Cycle Track on Priory Road Approaching Pershore Road
This is the cycle track along Priory Road, with the footpath between the cycle track and the motor traffic. This cycle track is separated from the footpath by a vertical kerb, dropping down from the cycle track to the footpath, except at this crossing of the cycle track where the cycle track dips down to the height of the footpath and back up again (which could give a nasty jolt to cycle users who are not expecting it, potentially causing an accident). It is not clear why a vertical kerb has been used here, when raised painted lines and raised trapezoidal strips have been used elsewhere in Birmingham (as shown by the overlay photo, which is of the cycleway being built on the Dudley Road). This design feels dangerous to me - the cycle track is not 3 meters wide along its whole length, and the vertical drop at the edge reduces the effective width further. If someone was coming down the hill at 15 mph, and a new cycle user was wobbling up the hill, there would not be enough space for them to pass comfortably. Section 5.2 of LTN 1/20 suggests a minimum width of 1 meter for a cycle user travelling in a straight line at over 7 mph, but that that can increase to 1.6 meters for cycle users travelling at less than 7 mph, such as going up hill. As the drop-off is on the ascending side of the cycle track, we can assume that cycle users wobbling up the hill will be trying to wobble away from the drop-off, and will be in the centre of the cycle track. If a different design had been used, with the footpath at the same level as the cycle track, then there would have been space for cycle users to wobble into the footpath, getting around the issues with width constraints. The use of the vertical kerb here is a significant design flaw and it should be avoided in the future.
