Are these the worst cycle lanes in Britain?

Much has been done to improve road safety in Rotherhithe and Bermondsey, making life better for all of us.  But the brunt of the responsibility for change has been borne by drivers.  Taking a daily battering from local and national policy makers out to demonise the humble British motorist, you’d think that SE1 and SE16’s drivers were the only problem.  No, we have a new menace on our streets: the Bermondsey and Rotherhithe cycle lane.

Sweeney Crescent SE1

Our cycle lanes, while appearing pretty harmless on first glance, reveal on closer inspection a suspiciously sinister side.  But, while everybody knows that they are poorly designed and created, which are candidates for the worst cycle lane in Britain?

A Rotherhithe pedestrian nightmare

Doubling up as a pavement for pedestrians is a common trait shared by Southwark cycle lanes, but as residents on the corner of Gomm Road and Lower Road realise, it doesn’t make them safe.

The corner of Gomm Road and Lower Road SE16

Although cycling in the direction of oncoming vehicles probably makes perfect sense to the average traffic officer enjoying the taxis and chauffeur driven fleet at Southwark Council Towers, users of Neckinger realise that this puts both cyclists and drivers in real danger.

Cars go one way, bikes the other: common sense in Neckinger SE16

Creating a cycle lane slap-bang outside one of the busiest Underground stations in London and placing in its path bollards, a sign post, pedestrian crossing and a six feet tall Evening Standard vendor’s box hardly demonstrates a serious concern for public safety.

Bermondsey Underground station's no-go cycle lane

The prize for 'most dangerous' must go to the green goddess of cycle lanes running from Druid Street along Gedling Place to Abbey Street.  Make sense of this if you can: a stretch of patchy emerald coloured tarmac taking up an entire pedestrian walkway, cutting across a well-used pavement at a busy junction with an apartment block preventing clear sight around the corner.  Crazy? You bet it is!  As a direct result of planners' incompetence, cyclists and pedestrians are at serious risk of harm from each other.

A health and safety and inclusion catastrophe

Worryingly, across the Bermondsey and Rotherhithe area  (as well as the rest of Southwark) this sorry saga goes on: poorly painted and fading street signs; badly positioned signs; cycle lanes jumping out at you from the most unexpected places.  These are truly some of the worst cycle lanes in Britain.  But surely Southwark Council and Transport for London are aware of this?  If not, they are now.  The question is: will they act to make cycling and walking safer for all residents?  On their previous form it’s unlikely - they'll keep on nagging the white van driver instead.  Perhaps there really is something sinister going on after all…

Old Cycle Lanes, New Danger