Council forced to fix 'optical illusion' road markings after people keep making same mistake

An 'optical illusion' cycle lane is set to be changed - because people keep tripping up.

The High Street in Keynsham, near Bristol, will finally see some changes to fix the road markings that have been causing pedestrians to trip and fall. The town made national news last year when complaints about a new cycle lane went viral.

Even after some changes were made to the design, Bath and North East Somerset still get nearly three complaints a month about the cycle lane, according to a new report. On Wednesday, the council confirmed that it will change the line markings to try and solve the problem, following stage four of a road safety audit there.

At first, designers couldn't understand why so many people were falling down next to the cycle lane after it was put in place in 2022. But safety auditors have now figured out that "the 50mm height kerb between the cycleway and footway is not clearly visible", which means people are stepping along the kerb and misjudging the height difference.

The council has agreed to replace the solid white line marking at the edge of the cycle lane with a broken white line, to make it clearer where the kerb is. It will also put double yellow lines next to the curb between the cycle lane and the road, which should help pedestrians know where they are when they cross the road.

Bath and North East Somerset Council (BANES) has said it will carry out the work at night, depending on the weather, to avoid causing problems for businesses and traffic during the day. They did not say when the night-time work would happen.

Councillor Paul Roper, cabinet member for economic and cultural sustainable development, said: "This mitigation should make the change in levels clearer to pedestrians and prevent further trips and falls. We are grateful for people's patience while the audit was undertaken and the road safety report compiled, which we are acting on."

A 103-page report, dated December 2023, has been published on the council's website. Reflecting on the number of complaints filed to the authority, it stated: "A total of 25 incidents of trips/falls were made in March and April 2022, before reducing to an average of 3 per month (ranging from 1 to 6 incidents per month) in the 17-month period thereafter. Changes were implemented in August 2022 to provide a red-coloured surfacing within the cycle lane (previously black asphalt). In the next 14 months, there were 41 incidents of trips/falls, an average of 2.9 per month."

It added that while "the number of incidents has clearly reduced since opening", it "remains an ongoing issue with a relatively consistent rate of incidents per month". Auditors said the scheme was designed according to guidance, and they were "not aware of similar issues at other [similar] schemes".

However, their report acknowledged: "The 50mm height kerb between the cycleway and footway is not clearly visible (and further reduced at night)...From the incident descriptions provided, it is clear that a large proportion of [falls] are related to pedestrians walking along, rather than crossing, High Street, whether that be because they are stepping around other pedestrians or they simply have not recognised the presence of the kerb."

They initially recommended applying stick-on corduroy tactile paving along the curb edge to highlight the level change. However, in a comment provided in the report, the council's design team said this solution "may not meet heritage objectives and are likely to lead to long-term maintenance issues".