Suffolk County Council currently have a consultation running about Nacton Road and Ransomes Way corridor. It is “to meet the projected increase in traffic associated with development in this corridor”. You can find out more on the Cyclescape thread.

Please find below my response to the consultation. I’m hoping that many more people respond with a similar response before the consultation ends on Wednesday 5th March 2014.

 

Nacton Road and Ransomes Way corridor consultation

General comments

Quality of cycling facilities

Has any consideration been given as to why people are driving here even so there are cycling facilities? Could it be that the cycling facilities are of poor quality? Could close passes by motorists be putting cyclists off? Could people annoyed at being put in conflict with another vulnerable road user group? Are people driving between the shops rather than cycling and walking? Cycle Ipswich members are aware of people who have given up cycling due to unclear cycling facilities, or too many near misses or close passes.

The nearby Ravenswood estate is just off the Nacton Road, it has a high level of cycle to school, yet few people will venture out of the estate on their bike to do something like shopping. Why are these people not venturing out of the estate much by bike? You need to look at these issue before implementing designs which will induce even more traffic.

Throwing cyclists on to the pavement with pedestrians should be a last resort, rather than a default action that it seems to be in Ipswich. This creates conflict with pedestrians and doesn’t create a pleasant cycling experience as you have to cycle slowly if there are pedestrians about. Dedicated space for cyclist, and no I’m not talking about a white line down some legalised pavement cycling is what is needed. If shared use pavements, or legalised pavement cycling as I prefer to call them worked so well, significantly more people would be cycling in Ipswich. Light segregation which will be in the next version of London Design Standards, and has already been implemented on Royal College Street in London for example is an option to increase flexibility, and is also fairly cheap to implement.

Would you be happy to have your 8 year old child using these roads on their own or would an 80 year old be happy using the roads? If not, the facilities on the roads aren’t good enough.

You should take a look at the video and information at http://www.protectedintersection.com on protected intersections.

Number of lanes to cross

There are many junctions in the proposals where cyclists and pedestrians are expected to cross two or three lanes of traffic. This is something that is really hard to do, especially if you get one stationary lane and another with faster moving traffic. You end up waiting in front of a stationary vehicle while a gap in the passing traffic opens up, and then the driver gets annoyed as they can’t continue due to the traffic causing them to be stationary having moved on.

The Dutch have spent a lot of time looking into the safety issue of cyclists and pedestrians crossing multiple lanes at an uncontrolled crossing. For any uncontrolled junctions they now narrow the junction down to a single lane so that you only need to cross one lane at a time, and motor traffic is slowed so that it is safer for everyone, thus there are fewer collisions. It also makes it subjectively safer for pedestrians and cyclists thus more walk and cycle. If multiple lanes are needed, a controlled crossing is used, however the timings are very dynamic with very good detection of cyclists and pedestrians, and avoid them waiting for a long time, as currently often happens in Ipswich.

Dog leg crossings

There are many dog leg crossings in the proposals. As both a pedestrian and a cyclist, especially having used a trailer in this area for transporting good from the shops, I find them a total pain to use. Have any of the people proposing these taken a look at how people currently use them. They’ll find that many people just ignore the zig zag and cross straight over and walk over the kerb stones using a more direct route, often ignoring the second signal.

I find it extremely unfair that motor vehicles don’t get the same treatment as pedestrians and cyclists when going through junctions, I’d really like to see a motor vehicle junction where they arrive and have to wind down the window to press a button and then get a green after a bit more waiting. The driver then has to do an awkward maneuver to get through the junction, even if they are going straight on, including pressing another button to complete the passage through the junction.

Mapping

The on the first page could have a more up to date map background, for example OpenStreetMap is much more up to date, with no costs or requirements other than attribution.

Specific comments

A14 junction

As the National Cycle Route 51 travels under the A14 and across the slip roads, consideration needs to be given here too, to make it safer for cyclists crossing the slip roads as it can currently be quite difficult. The slip roads need narrowed to slow motor vehicles and priority is given to cyclists, which is part of the Dutch strategy at encouraging cycle usage, and is perfectly possible to implement here.

Nacton Road (A14 to Thrashers roundabout)

Will cyclists using the legalised pavement cycling have priority over turning vehicles at the junction into Orwell Country Park?

The is the only section where I will accept a shared pavement as a solution for space for cyclists due to it being almost wide enough the whole way, and there are very low expected demand from pedestrians.

Thrashers roundabout

The dog leg crossing needs removed, see explanation above.

Where there’s an uncontrolled crossing there ideally needs to be only one lane of traffic for cyclists and pedestrians to cross, or an absolute maximum of 2 lanes, whereas in places there are 3 lanes. The lanes also need to be kept as narrow as possible to slow motor vehicles to increase safety for cyclists and pedestrians. Minimisation of lane switching is also needed.

