Opinion

William Scholes: Cycling doesn't have to send us round the bend

William Scholes

William Scholes

William has worked at The Irish News since 2002. His areas of interest include religion and motoring.

The UK's first Dutch-style roundabout, which prioritises cyclists and pedestrians over motorists, has opened in Cambridge. Picture by Joe Giddens/PA Wire
The UK's first Dutch-style roundabout, which prioritises cyclists and pedestrians over motorists, has opened in Cambridge. Picture by Joe Giddens/PA Wire The UK's first Dutch-style roundabout, which prioritises cyclists and pedestrians over motorists, has opened in Cambridge. Picture by Joe Giddens/PA Wire

A new style of roundabout intended to make life safer for pedestrians and cyclists by giving them priority over motorists has got off to an inauspicious start.

A car crash forced the closure of the roundabout in Cambridge over several nights this week to allow it to be repaired.

A Belisha beacon - the proper name for one of those orange balls that look like a lollipop on top of a black and white stick found beside a zebra crossing - was damaged when someone drove into it.

Although the driver didn't stop to explain what had made them swerve into a giant illuminated Chupa Chups, Cambridgeshire County Council - probably glad that to have a distraction from the fact that the road scheme almost trebled in cost from a predicted £800,000 to £2.3 million - confidently claimed that the design of the roundabout had nothing whatsoever to do with the accident.

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While it might be a novelty to road-users in Cambridge, the roundabout is modelled on a design familiar to road-users in the Netherlands.

It appears quite impressive in aerial shots, an assemblage of coloured circles, stripes and dashed lines that looks like it could be a treasure map uncovered at a Mayan temple or maybe one of Daedalus's early plans for the Minotaur's labyrinth at Knossos. Perhaps the pattern could be embossed on the cover of a James Joyce novel.

The roundabout isn't quite as adventurous in style as A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man was when it was published, eventually, in 1916. Roundabouts had been around for nearly 10 years by then.

Four roads converge at the Cambridge roundabout, which is situated beside a busy hospital.

Cyclists get their own dedicated ring. As vehicles approach the edge of the roundabout, the roads narrow - the idea is to force cars to slow down - and thick zebra crossings emphasise that pedestrians have priority.

Cambridge is a particularly awful place to drive, a maze of one-way systems and traffic lights if I remember right, so it's little surprise that cycling is popular.

William Scholes
William Scholes William Scholes

Bike-friendly, continental-style roundabouts would seem to be a natural next step - as Roxanne De Beaux of the Cambridge Cycling Campaign said, the new layout "feels like a small piece of Dutch cycling heaven".

But what of Northern Ireland? First, it has to be acknowledged that we have roundabouts that can be terrifying for drivers, let alone cyclists or pedestrians.

The Sprucefield roundabout is probably number one in my own hall of infamy. Trying to get out of the Marks and Spencer/McDonald's exit can feel uncomfortably close to roadgoing Russian roulette, even for an experienced driver.

Clearly there is a long way to go to establish proper road layouts where bikes and vehicles can either mix safely or, better yet, be kept separate. Where there has been development, it has mostly been focused on Belfast.

Kudos, then, to the Department for Infrastructure for opening a new walking and cycling path, called the Blaris Greenway, which runs from the Sprucefield park and ride car park to the shopping centre.

From there it runs on to Lisburn and the Lagan Towpath, opening up a safer cycling route from Sprucefield to Belfast city centre.

Whether it is enough to persuade many commuters out of their cars obviously remains to be seen.

It's one thing tackling a bike ride to the office in the summer months but quite another doing it in November.

Bike use increased during Covid-19 lockdown, as we were encouraged to stay local and limit our reliance on the car.

More bike-friendly schemes will be needed if that is to maintain momentum and turn occasional cyclists into regular ones.

That might mean introducing Dutch-style roundabouts of our own, as well as simpler measures such as more bike shelters at train stations.

Meanwhile, I'm off to bleed my bike's brakes and pump up the tyres.