Types of cycle lanes

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Typical facilities provided for cyclists include:

Cycle Lanes

These are areas of carriageway designated and marked for use by pedal cycles. They can be either advisory or mandatory. Cycle lanes alert drivers to the presence of cyclists and give cyclists greater confidence. They can be introduced to help cyclists by-pass queuing traffic and lead cyclists to special facilities such as advanced stop lines at traffic signals. They are most useful where there are few side roads and no parking or loading requirements.

Mandatory Cycle Lanes

These are marked with a continuous white line and are supported by a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO), which prohibits vehicles from driving or parking in the lane. Mandatory lanes must be discontinued at side road junctions but the use of a short length advisory lane may preserve continuity.

Advisory Cycle Lanes

These are marked with a broken white line and do not require a TRO. They can be continued across side road junctions. Both advisory and mandatory cycle lanes can be coloured to emphasise their presence. Cycle lanes are generally between 1.0m and 2.0m in width depending on flows and site characteristics although a minimum width of 1.5 metres is recommended. An additional 500mm “buffer” zone is recommended where a cycle lane passes alongside designated parking spaces.

Contra-Flow Cycle Lanes

These are becoming more widely used as a cycle priority measure. They are mandatory cycle lanes which allow cyclists to travel against the prevailing flow of traffic in one-way streets, within the designated lane.

Cycle Paths

In some circumstances it may be considered unsafe or inappropriate to designate areas of carriageway as cycle lane. Where pedestrian flows are relatively low it may be appropriate to convert footways to shared use facilities. It is recommended that footways are at least 3 metres wide if a cycle path is to be considered but, in practice they may be accommodated on narrower footways when flows and site characteristics permit. Cycle paths may be one or two-way. Cyclists and pedestrians may be segregated by a white line or some other feature or may share the full width of the footway. In either case complimentary advisory signing is normally provided.

Cycle Tracks

These are traffic free, off-highway cycle routes normally shared with pedestrians.

Last updated: 13 January 2011