Narrowing lanes in junction
Discussion
The layout of a junction I often use has been changed recently:
Previously there was no cycle lane on the left, and no pedestrian island in the middle so no issue.
This is how it was (street view). The current street view has construction work in it so you don't see the same.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@55.0119546,-1.62081...
When coming from the south and turning right/east, the right turn lane never seems wide enough to me. Quite often there are cars passing extremely closely together, and I've seen a wing mirror get knocked off. Horns beeping from those going ahead as they see right turners coming out into their "lane"
Some people turning right will straddle the middle lane as they approach, to prevent another vehicle being by their side at the pinch point. However it feels to me like a bit of a dick move to do this if the lights are red, so I haven't done it. Straddling a little bit isn't enough as people will squeeze right beside you. Sometimes people will wait in the right lane until the forward traffic has cleared, but this causes horns to be sounded by those behind, and only works if it's not busy (you'd be there forever).
The fact that there are no lane dividing lines looks like an admission that it's not wide enough, but the council tells me that it meets national standards (hence the missing lines to meet the technical standards?) and that the width is just a perception issue.
My strategy so far is to straddle the mid lane if traffic is flowing, but if traffic is stopping at the light I just do what everyone else do and squeeze my left mirror and right alloy wheels through the gap with clenched teeth. If there's a wide van or truck, I wait and take the horns beeping from behind.
How would you handle it?
Previously there was no cycle lane on the left, and no pedestrian island in the middle so no issue.
This is how it was (street view). The current street view has construction work in it so you don't see the same.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@55.0119546,-1.62081...
When coming from the south and turning right/east, the right turn lane never seems wide enough to me. Quite often there are cars passing extremely closely together, and I've seen a wing mirror get knocked off. Horns beeping from those going ahead as they see right turners coming out into their "lane"
Some people turning right will straddle the middle lane as they approach, to prevent another vehicle being by their side at the pinch point. However it feels to me like a bit of a dick move to do this if the lights are red, so I haven't done it. Straddling a little bit isn't enough as people will squeeze right beside you. Sometimes people will wait in the right lane until the forward traffic has cleared, but this causes horns to be sounded by those behind, and only works if it's not busy (you'd be there forever).
The fact that there are no lane dividing lines looks like an admission that it's not wide enough, but the council tells me that it meets national standards (hence the missing lines to meet the technical standards?) and that the width is just a perception issue.
My strategy so far is to straddle the mid lane if traffic is flowing, but if traffic is stopping at the light I just do what everyone else do and squeeze my left mirror and right alloy wheels through the gap with clenched teeth. If there's a wide van or truck, I wait and take the horns beeping from behind.
How would you handle it?
Be a dick and straddle the lane is the safest thing to do. The council probably know that it's an issue and don't want to spend the money fixing it - by the looks of it the left lane is a bit wider than the other two and that's where the problem is. Give it a few months and a few HGVs will have chewed the kerb out on the right when they try to make the turn, you'll have plenty of room then.
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