The leader of Portsmouth City Council has written to the Minister of Transport to vent his frustration over the obligation to use sign 619 for contra-flow cycling schemes.
Portsmouth council was trialling two-way cycling on two of its one-way roads, and followed Department of Transport regulations to install the sign, known as the ‘flying motorcycle’.
‘However, within a couple of days, it became clear that motorists were finding the road signs confusing, and a decision was taken to remove the two-way cycling facilities,’ a council spokeswoman said.
The trials were halted and the local authority’s leader, Gerald Vernon-Jackson, contacted the DfT to ask if a simpler sign could be used. He suggested the use of a no-entry sign with an additional sign underneath saying, ‘except for cycles’ for future schemes.
The DfT said current regulations do not permit the combination of such signs as suggested by the council.
‘This is because the no-entry sign is safety critical, and if it is used to manage traffic rather than as a road safety measure, drivers may begin to disregard it,’ a spokeswoman said.
But the DfT would be looking at the provision of cycling signs as part of its review of traffic signs, she added.
Lynne Stagg, the council’s cabinet member for traffic and transport, described the rules as ‘daft’, and said that while the sign could have been fit for purpose when first introduced, times had changed and the majority of people had moved on and forgotten what they meant.
‘It caused confusion during our two-way cycling trials, and I know other “older” cities around the country are also having similar problems because our roads are narrower and there is no room to put a cycle lane in.’
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