Traffic lights at junction do not change for bikes

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Added by edge

When approaching this junction from the East on Widney Lane (and possibly other directions as well), the traffic lights do not detect the presence of waiting cycles.

Since the default priority at this junction is for traffic on the Blossomfield Rd / Marshall Lake Road axis, this means that cycles heading from Widney Lane to Longmore Road have to wait indefinitely to cross the junction.

In busy times this is not a problem, because a waiting car will trigger the traffic lights to change.

However, at quiet times this effectively means cycles cannot cross this junction legally at all. I have experimentally waited more than 5 minutes for the lights to change. Unless a car comes to trigger the change, cyclists are stuck.

This "bike-blindness" built into the road signalling infrastructure is unfortunately not uncommon. As well as being inconvenient for and disrespectful of cyclists, it reinforces the notion that bicycles are second-class road-users - indeed that they do not really belong on the road at all.

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