Safety works on "optical illusion" cycle lane imminent after more than 100 trip incidents

An under-fire council has announced that safety works on a now-famous "optical illusion" cycle lane, which has caused an estimated number of trip victims in excess of 100, will be undertaken as soon as the weather allows.

Bath and North East Somerset Council confirmed the works last month, a road safety report recommending double yellow line markings adjacent to the kerb between the cycling infrastructure and the kerb. The council said the solid white line marking the edge of the cycle lane will be broken, to better separate it from the kerb and hopefully reduce the amount of people tripping on the change in levels.

The situation in Keynsham has been well-documented, constituency MP Jacob Rees-Mogg causing headlines last year when he called the project a "failed experiment". In the first year of its use, 59 injuries were reported, that number now believed to have passed 100, with more pedestrian injuries reported at the start of this year.

Previous works to try to keep people from tripping on the infrastructure included painting the bike lane surface red, although this does not appear to have had much impact, residents and visitors still tripping due to the differing kerb heights between the cycle lane and pavement — made worse by the white kerbing and white lines looking similar, something the council hopes to fix by breaking the solid line adjacent to the cycle lane.

> More pedestrian injuries reported on "optical illusion" cycle lane, with one casualty claiming it must have been "designed by toddlers"

A Temporary Traffic Regulation Notice will be applied to allow the council to carry out the works as soon as possible, weather permitting, councillor Paul Roper telling the BBC he hopes it brings an end to the trip reports.

"This mitigation should make the change in levels clearer to pedestrians and prevent further trips and falls," he said. "We are grateful for people's patience while the audit was undertaken and the road safety report compiled, which we are acting on."

Roper had claimed that previous works led to a reduction in reported incidents to a level of, on average, two to three per month. However, there has been vocal opposition from other councillors, Conservative Alan Hale calling it an "utter pantomime".

"You'd think with the best part of 100 casualties over two years, [the council] would actually be doing something positive and firm," he said last month. "People will not stop falling and will not stop injuring themselves."

Roper's Liberal Democrat colleague Hal MacFie added: "What we believe is happening is that people who live in Keynsham are very wary coming up here. They know that if they just forget for a minute on one of those kerbs, it's going to go and they're going to go down with it.

"Those people either aren't coming [to town] or they're very cautious, but people from outside of town don't know about it and they're the ones who will start to go down."

In April last year, Rees-Mogg called for the cycle lane to be removed and the route to return to being a two-way street.

It should go back to being a two way street. This experiment has failed.https://t.co/WFHQpj8HHl

— Jacob Rees-Mogg (@Jacob_Rees_Mogg) April 26, 2023