Thread by @anotherJon

I know the back story to this, so I'll do a short thread on it.

Nobody comes out of it looking good, except @KarenGee3, who's been giving @CumbriaCC constructive feedback on this scheme until, as my Dad would say, she's blue in the face. Not that it does much good.

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Let's go through:

- Where these 'NO CYCLING' markings are;
- Why they've been put in;
- At whose request;
- Current national police guidance that covers cycling on the pavement;
..and, crucially, *why* people might be riding cycles along this stretch of footway/pavement.

These 'NO CYCLING' markings have recently been installed on Shap Road in Kendal. Shap Road has something of a cycle scheme running along it, much of which is shared space. It is certainly not a shining beacon of best practice in designing for active travel.
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Note also that Shap Road is home to The Queen Katherine School (QKS), one of Kendal's two secondary schools. We'll come to why that's key shortly.
I cycled along to see for myself this afternoon.
I saw two paint markings, circled in green on this high tech diagram:
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This photo is taken looking South, at the northerly of the two markings. QKS's cycle lockers and cycle racks are located here. I'll touch on desire lines and whatnot shortly.
The folks who live here have complained to their county councillor about cyclists on the pavement.
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Here's another street view, looking North, with the site of the southerly of the two new 'No Cycling' markings circled in green.

From the resident's POV, having people on cycles fly past their front gate along the narrow pavement is a nuisance and a hazard. I get that.
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Let's zoom out, to consider routes to school. Although there's no such thing as strict catchment areas for Kendal's two secondary schools, a fair proportion of QKS's 1,400 students live on Sandylands, one of Kendal's largest housing estates. I've marked it here in pink.
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If you want to cycle to QKS from Sandylands, bearing in mind cycle access and storage is in that SW corner, here's the most likely desire line:
Cut through from Broad Ing to Fowl Ing Lane, turn R onto Appleby Rd, then L down Crescent Green, which is one way. But then what?
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Heading to QKS by bike from Appleby Rd, as many students do, we find ourselves at the end of Crescent Green, with the school gate just along to our right (North) but, inconveniently, Shap Road cycle lane (blue) on the far side of the busy Shap Rd. With no way to access it.
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So you can see why, cycling to school, QKS students might well consider a short ride along the pavement their 'least worst' option for the final stretch to reach the school gate.

Getting home is no better, but we'll get to that.

First, is cycling on the pavement illegal?
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In 2014 police chiefs were issued with guidance from the then junior transport minister, which asked for discretion to be exercised in terms of pavement cycling, acknowledging that many cyclists, especially children, are afraid to cycle on the road.
news.npcc.police.uk/releases/suppo…
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So cycling on the pavement, whilst illegal and potentially subject to fixed penalty notices, is understood to be something that many people on cycles, especially children and young people, feel forced to do because of their fear of traffic.
Now let's look at the ride home.
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Imagine you are a student at The Queen Katherine School (QKS) in Kendal, you live South East of the school, perhaps on the large Sandylands estate (circled pink, below). You've cycled into school. What's your desire line to get home?
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I suggest your desire line is something like this:
From the cycle racks at the SW corner of the playing fields, head South along Shap Rd as far as Mint St.
Turn L into Mint St which, like Crescent Green, is one way.
Turn R onto Appleby Rd, then L onto Fowl Ing Lane.
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As soon as you leave the school gate nearest the cycle racks, there are three options for heading South:
1. Ride with the traffic on the busy Shap Rd;
2. Cross the road to join the shared path;
3. Nip along the pavement, over the No Cycling marking.

Let's look at option 2
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Having dismissed the idea of riding with the traffic, let's examine the detail of trying to cycle South from QKS to get home from school.
Initially, all is good: a button-controlled crossing allows us to reach the shared path on the far side of Shap Road.
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So far, so good: we're on a shared path off the road as we pass the laundry.
Opposite the laundry is Crescent Green, which we popped out of this morning, to get to school. It's one way though, so we need to head for the next street South, Mint Street.
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Having passed the laundry, we reach the side road junction of Mintsfeet. There's a button controlled crossing here, for both folks on foot and cycle.

On the far side, though, is where the trouble kicks in: how is a person on a cycle supposed to get to Mint Street?
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There's no safe means of crossing Shap Road to reach Mint Street, which we've established is the preferred route home from school for large numbers of Queen Katherine School students. Shap Road is perennially busy.
So is there a designated crossing a bit further on..?
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The next crossing you come across that allows you to safely cross Shap Road is here (circled). Not only is that some 450m from where we actually want to cross, it will also necessitate backtracking to get home. It's a poor option, in amongst no good options.
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Before I wrap up, a bit of local politics.
After some resident complaints, these 'No Cycling' markings have been put in at the request of the county councillor. The same Lib Dem cllr was bitterly opposed to the whole Shap Rd cycle scheme. I guess there's votes in NIMBYism.
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22 of 22.
Faced with no good options in terms of a safe and reasonably direct route to and from school, children are forced to choose a 'least worst' route: one which sees them cycling along a short stretch of pavement.

It's up to us to offer them better, safer options.