A new "optical illusion" cycle lane has caused 59 injuries following its launch last year. The bikeway was opened in March 2022 after nine months of work on a busy high street.
Since its completion people have complained of an odd phenomenon which has caused people to fall over and hurt themselves. One victim described the cycle lane as an “optical illusion” as there were kerbs and painted white lines which looked similar to each other.
According to Somerset Live, 21 people are pursuing personal injury claims against Bath and North East Somerset Council in relation to the road in Keynsham. Though it is believed that seven of these have been rejected so far.
Local councillor Alan Hale has warned that the path could kill someone if action isn't taken. Mr Hale said he had been contacted about people falling “since day one” but had simply been told by council officers that they were “monitoring” the situation.
He said: “There can be no other local authority in the country that has created a development that has succeeded in seriously injuring 59 people at least and have done nothing to address the situation. We are elected to make our community safe, not to inflict significant injuries.
“To make it safe we need the administration and officers to take positive action, not sit on their hands.”
Work has already been done on the cycle lane in the hopes of reducing falls. This has included painting the tarmac red.
The local authority has said that no insurance claims have currently been settled and no other payments have been made to anyone.
Mr Hale said: “At my suggestion they changed the colour of the tarmac of the lane but that did not achieve a cessation in injuries, and since then there has been no further action, save the monitoring.”
He has called on the lane to be removed in the interest of public health and safety.
Mark Roper, the council’s cabinet member for economic development, regeneration and growth, defended the council’s response to the issues.
He said: “The new Keynsham High Street cycle lane is built to the government’s current LTN120 standards, and when some early problems were identified with the double kerb down to the road surface, a series of mitigations were put in place which has had the effect of substantially reducing the number of reported incidents.
“However we have now commissioned a Stage 4 Road Safety to suggest further improvements and mitigations and prevent any further issues. This will report back early in the next administration.
“All reported falls are carefully examined, including by CCTV, to establish where and why they happen. We have worked with the town council and local councillors to make sure we record all incidents.
“The council takes this issue very seriously and is working hard to deliver further improvements.”
He added that between January and March there had been, on average, 2.3 recorded incidents per month. He added: “We actively seek out details on incidents when we hear of them even if they have not been officially recorded.”
But he defended the works done to the High Street, saying: “The Keynsham High Street regeneration programme has been a great success, reducing traffic and making it a much more pleasant environment for shoppers and visitors, and as a result we are seeing increased footfall from pre-pandemic levels and strong demand for retail space.”
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