The provision for cycling on Glasgow Road, Perth has never been well thought out.
The first attempt saw the establishment of salients sticking out from the pavement into the road to narrow the width of the road.
Cut outs, between the pavement and the salient were provided in the salients so that cyclists and ground water.
The major drawback of these cut outs were the accumulation of debris; mud, stones, sticks, etc.
The second attempt, completed late 2003, saw the establishment of two islands very close to junctions, which to put it simply are down right dangerous.
Both the salients and islands fail to take into account the relative high speed of a cycle going down Glasgow Road into Perth. A cyclist is better off ignoring these obstacles and cycling down Glasgow Road utilising the remaining width of the Glasgow Road.
Junction of Murray Place and Glasgow Road. If a cyclist is trapped in the segregated lane, and a vehicle cuts out in front there is nowhere to go, except into the side of the vehicle, into the kerb or the wall beyond.
Junction of Murray Place and Glasgow Road, showing the restricted drivers sight line.
Junction of Viewlands Road and Glasgow Road. If a cyclist is trapped in the segregated lane, and a vehicle cuts out in front there is nowhere to go, except into the side of the vehicle or into the kerb and the wall beyond.
Junction of Viewlands Road and Glasgow Road. A drivers sight line is much improved, though this does not compensate for the increased risk due to the higher speed of a cycle going down hill towards the city centre.
Note, both vehicles featured here did in fact stop at the junctions, the images were taken to illustrate the options available if a vehicle was to cut out in front of a cyclist, which is a distinct possibility.
Background.
The cycle lanes on Glasgow Road attracted much criticism from cyclists when the route was first introduced. Eventually plans were drawn up to improve the cyclists lot and these were implemented during the third quarter of 2004.
Risk Assessment.
Cyclist heading down Glasgow Road approaching Murray Place or Viewlands Road. Vehicle at the junction overruns the stop line and stops over the stop line.
A cyclist in narrow channel, between the kerb and the island can not take avoiding action to the right due to the island, leaving action to the left, which are to hit the kerb (and the wall beyond) or none and hit the vehicle. The likelihood of injury to the cyclist is high.
Estimated speed of a cyclist approaching Murray Place is moderate, while approaching Viewlands Road is fast.
Recommend, not using the cycle lane approaching these junctions, avoiding being trapped in the channels.
A poorly designed road feature reflects badly upon the whole of a route, as was demonstrated in the previous effort when projections were built into Glasgow Road, with cut-outs to allow cyclists to pass directly through the projection. However what was not taken into account was the relatively high speed of a city bound cycle (downhill). At speed; one small mistake can be dangerous, one patch of mud or road-debris can have serious consequences for a cyclist - all of which makes it safer to ignore a poorly designed cycle lane and cycle along Glasgow Road like any other road in the country.
The real sad thing is the Perth & Kinross Council Roads Dept do not see anything wrong with these islands.