The Overlooked Cycle Lane

Reading Time: 2 minutes
There is a cycle lane that has been available for years at this point. I rarely, if ever see cyclists use it. There are three reasons for this. The first is that there is an empty bus lane that cyclists can use to get away from cars. The second reason is that the entrance to the cycle lane is hidden when you’re cycling from Geneva, by the Porte de Nyon roundabout. The consequence is that by the time you realise that there is a cycle lane you can’t mount it, so you’re stuck with the buses.

Since buses are irregular along that road it is an ideal cycle lane. The second reason for the lack of traffic is that if you’re cycling to, or through Geneva you’re likely to go via the lake or via Route Du Stand because traffic is less dense, and thus more pleasant. The more you cycle, the more detailed your pleasantness map develops.

By pleasantness map I mean that we cycle, and if the experience is good, we’re likely to ride the route once more, but if it’s bad, then we’re more likely to avoid it in future, in favour of routes that are higher on the pleasantness score board. Over time you can cycle routes that barely expose you to toxic drivers. Plenty of drivers are kind and considerate, but some key roads are suspicious. One of those roads is currently being redone, over two years, and I doubt it will include anything to make cycling feel safer.

The third and final reason is that, for years, this bit of cycling and walking infrastructure is separate from all other cycling infrastructure. Since it is not an integral part of cycling infrastructure you don’t use it. For it to be used it has to be indicated ahead of time.

That the road before and after this cycling infrastructure has heavy, fast, traffic doesn’t help. It might be limited to sixty kilometres per hour, but cars are fast, and squeeze by cyclists if they can, so if you’re on a bike it’s tempting to avoid the route.

As a pedestrian this route is also sub-optimal. It takes you from the new residential area but requires you to cross a busy roundabout on one side, and a very busy road on the other. If you walk another route, a few meters down, you walk to the shopping centre.

It is amusing that there is a cycle lane that we all forget about, due to where it’s placed, and how disconnected it is from cycling infrastructure. It also shows that the simple act of adding a bus lane makes a cycling lane automatically.