Mike Graham rages over new cyclist rules in Bournemouth

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Although cyclists have use of a 7ft wide bike path, Bournemouth council has painted large bike symbols in the middle of the A35 in order to encourage cyclists to ignore the dedicated cycle line and take up more space on the main road. While talking to motoring journalist Quentin Willson, TalkTv presenter Mike Graham commented on the council’s move and branded the initiative as “literally madness”.  He added: “This is really starting to get ridiculous.”

Mr Graham said: “It’s literally madness.

“I mean, we’re all for sharing the road.

“We’re all for people who want to cycle

“We’re all for roads for people who want to be healthy.

“But this is really starting to get ridiculous”.

Mr Wilson also commented on the initiative and said: “It seems like the application of common sense is in short supply here.

“What you’re doing here is creating more conflict and more divisions between cyclists and other road users.

“We can’t have that, we need to coexist peacefully”.

A spokesperson for Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole Council justified the move: “We recently undertook carriageway resurfacing and have widened the cycle lanes in line with current standards.

“The road markings highlighted are there to encourage cyclists to take a prominent position in the lane so therefore make them more visible to other motorists”.

The initiative, however, has upset drivers who claimed that the new markings, besides making the bike path redundant, encourage cyclists to think “they own the road”.

Steve Martin, a driver, told Metro: “You put cycle lanes in and then paint cycle symbols on the main carriageway.

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“Cyclists now seem to think they own all the road and won’t move over”.

Another driver, Donna Clarke commented on the move and told the paper: “It should be in the Highway Code that cyclists must use cycle lanes if available.

“This is utterly ridiculous, causing tailbacks, delayed emergency vehicles, and frayed tempers”.

Nick Beck, a driver, also said: “If there’s a dedicated cycle lane, why are they being directed to cycle in the main carriageway?”.

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