An English council was today slammed after a road was closed for a month so a 20ft cycle lane referred to as a ‘glorified lay-by’ could be fitted.
Staffordshire County Council oversaw the new lane in Kidsgrove, Stoke-on-Trent.
The short route has room for cycle traffic in both directions – and is the first in the area.
But one local pensioner blasted the weak attempt to encourage residents to get on their bikes, claiming the short stretch of protected road is ‘basically just a lay-by’.
Bill Priddin, 73, said: ‘They closed that road down for about four or five weeks and that is what they put up.
‘It’s only about 20 feet. If they’re trying to get people on their bikes, it’s not doing a very good job.
‘I just find it amusing.’
Fellow resident David Holland, 50, described the path as ‘pointless’.
He said: ‘I don’t see what the point of it is. People don’t know it’s there, and even if they did it wouldn’t get used.
‘Our roads aren’t wide enough for cycle paths in the area. Cyclists just use the roads anyway, so it’s a waste of money.’
But David Williams, cabinet member for highways and transport at Staffordshire County Council, justified the development as an attempt to make cycling safer.