The wide corners that can be taken at speed, which makes it even more difficult to cross the road, especially when combined with the number of lanes that need to be crossed. There needs to be clear space for cyclists, without mixing them with pedestrians or motor vehicles. Motor vehicles need to be slowed to prevent collisions. Tighter corners are needed to slow down vehicles and improve sight lines so that drivers can see cyclists and pedestrians and reduce the risk of them being in the driver’s blind spot.

Ransomes Way

Where is the space for cycling along this road? Has anyone questioned why there are so few people walking and cycling along here to access the shops? Will the speed limit be reduced to 30 mph from the current 40mph?

The current legalised pavement cycling is horrible for both cyclists and pedestrians. The Cranes to Felixstowe Road section is particularly bad due to the narrowness particularly on the west side of the road as it gets close to the railway bridge. I’ve cycled along there with a bike trailer on a Brompton and had to wait at a wider section for pedestrians to pass. This places cycling as a second rate mode of transport. Instead of 3 lanes of motor vehicles, there should be some light segregation used to create a safe cycle lane. The light segregation is relatively cheap to install, and will be in the upcoming London Cycle Design Standards. This will do far more to promote cycle use than the current shared footways which discourage many people from cycling as they are so inconvenient.

Why can’t pedestrians and cyclists get from John Lewis on to Ransomes Way using a more direct route that means that they don’t have to go the full length of the car park first?

Ransomes Europark/Cranes

The dog leg crossing over James Bennett Avenue need to be changed to straight over crossing, ideally without having to stop in the middle and press the button again, otherwise you are designing the road environment to promote motor vehicle use instead of sustainable modes of transport.

Similarly the crossing over Ransomes Way needs to be timed that you can cross straight over without stopping. By reducing the length of the middle roundabout, that will help shorten the distance that cyclists have to cross, thus reduce the time for them and the waiting time for motor vehicles.

Ransomes Way/Felixstowe Road roundabout

This is a horrible set of changes for cyclists. As someone who has recently cycled up the west side of Ransomes Way to cross over Felixstowe Road to get to Sainsburys and Homebase with a trailer on the bike, it was a horrible experience. I got stuck in the middle of the road fearing my trailer would get damaged by vehicles passing behind me. The new plans make it even more difficult for cyclists as there will be no crossing on 2 sides of the roundabout. This means that if a cyclist happens to go along the wrong side of Ransomes Way they either have to take a long detour up Felixstowe Road to cross, or dart across the fast traffic, or go back they way that they came.

Crossing the two lanes entrance and exit to the Sainsburys car park is also horrible currently as the cars go so fast, this needs improved for cyclists trying to access the cycle parking for Homebase. There should be a maximum of 1 lane in and 1 lane out of the car park for the best possible safety.

I would recommend changing Murrills Road to be a bus gate near the Homebase, thus reducing traffic at this junction. It also encourages more people who live in the local area to walk and cycle to these shops, as the bicycle or walking is journey is shorter and more pleasant. I don’t see why there needs to be a through road here private motor transport. This is standard practice in The Netherlands.

None of the changes at this junction will encourage more people to get on a bike to get to the shops here, rather it will put them off, and induce even more motor traffic. The position of the pedestrian crossing is significantly off the desire line, thus I expect some pedestrians to be crossing closer to the roundabout.

Lindbergh Road/Nacton Road

I’m concerned about the width of the cycle lane here. Will it be 2 metres wide, thus giving enough space for cycling? Far too many cycle lanes in Ipswich are so narrow you can’t even fit the bike in them while cycling, never mind the passing space so that cyclists feel comfortable with vehicles passing. I’m concerned that there will be pinch points created and many vehicles will pass cyclists too close, thus discouraging people from cycling along this section of road. This road has plenty of space to put in real dedicated space for cycling, whether it be a separate track (not the pavement, which is for pedestrians), or light segregation.

Is the island in the middle of the crossing really needed? Surely giving more time for pedestrians to cross in one go will encourage more people to walk, than if they may need to stop half way on the refuge.

Landseer Road/Nacton Road

As there will be an increase of traffic on Landseer Road the whole of Landseer Road will need to be looked at too. There currently is issues with the cycle lane being too narrow, and in places gets a build up of leaves in the autumn, particularly where it goes past the park. Floating bus stops, where the cycle track goes behind the bus stops are also an option along these roads.

The dog leg crossing needs to be a direct straight across type instead.

Will cyclists turning left be protected from vehicles cutting the corner when turning left? I would much prefer the space used for the right turn to continue on the Nacton Road towards the town centre to be used to protect cyclists going round the corner, however it also needs to be designed to allow them to safely get across and continue on the Nacton Road if they wish to do so.

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