A council row has erupted after a local authority spent £500,000 making a cycle lane more dangerous.
Norfolk County Council has faced fierce backlash after spending half a million pounds on a cycle lane scheme that residents claim has actually increased danger for cyclists rather than protecting them.
The project on Middleton Road in the seaside town of Gorleston, which stretches less than a mile, was intended as a flagship initiative to promote cycling and received funding through the government's Active Travel Fund.
However, locals have condemned the scheme as a "colossal waste of money", arguing the installation of cycle lanes on both sides of the road has significantly narrowed driving space and created hazardous conditions.
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Retailers along the route report that reduced parking availability has damaged their businesses, while mobility scooter users and delivery vehicles regularly obstruct the new lanes, the Daily Express reports.
Les West, an 83-year-old resident, described the project in stark terms, stating: "It is a disgusting, horrendous waste of money.
"They have made a busy road into a dangerous one.
"It is a colossal waste of money and I can't see the point in it at all."
The initiative has been regarded as a 'flagship vanity' project by the Taxpayers' Alliance
|GETTY
Sue Bowman, 53, who works at the Rose Garden florist on the affected street, echoed these concerns, saying: "It has gone from a safe road to a very unsafe, dangerous road.
"It is awful. I don't like driving on it now.
"The lanes you drive on are too narrow and the road is so narrow because the cycle lanes have been put in."
She added motorists continue parking in the cycle lanes because they no longer know where to stop.
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Middleton Road in Gorleston where the infamous cycle lane has been made
|GOOGLE STREET VIEW
Liz Spires, 66, visiting the florist to arrange funeral flowers for her late husband, called the scheme "bloody stupid".
Cyclists themselves have joined the chorus of criticism, reporting that the new infrastructure has paradoxically made their journeys more perilous.
Julie Hall, 64, who cycles along Middleton Road to reach her workplace at James Paget Hospital, explained the daily frustrations, commenting: "If someone is parked on the cycle lane you have to ride on the pavement. Binmen getting the waste bins are parked in the cycle lanes."
Fellow cyclist Anthony Hollis, also 64, questioned whether the expenditure was justified: "I think it is a lot of money for what it is. If they had widened the pavement they wouldn't have had to do any of this. Riding on the pavement is safer than riding on the road."
Another resident, speaking anonymously, noted that while the road was previously wide, it has now been significantly narrowed, creating particular difficulties when lorries pass through.
The TaxPayers' Alliance has weighed in on the controversy, with grassroots development manager Benjamin Elks labelling the scheme a "half-million-pound white elephant".
He said: "Norfolk County Council has managed the rare feat of spending a fortune to make a road less functional for drivers, less profitable for shopkeepers, and even less safe for the very cyclists they claim to be helping."
Mr Elks urged councils to reconsider their approach: "Local authorities need to stop prioritising flagship vanity projects over the common-sense concerns of the people who actually live and work on these streets."
The scheme introduced new zebra crossings and reflective wands to separate traffic from cyclists, but ongoing problems with vehicles blocking the lanes have undermined its effectiveness.
Norfolk County Council has been approached for comment.
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