Conservative spokesman Councillor Allan Andrews has welcomed the decision of the Council to conduct a review of cycle lanes in the city, following a request he made at the Cabinet Member (City Services) meeting on Tuesday 11 October.
In June, Allan spent a morning with the Earlsdon Cycling Group to look at the problems experienced by cyclists on some of Coventry’s busiest roads. Following the morning spent cycling, Allan met with senior Council Officers to discuss the problems in more detail and has now formally called for a review to take place.
Commenting on the issue, Allan said: “Cycling is a cheap and healthy way to get around Coventry but many considering the switch from car to bike, even if only for a couple of journeys a week, are put off by the potential hazards. My morning with the cycling group was an eye-opener and they were able to highlight numerous issues that I had not considered before.”
“Much of this is as a result of a lack of joined-up thinking over many years and quite frankly it has left some cycle lanes in Coventry too hazardous to use. There are also issues around sharing public footpaths in many areas. This causes a great deal of concern to pedestrians, who often have to put up with cyclists on footpaths that are not designed for their use.”
“The majority of serious cyclists want to use local footpaths and cycle lanes in a safe and legal way, but until we conduct a review of them we cannot find any solutions to the problems that exist. These include cycle lanes that end abruptly with nowhere else for the cyclist to go, other than to continue on a footpath used heavily by pedestrians, for instance. I am very pleased that the Council has agreed to conduct a review and I would encourage all cyclists in Coventry to contribute their ideas to it.”