A Leeds man has been "forced" to cycle on the pavement after a new bike lane has been blocked by several cars.
Pete, who lives in Harehills, decided to ditch his car back in 2013 and invested in a bike last year. But since changing his transportation method to get around the city, he has found cars blocking the cycle lanes.
Last Thursday (April 14) the 69-year-old was looking forward to trying out the "lovely" new cycle path between Lincoln Road and Dolly Lane. But the self-proclaimed confident biker found he wasn't able to use the lane after it was blocked by "a minimum of 20 cars".
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In a video clip he shared online, raking in hundreds of views, Pete said he was "forced" to cycle on the pavement outside of St James Hospital. He can be seen close to pedestrians and the parked cars, explaining there is nowhere else for him to go.
In a tweet he said: "This is the lovely new cycle path behind St. James Hospital in Leeds with over a dozen cars parked on it forcing me to either use the road or the pavement to get past." Speaking to Leeds Live, Pete added: "I cycle this route every time I travel into Leeds."
And a number of people responded to his tweet saying they had experienced the same issue, while others added they had "almost been run over by cyclists" due to the lane being occupied by vehicles.
Marie Strawberry, who lives in Leeds, said: "Sadly, if you're trying to get into St James' from West Leeds side or from Sheepscar Interchange you're much better off using the shortcut from Dolly Lane and Gledhow Road which is only open weekdays. It's a pain to detour using the official cycle lane."
While @northersoul added: "There is not a lot of space for cyclists to be safe. What is needed is bollards along the lane to stop selfish drivers parking there." And @MrAnthony said: "It's the same everywhere in Leeds where they've added the cycle paths. Even on lower Briggate there's cafe seats or vans in them."
Pete added: "It [the cycle lane] cuts out the traffic lights junction at Accommodation Road, which can be really busy and often has traffic queuing all the way down to Regent Street. This route down Lincoln Road and Dolly Lane gives cyclists easy and safer access to Mabgate and through to Leeds centre.
"It is poorly marked, and something needs to be done about this. I have never seen less than a dozen cars parked on this cycle lane, one day I counted 19 vehicles. I try to use segregated cycle ways to get where I’m going if possible, it’s much safer, I’ve had many close shaves.
"There is a parking area half way down Lincoln Road that has space also there are several parking bays along both roads, use them, not the cycle lane, they can incur fines for parking on a cycle lane, so it’s definitely in the driver's interest not to park here."
Pete's disappointment comes after he vowed to use his bike as much as possible. He enjoys cycling to Wakefield, Castleford, Harrogate, Wetherby and Knaresborough, but he is now "wary" of his passion.
He added: "I’ve a bus pass. The bike is generally always my preferred mode of transportation unless it’s icy. Leeds has and is improving great segregated cycle ways, what it also needs now if they want more people to commute on their bikes is better safe and secure parking for bikes.
"Thrived target e-bikes because of the high value, I’m very wary as to where I park my bike when I go out, even with 2 D-Locks I’m reluctant to leave on the streets."
Leeds Live have contacted Leeds City Council for more information on the incident.
