Angry motorists as a vast 9.5ft wide bike lane opens up on both sides of a busy A-line while cars crowd the 10.6ft lane

MOTORCYCLE is furious after huge 9.5ft wide bike lanes were built on both sides of a busy A-line while cars are now crammed into the roads just 10.6ft wide.

And even cyclists are baffled by the new layout, arguing that bike lanes are rarely used, too big and too expensive.

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Cyclists and pedestrians on Dorset Road now enjoy a total of 33ft while the section for cars, buses, trucks and ambulances has been narrowed to 10ft 6in per lane.

During a one-hour period in the middle of the workday, only six cyclists were seen on the dedicated roads.

As a result, motorists were seen pulling into the bike lane to make way for police cars, ambulances and fire trucks, risking a collision with a bicycle.

The local council said the bike lanes were wide to “protect cyclists from other road users”.

The bright red Tarmac Sea on the A3049, which is one of the main routes into Bournemouth, Dorset, is part of a £1m plan to make travel more sustainable through south-east Dorset.

Martin Hiscock, who regularly rides his bike on the roads, even agrees that they are too wide. The 41-year-old said: “I don’t understand why there should be two sides of the road.

“You have loads of trucks up and down here – I don’t know if they have [the council] trying to slow down the traffic to make things safer.

“I’ve never known bike lanes this big. I think it’s too much. Usually they’re the width of a road.”

A driver working at an army barracks on the same road said: “Some people drove out of the barracks and almost hit cyclists because they didn’t realize it was a car lane. pedal because of lack of signs or signs”.

“Usually in the evening, when it’s dark and they have almost no lights.

“It’s very busy here with parents bringing students and troops in and out. It’s extremely dangerous.

“Lack of attention and foresight to the whole plan.”

A 38-year-old local office worker said he rarely sees bike lanes in use.

‘SINGLE MESSAGE’

“For something so wide, the bike traffic is much less than you’d expect. You just don’t see the amount of cyclists it’s designed for,” he explains.

“The whole thing looks unsightly and a mess.”

A spokesman for Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole Council claims there has been a 40 per cent increase in bike use since the new roads were opened.

They said: “Identified cycling tracks with steep curbs will allow occasional vehicles to drive onto the trail and provide emergency vehicles with safe and rapid passage. .

“It will continue to be safely usable by all vehicles, including fire trucks, and will continue to undergo a number of independent road safety checks.”

Nigel Hedges, Chair of Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole Council, said bike lanes protect cyclists from road users.

He said: “If people continue to have accidents, they will continue to narrow the roads so that car drivers can’t hurt anyone – these bike lanes are keeping cyclists safe. when in traffic.”

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