Not quite a cycle lane but the indication of a cycling route. I spotted these freshly painted cycle icons today on Bridge Avenue in Hammersmith. This street is one-way and it not only encourages cyclists to ride in the wrong direction, it also gets them to ride too close to the parked cars. I know that it’s the end of the financial year but do councils really have to waste money on this kind of thing instead of building proper cycling infrastructure? Yes, it seems they do.
Cyclists ride against the traffic flow anyway, and this measure, together with the appropriate signs gives drivers information that cyclists can come from the opposite directions, as opposed to the previous situation when this was happening and was not regulated or visually obvious. The cycle logos can be adjusted but the message they give is more important than their location.
That’s all well and good but this is not a contraflow cycle lane, rather it is a few icons painted on the road to indicate a cycling route. Personally I follow the flow of traffic by using the one-way system. It only adds a few seconds to my journey.