6.3 Common Maintenance Issues Affecting Cyclists

These are extremely dangerous to cycle on when wet. If cyclists have to stop, turn or veer on surfaces with wet leaves, they are likely to lose control and fall over. Leave are a major cause for blocked drains, ponding etc.

Design Options

• set back trees more than 5m from cyclists
• choose evergreen trees / bushes
• locate trees away from critical points on cycle routes (bends, turns, bus stops) where wet leaves could result in accidents and injury

Maintenance Action

• Regular mechanical sweeping during the Autumn and early Winter
• Inspections to assess effectiveness of sweeping
• Particular attention to bends, turns, transitions, bus stops
• Unblock gullies regularly during the Autumn / early Winter

Most local authorities have a well-developed urban lighting maintenance programme, operated in conjunction with the Electricity Supply Board (ESB). As bulbs wear out, or light poles are damaged, the local authority lighting inspectors systematically notify the ESB for attention.

The cycle-specific maintenance issues are principally related to the quality of the light to illuminate the edge of the road; the obstruction of light through tree coverage; night time shadows disguising the presence of cyclists (to motorists);

Design options

• Ensure the lighting is of sufficient quality and intensity to illuminate where cyclists will be
• Consider additional lighting fixtures where there is changes in direction, especially on cycle tracks
• Set back trees from the line of street lights
• Choose shorter evergreen trees / bushes with compact root system

Maintenance Action

• Include cycle routes as priority routes for lighting inspection
• Prioritise lighting inspections on collector routes, where there are higher traffic speeds and volumes
• Yearly cutting back of encroaching trees at known points from inspection above
• Reporting facility from cycle users for poor or defective street lighting

This is the main cause of punctures, and a deterrent to continued cycling. The principal sources are (i) broken panels at bus stops (ii) broken bottles or jars, including around litter bins (iii) where parked cars have been interfered with

Design options

• Locate bus shelter a distance from the cyclist (see Bus Stop design choices)
• Locate litter bins at the inside of the footpath, not at the kerbside (but pay attention to the needs of blind pedestrians)
• Ensure buffer space between parked cars and passing cyclists

Maintenance Action

• Reporting facility clearly marked at bus stops, so that passengers or cyclists can report broken panels
• Provide sweeping arrangements in response to verified calls

Winter gritting and road works / reinstatements tend to deposit grit and small stones at the edge of the road where cyclists ride. If cyclists pass across grit or larger loose material, (especially with narrow “racing” wheels), this can result in loss of balance and result in accidents.

Design options

• Ensure that sweeping and debris removal are part of contractual arrangements for roadworks licence
• Specify reinstatement standards using non-granular material where possible (e.g. foam concrete)

Maintenance Action

• Regular mechanical sweeping during roadworks, or after road gritting sessions
• Inspections to assess effectiveness of sweeping
• Particular sweeping attention to bends, turns, transitions, bus stops

While surface failure can occur anywhere, there tends to be more wear and tear on bus routes. Buses end to be the slowest moving and heaviest vehicle in urban roads and streets. They are a major cause of surface deterioration, especially regarding rutting (around bus stops and slow sections of route) and joint failure (where there are construction or reinstatement joints near the kerb or the bus wheel running track).

For cyclists in shared bike /bus lanes, or on cycle lanes beside bus lanes, it is important that the surface is of good quality, so that the cyclist spends as much time as possible looking ahead and around (at traffic movements) instead of looking down (to avoid failed surfaces).

Design options

• Separate cyclists from the area of bus travel, especially around bus stops (see bus stop designs)
• Ensure bus stop area (where the bus slows and stops) are joint-free i.e. plan the wearing course construction joints away from the bus stop vicinity
• Pay special attention to road building design and construction quality around bus stops, to prevent future road failure
• Request full-lane reinstatements for roadworks within bus lanes
• Avoid location of ironmongery in vicinity of bus stops, as these may sink / stand proud of the rest of the bus stop surface over time.
• If drainage is necessary at the bus stop, install side-draining gullies. Replace conventional gullies with side draining gullies if differential settlement is occurring.

Maintenance Actions

• Joint inspection, filling and sealing on bus lanes annually
• Reporting arrangement with bus drivers / cyclists, where surface deterioration can be reported

The principal surface defects are potholes, break up of coloured surface, poor reinstatement of previous roadworks, joint movement etc. Depending on the degree of deterioration, these can affect cycling safety.

