People who cycle in Wexford have been warned by local cycling campaigners to “Please proceed with caution on the new southbound roundabout at Sinnottstown Lane”.
Phil Skelton, chair person of Wexford Bicycle User Group (WexBUG), said: “I initially flagged the difficulties of riding through the narrow gap to the council as per pic 1. In response, the council moved the obstacle out a little as per image 2. I took a closer look at this roundabout and it just looked dangerous to me.”
Skelton said: “I’m not convinced that a lot of thought went in to the safety of cyclists in this project. Indeed as a Cycle Right trained cycling instructor, I feel that it may be safer to merge with caution on to the main lane before this point and follow the regular traffic through the roundabout until you rejoin the cycle lane at the far side.”
“The pencils and the plastic bollard tend to ‘lure’ a rider to stay in the cycle lane with no markings to yield as you might expect on the main carriageway. Bear in mind, your view could be obscured here by a van or a lorry beside you and you may not see what was coming down Sinnottstown Lane,” he said.
Skelton added: “As you can see from the image, lorries need to encroach in to the mandatory cycle lane in order to make the turn. I felt that with so many new riders out there now, that this could cause a collision for an unsuspecting rider.”