How much space do you need?

A letter has appeared in this week's Wirral Globe complaining about cyclists riding on the road rather than the cycle path on the promenade at New Brighton, King's Parade. No particular details are given about the exact location or time of day or the ages or genders of the cyclists. All we know is that there were four or five of them, riding two abreast on the road, traffic had to slow to overtake them and they can be described as 'ignorant'.

King's Parade begins at the location in the map below and heads north east from here, it's a lovely place for a stroll or a ride the only thing that makes it unpleasant is the weight of traffic when it is busy and the speed of traffic when it is quiet.

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It is a section of the North Wirral cycle route and forms a link between two other promenades where there is no motor traffic.

It is a 30 mph dual carriageway boulevard with a promenade alongside the seafront. The part I measured from Google satellite view is approximately 31m wide from seawall to the edge of the inner field. This is divided up, give or take...

• 3m pedestrian path
• 2m cycle path
• 7.5m road
• 2.5m central reservation
• 8m road with an additional 4m wide parking lane
• 4m pavement

Points of note about these dimensions. 

• The 2.5m wide central reservation is unnecessary on a 30mph road.
• Each lane, including the parking lane is 4m wide, this is twice as wide as a car and 1.5m wider than a bus or container wagon.

Look at how dwarfed the car is by the width of the parking lane.

The road is not that heavily trafficed for its size except for on the sunniest days of summer however cars do tend to speed along it, I have seen cars doing 60-70mph when the road is quiet, 40mph is common at all times.

The pavement on the sea wall side of the road is popular with walkers out for a stroll and dog walkers, though they do have a tendency to stray into the cycle lane, and it is popular with families so there can be many small children running around the pavement.

Cars park on both sides of the road, but only the westbound side has an official parking lane, on the eastbound side cars park against the kerb in lane 1.

So firstly, since the cycle path is provided what is it like for a cyclist to use? This varies depending on time of day/year. If it is quiet then it is reasonably adequate, there are no junctions of note to cause you to stop but the surface is made of paving slabs rather than smooth tarmac, you can cruise along at a fair old pace. On a busy day it is much different, children, balls, dogs, inattentive walkers, fishing lines being tossed around, it's a very hazardous place for the cyclist and the other pavement users, consequently great caution must be shown and speeds reduced to below 10mph, sometimes lower, and it's not uncommon to have to come to a halt while an errant child or beast is removed from the cycle lane by its owner. One might also come across other cyclists of varying speeds travelling in either direction on this rather narrow 2m wide lane, again causing you to slow or stop. There is also one platform type area where the cycle lane disappears entirely.

As a result faster riders might think it convenient to use the road rather than the cycle lane, as is their right. The road is broad, direct and has reasonably good visibility, only hampered by the cars parked along it which can range in number from a handful to hundreds.

A cyclist heading eastbound will, if there are no parked cars, occupy the first metre or two of the lane; or if there are parked cars, the space between the car and the dividing line to lane 2. Even riding two abreast they are unlikely to venture in to lane 2. Leaving the entirety of lane 2 to the motor traffic. On the westbound side a cyclist can cycle within the parking lane as it is so broad, at worst they might ride in lane 1 but again lane 2 will always be free. Either way, motorists always have one entire lane to themselves and if they are delayed by cyclists it is almost certainly because the cyclists will be passing parked cars on the westbound carriageway, yet it is the cyclists who get the stick rather than the drivers of the parked cars.

Let us agree with the author of the letter on one thing, that it would be better if the cycles were not using the road, it would also be better if they were not using the pavement and there is clearly enough space to allow this. There is so much space that you could improve the environment for every type of road user without inconveniencing any of them, we have 31m of available space to play with!

The 3m pedestrian space can become 3.5m on the shore side and the lesser used 4m path on the inland side can become 3.5m. Cyclists can have 4m wide dual direction paths on either side of the road. The road can become 2x3m lanes and a 2m parking lane in each direction. The central reservation can be got rid of.

[Edit - for a much better idea than mine see Mark's comment below.]

From my knowledge of the area I think the author's complaint is probably unnecessarily picky, the road is so broad they couldn't have been inconvenienced for more than a few seconds, the cyclists probably had good reason to prefer the road to the cycle lane and it's quite possible that cars being parked on the road was the cause of the cyclists being in the way. In any case for any council wanting to implement some seriously quality cycle infrastructure the vast amounts of space available in this area surely make this a 'gimme' for a showcase facility, it only requires the will and the money. Until then faster riders will continue to use the road and motorists will simply have to put up with it.

