A paint job aimed to break the “optical illusion” which caused people to fall in the Keynsham High Street cycle lane failed to impress some in the town who remain “bamboozled.”

Contractors have painted new double yellows along the road and changed the solid white line along the edge of the cycle lane to a dashed line. Paul Roper (Kingsmead, Liberal Democrat), the council’s cabinet member for economic and cultural sustainable development, said: “This mitigation should make the change in levels clearer to pedestrians and prevent further trips and falls.”

It comes after scores of people have tripped and fallen since the cycle lane was installed by Bath and North East Somerset Council two years ago, with some people left with painful injuries. There is a kerb and a drop between the pavement and cycle lane, a white painted line between the cycle lane and planters and bike racks, and then another kerb that drops down to the road. One person who fell called it an “optical illusion.”

The cycle lane was painted red in August 2022 but people have continued to get hurt, with around three people reporting falling each month ever since. Now the council is hoping that turning the solid white line into a dashed line will finally fix the problem.

But many people out and about on the high street on the first day since it was painted remain concerned. Asked if he thought it would stop people falling, Jeff Gardner, 74, said “not a bit.”

He added: “They are trying to bring your attention to the line, I can see that, but I don’t think black is going to bring people’s attention to it.”

He said he’d seen several people fall in the cycle lane and warned: “If you were working in industry, you would never have this because it’s a trip hazard. You’d definitely never have a step there. Its just dangerous.”

Derek Francis, 78, warned that the drop was the problem. He said: “Get rid of these kerbs and just have a white line. I’m very careful because if I fall over I’ll have had it.”

Jean Culverwell, 77, said: “Nobody falls down that end [Temple Street] because its a normal road, but here you have got to have your wits about you.

She said: “If you wear varifocals like I do, you are completely bamboozled by it.”

Almaira Hughes, 69, said: “I have fallen over, myself. I tripped several times.”

She also uses the lane as a cyclist but warned that, because bikes travel in one direction, many people walking along the street didn’t realise it was there and could step out in front of cyclists.

One woman, who wanted to remain anonymous, said she thought the new dashed line might help to stop the falls. She added: “I use the walkway, the pedestrian crossing, so it hasn’t really affected me.”

Keynsham residents waited about a month-and-a-half for the work to happen. Bath and North East Somerset Council announced the paintwork in February but said it would happen “at the earliest opportunity,” weather and contractor availability allowing. 

The decision to turn the solid line into a dashed line was controversial. Alan Hale (Keynsham South, Conservative) warned in February that the changes planned by the council are not those which auditors recommended. They had suggested putting tactile paving along the kerb but the scheme’s designers said this could cause more confusion.

Mr Hale said: “It seems to me that the council administration have spent good money on an audit but, having received the results, they together with the officers and the design team have decided to dismiss what they have been told.”