Cycle lanes and pavements should be kept open during roadworks, and, if that’s not possible, an equivalent space should be provided on the carriageway to compensate for the closed bike lane, ensuring that cyclists, walkers, and wheelers are given priority – even if it holds up motorists, the Scottish Road Works Commissioner has said.

Kevin Hamilton, who was appointed in November 2020 to independently monitor roadworks in Scotland and promote good practice, told the Scotsman (link is external) that the first major review for decades of the ‘Red Book’ roadworks code of practice – due to be completed by the UK, Scottish, and Welsh governments in 2025 – must prioritise those at the top of the Highway Code’s hierarchy of road users.

Roadworks in Scotland have recently reached record levels, with 150,000 currently taking place across the country, 60 percent of which are on pavements.

Hamilton says this has resulted in pedestrians being confronted with ‘footpath closed’ signs, while many segregated cycle lanes have been suspended.

“Most works take place on footways so they impact pedestrians most,” Hamilton noted. “The code of practice, which dates back to the 1990s, was written at a time before the concept of a sustainable travel hierarchy became government policy in Scotland.

“It was written very much at a time when the emphasis was on minimising congestion and delays for people in cars and buses. It’s overdue for a review and needs to reflect the sustainable travel hierarchy – to put pedestrians and cyclists at the top.

“At the moment, it says you ‘need to consider’ the needs of these groups, but what it doesn’t do is put them as the priority group. ‘Consider the needs’ is different from ‘You must provide for them’, even if that means you are going to introduce delays and congestion.

“That’s the tricky balancing act, but if we want to encourage people to walk and cycle and wheel, that’s the trade-off there has to be.”

He continued: “At the moment, if you look at a whole load of roadworks sites, you will see a lot where the pedestrian comes up to a barrier and it says ‘Footway Closed’ and they have to cross the road. There is a caveat in the code that allows the footway to be closed if there’s one on the other side [of the road]. That’s fine if you’re fit and able, but it’s not so good if you’re in a wheelchair or have a visual impairment. It can be the difference between completing your journey and not getting out of the house.

“The difference that I see in the future would be you would have to provide something to allow people to get round your works and that might mean that you needed to take up some carriageway space. In an extreme example, you might need to put in some more temporary traffic lights to allow for that to happen, in more scenarios than currently happens.

“If it’s a main cycle route, such as a segregated lane, it may mean you have to provide an equivalent facility on the carriageway.”

The commissioner’s stance has been supported by Ian Maxwell of the Lothian cycle campaign Spokes, who told the Scotsman: “The restrictions and reduced space caused by roadworks can make it dangerous for both pedestrians and cyclists and it's right to give them priority. It's important to make sure that pedestrians are provided with well-marked separate space.”

However, the suggested policy has been criticised by motoring group IAM RoadSmart, whose Scotland-based policy advisor Neil Greig said it was “ridiculous to suggest that there is not enough room given to pedestrians at the moment when many small-scale pavement works already lead to delays for drivers and riders who are not directly affected by the work.

“Unsightly dedicated pedestrian corridors delineated by temporary barriers are often left in place when no work is taking place, or are left in a terrible state with no one knowing who is responsible.”

Meanwhile, Paul White, director of the Confederation of Passenger Transport Scotland, which represents bus operators, said: “Subjecting bus services to an increased level of congestion through roadworks will impact on reliability, increase costs, and is counter to government goals to improve air quality and reduce carbon emissions. A more holistic solution that considers the needs of passengers that cannot walk or cycle is required.”

The status of cyclists and pedestrians at roadworks was in the news a month ago, when we reported that signs advising cyclists to “dismount and proceed with caution” at a set of temporary traffic lights in Worcester were removed, after councillors and local cyclists complained that they were “discriminatory” towards people on bikes, as well as making things “more difficult for pedestrians”.

The temporary lights were installed at the end of July as part of work carried out by Cadent Gas on Worcester’s Malvern Road, and are expected to remain in place until the middle of November.

However, the ongoing roadworks and, in particular, a ‘Cyclists Dismount and Proceed with Caution’ sign located at the lights, attracted the ire of residents and politicians in the West Midlands city, with one councillor urging the local authority to intervene due to the disruption caused to locals.

https://road.cc/content/news/cycling-live-blog-12-october-2023-304433