Crossing the Rubicon

I have at various time lived and worked in Liverpool and the Wirral and not always on the same side of the river at the same time. For anyone not familiar with the area the River Mersey is a natural barrier between Liverpool and south Lancashire to the north and Wirral and Cheshire to the south. The whole region has been called Merseyside since the 1974 although the term is not universally popular, with many people preferring the historical names of Cheshire and Lancashire.

In any case the river is a great physical (and cultural) divide in the region and various outfits have been offering ways to cross it since 1318, starting with local monks, then local landowners following the dissolution of the monasteries, later still came steam boats in 1815 followed by trains through the newly constructed Mersey Railway Tunnel in 1884. In 1934 the first road tunnel between Birkenhead and Liverpool opened but just 30 years later it was congested enough that work began on another tunnel linking Wallasey and Liverpool, they now carry 95,000 vehicles per day between them.

The intrepid cycling commuter or tourist therefore has, nominally, three means of crossing the river. Let's look at each in more detail...

The Mersey Ferry - The ferry runs most days of the year, at peak time of the day it operates to a Commuter timetable and through the middle of the day to a Cruise timetable. The commuter fare is £2.10 for a single and £2.60 for a return. The ferry leaves each landing stage roughly every 20 minutes in the morning or 30 minutes in the afternoon when it also visits Woodside. To take a bicycle on board is free and very popular, being on the ferry is a nice way to start or end a day's work, there is also a good camaraderie amongst the cycling commuters. The main problem with the ferry is that if you miss it you have a bit of a wait until it comes around again, not particularly convenient.

Merseyrail - Trains run from all across the Wirral in to four stations on a loop line under the city centre. Prices vary but the very minimum fare is Hamilton Square to James St, a distance of less than a mile and taking less than five minutes, but it costs £2.30sin/£2.80ret. Due to the two stations being in different 'zones' none of the weekly or monthly tickets seem to be any cheaper. This was quite annoying for me as I would like to get a good ride in by cycling right all the way to Birkenhead rather than getting the train from one of the nearer stations, and then just get the train to hop across the river and carry on by bicycle again. But there is no monetary saving in doing this. Furthermore there are some physical issues. Some stations only have very small lifts for a couple of people, or you have to carry your bicycle on the escalator, not easy if it's a 27kg Dutch bike! The carriages on the trains are fully seated except for one little spot where two seats have been removed for bicycles of wheelchairs. Unfortunately this spot also has fold down seats which are frequently occupied and I would feel a little silly asking somebody to move so I can put my bike there for one stop.

The only remaining place then is in the area immediately in front of the doors, this is possible, but at the busiest times you might have to wait for another train if there isn't space to get in. Also parking in from of the doors has on at least one occasion led to me being told off by a lady for blocking the exit (although I was getting off at the next stop).

The trains are made up of three carriages, if I had my way I would remove all seating from one of the carriages, this would allow a lot more people and bicycles on.

 The Mersey Tunnels - With regard to cycling through the Mersey tunnels the rules are... 

Bicycles are not permitted through the Kingsway [Wallasey] Tunnel. Through the Queensway [Birkenhead] Tunnel, they are not allowed between the hours of 6:00am to 8:00pm, Monday to Friday, 7:00am to 8:00pm on Saturday and 8:00am to 9:00pm on Sunday. Please note, the time limits during a Sunday are only operational between 1st April and 30th September inclusive.

The mid week time restriction effectively makes cycle commuting through the tunnels impossible for most day workers, I've done it a few times before 6am but it's not a particularly pleasant experience. Head down, go like a bullet and get out as fast as possible. What's most annoying though is that going through the tunnel is toll-free for bicycles making it the only free way of crossing the river. The toll for cars is £1.50 each way making this cheaper than a single on either the train or ferry.

For all commuters each mode has its own disadvantages which ought to make price the deciding variable, but the return price for each, £2.60/£2.80/£3.00 are so close that people probably choose their mode of transport for other reasons. I expect many people with the convenience of a free parking space at their destination will choose to drive. The ferry passengers seem to like the fresh air and a natter. The people on the train are grumpy, in a rush, sleepy, hungover or just plain anti-social.

As a cyclist I would prefer not to have to stop, get off and take a train or ferry then start riding again ten or fifteen minutes later, riding through the tunnel would be preferred if it were safe, but that would require a leap of imagination that I fear is beyond Mersey Tunnels, converting the two outside lanes of the Birkenhead Tunnel into cycle lanes, not something they are about to do to satisfy an unproven level of demand that probably isn't there anyway at the moment.

The second option which should be achievable is reducing the fare between Hamilton Sq and James St to £2 return and making some of the carriages more cycle friendly.

Updated 0700 24/10/12 to add pictures