So (unless these are removed) I think most of them will actually come across the shared use path on Caversham bridge (and anyway some will be coming from a direction where the cycle bridge is very out of their way).
The path on Caversham Bridge comes out at the roundabout by the Crowne Plaza, on the wrong side of the road for Richfield Avenue. This roundabout is awful to cross, even as an adult on a tank-bike. The traffic is never clear to enter the roundabout where the cycle path comes out, you take your life in your hands every time. Reading Council’s own cycle map of Reading warns against using this roundabout.
Therefore, if the kids have any sense, they won’t be going along Richfield Avenue, using the new paths built with the funding, they’ll cut straight down to the river (currently involving a blind corner, several tight turns, and a narrow path immediately adjacent to the water which is heavily used by pedestrians).
This isn’t good enough. Here’s what I think could be done better:
One option would be to improve the lines of sight and path width for the underpass and immediate surrounds. Ideally in this case you also want proper bike access to the school from the river path, and bike storage located conveniently for coming from that direction.
Another option would be to add short sections of shared use paths on either side of the road by the Moderation to connect the bridge to the proposed new bike lane on Richfield Avenue by the petrol station.
In addition, if you approach Caversham bridge from the Northwest (either on bike or on foot) you have to navigate the horrible junction by the Griffin. In an ideal world this needs a pedestrian crossing and bike lanes/bike boxes at the front on the approach.
So the actions I would like to see are
At least one of:
Reworking of the bridge underpass by Crowne Plaza to make it safe for higher volumes of cyclists and pedestrians, with access to the school from the river.
Addition of short sections of shared use paths on both sides of the road near the Moderation to allow cyclists to access the new paths on Richfield Avenue.
And also:
Improvement of pedestrian/bike infrastructure at the junction by the Griffin
Removal of motorcycle gates on Thames path between the cycle bridge and Caversham Bridge
Many secondary school children are mature enough to cycle to school independently. We are failing if the lack of safe infrastructure is the thing that stands in the way of them developing environmentally friendly and healthy habits.
As organisers of Kidical Mass Reading, we cycle a lot — for our commutes, groceries, school runs, and of course preparing rides! At first, you just feel the pain of having cars all around you. And then you start imagining how better things could be… if only…
That’s why we thought it may be time to suggest bike lanes, or various infrastructure changes here and there. We hope that it can start the conversation of making our Berkshire towns easier to cycle for everyone.
The first one we wanted to propose is on Forbury Road, between the Forbury “Banksy” roundabout and the station roundabout, along the Forbury Gardens. This is a 2×2 lane, very wide road. There’s a lot of pedestrians and bikes all the time, because it’s very close to the town centre. A lot of cyclists do not feel comfortable enough on the road here, and use the pavement, which causes difficulties with the pedestrians. There’s also a nursery located near the church, causing car and pram traffic. In short: a lot of potential collisions, and I’ve witnessed some myself, on my daily commute to the station.
It would be very easy to just reallocate a few feet from each of the 2 lanes on each side, and with a bit of paint, you get a nice enough bike lane in each direction. Even better: grab a whole car lane! Suddenly you have a very decent width for a proper bike track, which can be protected with bollards or planters. And which can be enjoyed by bike riders of all age and capability!
Pedestrians too!
But wait, it’s not just for cyclists! As a pedestrian, having only one lane for cars would also make crossing the roundabouts much easier. Nearly every morning, I see a man trying to cross the “Banksy” roundabout with a young child. There’s no crossing facility at all there, so they have to wait for a gap in the traffic, and then run as fast as they can across the 2 lanes…
Ready… Steady… Run!
Finally, there’s a lot of flats that got built recently across the Forbury Retail Park, called Huntley Wharf. How do people living there reach the town centre? Currently, despite the short distance, driving probably looks more appealing than walking or cycling. We need to start prioritising the types of transport that does not hurt people and keep our air breathable. This bike lane would be a very good step.
