We visit Keynsham’s notorious cycle lane and watch in horror as it claims another victim

Thud. No sooner had I arrived in Keynsham High Street to see the notorious cycle lane where a rising number of people have been injured since it was installed last year, than it claimed another victim.

Dave Dawson from Bristol was only in the area for half an hour to get some shopping but he tripped over the kerb and cut his hands badly just in front of me.

Helped up by fellow pedestrians, blood covering his fingers, he was shaken but said he was otherwise OK. He was one of the lucky ones as others have ended up with broken bones.

“I just went flying because you can’t see the edge and it’s quite sharp,” he told me, trying to clean the blood from his hands.

“I’ve seen other people falling here so I was trying to be twice as careful but I just went over.”

More than 60 people have now been injured on the new cycle lane on Keynsham High Street since it was installed last year.

One person who fell described the cycle lane as an “optical illusion” as there were kerbs and painted white lines which looked similar to each other.

One of the problems people are finding is that there is a mix of kerbs and drop-kerbs either side of the cycle path, which was painted red in August in respite to the rising number of people falling.

Keynsham South councillor Alan Hale, who obtained the figures through a freedom of information request sent to Bath and North East Somerset Council, warned that someone could suffer fatal injuries on the road.

Twenty-one people have pursued personal injury compensation claims against the council in relation to the road. Seven of these have been rejected but the rest remain open and under investigation.

Pensioner Mike Greensides fell over on the cycle track last year and he told Bristol World that he has seen several others injured in recent months.

“A lot of older people don’t expect cyclists and scooters coming along, they get confused so I’m not at all surprised by the number of people who have been injured.

“The thing is, we don’t even get many cyclists coming along here - there were more before they installed this cycle path!”

Tom Rhymes said he had seen a pedestrian fall badly on the cycle path last week.

He said: “There was an ambulance and paramedic by the post office last week. It’s dangerous for older people, some sections are flat, some have a kerb and you don’t realise until it’s too late and people catch their feet on the kerb.”

Gilbert Radford said: “If you stand here and watch how many cyclists go up here, there are hardly any. It’s a complete waste of money, a real shambles.

“Last Thursday, a woman fell over straight down on her face and was unconscious. I’m 82 and have lived in Keynsham most of my life but the council don’t know what they’re doing.”

Councillor Mark Roper, the council’s cabinet member for economic development, regeneration and growth, has defended the council’s response to the issues.

He said: “The new Keynsham High Street cycle lane is built to the government’s current LTN120 standards, and when some early problems were identified with the double kerb down to the road surface, a series of mitigations were put in place which has had the effect of substantially reducing the number of reported incidents.

“However we have now commissioned a Stage 4 Road Safety to suggest further improvements and mitigations and prevent any further issues. This will report back early in the next administration.”