Riding to work on tuesday morning, down a stretch of promanarde that is for cyclists and pedestrians only, in between New Brighton and Seacombe on the Wirral. About quarter of the way down I see a bin lorry driving in the cycle lane from about 500 meters away, I stay in the cycle lane getting closer and closer and the lorry showing no signs of moving until I am a few feet away. At which point I raise my arm and shout to the driver ‘this is a cycle lane!’, to which I get a torrent of abuse. Shocked, but not really surprised I carry on until I get to work, then I ring the council to make a complaint. The woman on the phone was helpful, but slightly dismissive, and she said I will get a follow up call from a member of management but without a reg. no. she wasn’t sure there was much they could do.
As a fellow wirral resident i cycle the prom frequently, on and within the cycle lane, and it is shared with Paramedic cars, transit type caged refuse collection vehicles, and big recycling compactors and un recyclable waste collection vehicles, along with an Armed responce unit a few months ago,the councils own security patrol then there is the RNLI, looking for people in trouble in the water, or who may have drowned, the Coastguard doing the same, and the Environment agency, all use the prom to access bins, used by some doggers to dump their little plastic bags of dog pooh, or as a route to an emergency etc.
Also i would rather have a vehicle traveling slowly down the white lined cycle lane, as opposed to swerving all over the prom, to avoid cyclists, doggers, walkers, and kids whos parents have no control over them.