Dorset Council is preparing to upgrade the existing painted cycle lane along Dorchester Road, Weymouth with some new features, making it safer for cyclists.
The new intermittent ‘bolt-down’ kerbing and wands will be installed early in the new year and will enable more school children to travel safely by bicycle to Wey Valley Academy. The improvements will also provide residents of Redlands, Broadwey and Upwey with a safer, direct route to Radipole Lane and the cycle route into Weymouth town centre.
Dorchester Road is already one of the busiest routes for cycling in Weymouth, but cycle lanes without physical separation on busy roads like this aren’t considered safe enough for the majority of people to choose to cycle.
Residents and businesses will continue to have unobstructed access to their properties across the cycle lane at all times and buses will continue to have space to safely pull in and out of stops.
Cllr Ray Bryan, Dorset Council’s Portfolio Holder for Highways, Travel and the Environment, said:
“Dorchester Road currently sees around 12,000 vehicles per day travel along it. We know that school children and inexperienced adults feel the painted cycle lanes are not safe enough, currently. By providing a safer space for on-road cycling it will benefit cyclists, pedestrians and bus users in this area.”
The scheme will cost around £65,000 and is financed from the Active Travel Fund. Dorset Council was awarded £438,900 by Government last year after a successful bid to the Department for Transport. The aim of the funding is to make it easier for people to walk and cycle more, to build physical activity more easily into people’s lives, reduce congestion and reduce emissions of local pollution.
Parked vehicles in the cycle lane forcing cyclists out into the live traffic is the major issue on this busy route.
Unfortunately, your map is hard to decipher due to its scale in this article but the idea of ‘solid’ separation works in many other places and should encourage the less confident along this well used cycle route. Good bid-well won. Congratulations.
I am broadly in agreement, but slightly worried about young cyclists trying to cross the bolt-down kerbs and being thrown off. And I agree about the scale of the map. Generally, I’d rather see the area around Lorton Lane made safe. We often ride up Dorchester Road to reach Sottinghway Street, and the bypass cycle lane is a big diversion and a hilly one too!
Anything that makes people cycle more is great as it’s good for the environment and people’s health.
Making more roads 20mph limits would help too.
A safe route to the east is required. Upgrading the footpath along the valley floor from Sutton Pointz to Osmington to cycle way and footpath would be a good start.