The old adage “if it aint broke” springs to mind on hearing that expansion plans for the controversial bike lanes in Benidorm have been put on hold. Even before completion of the bright red lane in the middle of Avd Jaime 1 in the Old Town, many were already expressing concerns about the logistics and safety.

Pictures of the red route running through the middle of a roundabout caused much ridicule on social media at the beginning of this year – but the Councillor for Transport, Ramon Gonzalez de Zarate insisted that the centre of the road was the safest place for cyclists.

Now there appears to be a U-turn by the ruling PP party and the council have put a ‘temporary’ halt while they ‘have a period of consultation with users’! The opposing parties – namely the PSOE, Ciudadanos, Liberales and Compromis-Verde have all joined together to force the council to delay further implementation until a proper study has been carried out.

One would have thought that this study should have taken place PRIOR to embarking on the project – which has caused major traffic disruption to locals. Even bikers have expressed reservations about the layout, which they have said is ok if going straight but a real hazard when turning, as you have to cross over the flow of traffic.

For experienced bikers this may not be such an issue, but for those that perhaps have hired one of the city bikes and are less familiar, it’s an accident waiting to happen. If it is concluded that it is indeed unsafe the council will then have to spend more time and money sandblasting the red lanes off!