Manchester’s bike lanes and accessibility

John Surico writes for CityLab:

But for some pedestrians, CYCLOPS is riddled with conflict. Those who are blind or partially sighted told me that the flattened curbs offer little indication that cyclists are approaching from either direction. The traffic-island-hopping produces multiple pressure points. People with hearing issues have trouble picking up the quiet hum of bicycle traffic. If this is the future, then accessibility advocates are concerned.

Building streets accessible to bicycles is a great step forward, but shouldn’t come at such a cost to pedestrians. One takeaway from this is the benefit of small, incremental change. Local experimentation allows for people to identify these issues with smaller investments and adjust future projects accordingly.