AN outspoken councillor refused to step aside for cyclists as he attacks a temporary cycle lane marked out with traffic cones and argues riders 'must dismount'.

Cllr Alan Amos says cones marking out the cycle path are being used by cyclists to force pedestrians onto the busy A449 Malvern Road in Worcester.

However, he also argues the cones, placed in the carriageway itself, are forcing drivers exiting the Powick roundabout close to the middle white lanes and even onto the wrong side of the road. 

COLLAPSE: Powick Old Bridge suffered a partial collapse in January as work gets underway to repair it COLLAPSE: Powick Old Bridge suffered a partial collapse in January as work gets underway to repair it (Image: James Connell/Newsquest)

Cllr Amos, county councillor for Bedwardine, criticised the decision to install the cones, placed there because nearby Powick Old Bridge, also a popular cycle route, is closed while repairs are carried out. 

Milestone bollards are to be installed to allow cyclists to have continued safe access as the repair work begins with a site visit taking place on Monday.

When the bridge initially collapsed, the county council cut back vegetation on the Worcester-bound side of the A449 to make the road wider and ensure pedestrians and cyclists could use the road safely while the bridge was assessed.  

ATTACKED: Cllr Alan Amos These are the so-called “milestones” they say they are going to put in the road later this month. As you can see for yourself, they’ll make no difference at all and will still take up a lot of road space. I understand they’ll need so many that it will cost Highways tens of thousands of pounds, at a time of budget cuts. ATTACKED: Cllr Alan Amos has criticised the milestones  pictured here and says they will take up space (Image: Alan Amos)

The same process was followed on the Malvern-bound section of the A449 to accommodate cyclists who are not confident to join the existing on-carriageway route.

Dan Brothwell, Chair of Bike Worcester said last week: “The cycling community are very pleased to see this improvement to the temporary diversion.”

Cones will now be replaced with more permanent milestone bollards which take up less space, as the repair work on Powick Old Bridge begins.

Cllr Amos said: “Traffic on this stretch of the road from Powick roundabout to the Canada Way roundabout is some of the heaviest in Worcester with non-stop flows including many HGV delivery lorries.

"The road is already fairly narrow so blocking off part of it with cones is dangerous, irresponsible, and unnecessary.

"When I visited the site with a Highways Officer last week, two cyclists were on the pavement clearly expecting me – as a pedestrian – to step onto the busy road which, of course, I did not do. They should have dismounted. Pedestrians have priority on all pavements at all times.

"Instead of causing this dangerous situation, the solutions are very simple – either telling cyclists to dismount and push their bikes for this short stretch or for Highways to cut back the overgrown hedges and bushes along the pavement thereby making the whole width of it available which would solve the problem.

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"Shortly they’re going to replace these cones with so-called “milestones” which are simply two bollards stuck on a platform but they’ll make no difference whatsoever as they’ll also be put in the road removing essential road space.

"Significantly, they still haven’t told me how much they will cost but it will be tens of thousands of pounds wasted.  It is a pity that, yet again, the demands of a handful of cyclists are given priority over pedestrians and road safety.”