Test 012
Reading Practice: The Return of the Bicycle Lane
Reading Text
At half past seven the avenue fills with a steady stream of cyclists, most of them heading for the offices beyond the river. A year ago this was a four-lane road where anyone on a bicycle was an exception. Since the new track opened in spring, the morning flow has grown to nine hundred riders an hour, and by eight it has become almost continuous.
A year of planning produced a modest-looking change: one traffic lane and a strip of parking went, and a two-way track was laid along the northern kerb, separated by a low concrete edge. Two junctions were narrowed, so turning vehicles now cross the path at a sharper angle. Having measured the street beforehand, the team expected speeds to fall.
Drivers have adapted more slowly. In the first weeks, vans delivering to the bakery regularly stopped in the track, and turning cars often failed to look right. By the third month such conflicts had fallen by half. Footage suggests that most drivers now check the mirror twice before turning. Not once did the team record a serious collision, though near misses were frequent at the start.
Pedestrians, whose interests are often assumed to clash with those of cyclists, have gained most quietly. Crossing distances have shortened, and waiting times at the two junctions have dropped by about twenty seconds. Complaints about bicycles on the footway rose briefly, then declined as the track filled. Counts at the school gate show a small but steady rise in children walking, which the team links to calmer traffic rather than to the track itself.
Shopkeepers were initially sceptical. A petition against the loss of parking collected several hundred signatures, and one hardware store predicted a fall in trade of a third. Twelve months of till data tell a duller story: takings have stayed level, and shops selling coffee or bread report more customers between seven and nine. Parking, it turns out, was never the main reason people stopped; crossing the road easily may matter more.
Six months of measurement have produced a picture that is reliable in outline but incomplete in detail. Speeds have fallen, cycling has roughly tripled, and the tendency for conflicts to cluster at two junctions is clear. Whether the figures will survive a wet winter is unknown, and the team has been careful to say that one season cannot settle the argument. The evidence supports a modest conclusion: a street can be rearranged gradually, and people will adjust, provided the change is legible.