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Wales Online
Wales Online
National
Ed Cullinane & Steven Smith

People left bemused by 'squiggly line' road markings

Bemused locals say their seaside town has Britain's most bonkers road markings - a set of wiggly lines. The new white lines have left locals baffled.

They claim the wobbly white markings look like the "driving lane for drink drivers". The local council said the lines were part of the design and aimed at making the road feel narrower and slow down traffic. But residents say the new layout is "bonkers".

One person commented: “The road layout is a hot mess, the cycle lane is next to the pavement, then there is parking, then out other side of the road is normal one way traffic.”

Another local added: “I kid you not, the squiggly lines are opposite driveways to allow vehicles to swerve to get round and into their drives without crossing the white line.”

One posted: “Balamory from hell for a motorcycle.”

The markings were added as part of plans to introduce a new beach-front cycle path along the seaside road. The road scheme has seen a 400m segregated cycle lane installed to remove cyclists them from the prom.

The plan is to remove traffic from the town's seafront that features several brightly coloured homes. The new cycleway will form part of the 'Pier to Pier' link between Weston-super-Mare and Clevedon, with the road next to it also being made one way.

Despite work being now mostly finished, residents initially believed the wiggly road markings were an accident. North Somerset Council said it hoped the wiggly lines in Clevedon would help reduce unwanted parking.

A council spokesman said: "The lines are a design feature to reduce the potential abuse of parking at these locations and help make the road feel narrower, which is a technique used to slow traffic speeds. In this case, the area is adjacent to the sailing club entrance so needs to be kept clear. A wavy line provides uncertainty to the driver and is proven to help reduce unwanted parking."

The squiggly lines are due to be finished with a surface treatment in the spring. North Somerset MP Liam Fox described the scheme as a "shambles" and urged council chiefs to kill off the project and apologise to the people of Clevedon.

The Save our Seafront (SOS) group has also handed a detailed report listing safety concerns about the layout to the Department of Transport, asking it to intervene. A petition against the seafront changes has also collected more than 6,000 signatures.

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