Design options

• Proper specification of materials
• Proper detailing of construction joint locations (always at right angles to bicycle wheel)
• On site supervision of new surface laying and joint sealing (avoiding cold weather)
• Sufficient drainage

Maintenance Actions

• Reporting facility for cyclists
• On site inspection of reinstatements prior to re-taking in charge from the contractor
• Visual inspection of joints as part of sweeping regime

The principal problems for cyclists associated with ironmongery are as follows:

• Poorly located gullies, lids
• Gully slots running parallel to cycle wheels
• Differential settlement – ironmongery either sunk or proud compared with the surrounding surface
• Slippery flat steel surfaces
• Temporary steel-plate roadworks
• Broken or loose lids
• These basic and reasonably obvious problems continue to be a hazard to cyclists, and should be eliminated from the street and road network.

Design options

• Locate ironmongery away from cycle routes, particularly from bends
• Specify recessed manhole lids, finished in surface layer material (paving, wearing course, specialist surface, etc.)
• Choose side draining gullies / kerb arrangements in preference to channel-located gullies. Choose flat grill gullies in preference to slotted gullies.
• Ensure solid construction under ironmongery (e.g. chamber walls)
• Ensure that ironmongery is raised as part of any road or street overlay – failure to do so may result in excessive edge-of-road camber, and / or sunken lids and covers, neither of which are conducive to cycling.
• Restrict use of steel plates; insist on gripped surfaces; insist on smooth transition from existing road through the steel plate back to the original road surface again,
• On-site supervision of all ironmongery during installation, to preclude poor choice or alignment of gullies.

Maintenance Actions

• Reporting arrangement for cyclists / bus drivers to report problem ironmongery
• Inspection of ironmongery as part of route inspections
• Re-setting of broken, loose or poorly aligned gullies or manhole covers or lids under small works contract

Ponding affects cyclists directly: the standing water can render routes impassable, by slowing bicycles down to a stop; the ponding can hide hazards (debris, holes etc.) making the route dangerous; it can also make the route slippy, and difficult to use brakes on.

Ponding and poor drainage can also indirectly affect cyclists; spray from the road can make it difficult for drivers to see cyclists; passing vehicles can spray pedestrians and cyclists by driving through kerbside water.

Finally, ponding water (especially coupled with freezing temperatures) can have a significant impact on the integrity of the road surface, with risk of potholing.

Design Options

• Proper attention to provision of sufficient crossfall, longfall and amount of surface water sewerage
• Additional drainage capacity for any retrofitted hard standing
• Use of spray reducing surfaces (e.g. porous asphalt) where possible on roads

Maintenance Actions

• Regular channel sweeping
• Regular emptying / cleaning of gullies
• Route Inspections during periods of rainfall
• Reporting mechanism for cyclists and other road users (including photo uploads)

Roots and weeds tend to be a problem that is associated with cycle tracks. As cycle tracks have significantly less construction depth, it is easier for roots to undermine the cycle track, and “pop” the surface.

Again, systematic spraying of weeds tends to deal with road and streetside weeds, but on cycle tracks, weeding tends to affect longitudinal joints at the edges of tracks, as well as undermining the surface.

Design options

• Set back trees more than 5m from cyclists
• Choose shorter evergreen trees / bushes with compact root system
• Careful attention to sealing joints

Maintenance Action

• Regular mechanical sweeping during the Autumn and early Winter
• Inclusion of cycle tracks in weed spraying programme

Road line visibility is an important contributor to the Legibility of a design. Worn markings will be less visible in the dark and wet, and make result in the driver (or cyclist) misreading the road layout. Visible road markings are a requirement for successful penalising of drivers who disregard such markings.

Locally worn road markings may be an indication of significant vehicular traffic crossing or driving along the road line – this may not be as the design was intended.

Design options

• Before relining, rethink – ensure that the road layout is optimal for its purpose before remarking the road with its original lining. Worn lining represents an opportunity to consider the potential inclusion of specific lanes (bus, bicycle), the reassessment of certain functions (e.g. parking, loading) and the type of bicycle facility that should be included (mixed, lane, track)
• Specify high quality thermoplastic line paint (e.g. 4mm thick etc.)
• Ensure road lining done in appropriate weather conditions

Maintenance Action

• Prioritise QBC, cycle routes and junctions within road line renewal programme