Suggested Improvements to Way of the Roses Stage One

The Way of the Roses is a very nice long-distance cycle route, but it could certainly be improved. Here are some suggestions for Stage One.

Central Drive, Morecambe

The very start of the Way of the Roses involves negotiating a roundabout of the busy A589 to Central Drive (pictured above).

The roundabout has a painted cycle lane around the edge – the sort of cycle ‘infrastructure’ which should have gone out with the dinosaurs. Paragraph 10.7.7 of LTN 1/20 Cycle Infrastructure Design confirms this.

It is unfortunate that the moment you begin the ride, you’re exposed to terrible, outdated, unsafe provision. Lancashire County Council has not covered itself in glory here.

At the other side of the roundabout, Central Drive itself is a busy dual carriageway with narrow, unprotected, painted, advisory ‘murder-strip’ cycle lanes that put you in the gutter.

Again, this is terrible provision that does not meet modern standards.

Before the next roundabout, you’re supposed to ride onto the pavement, cross Central Drive on a zebra crossing (pedestrians only), then use a shared use path past Morrisons to Hilmore Way.

The problems with this arrangement are:

• it is poorly signposted and easy to miss
• the zebra crossing ought to be a parallel crossing, allowing cycling
• the whole arrangement is unintuitive and inconvenient, so many people will stay on the road instead

Bay Rose Crossing

Where you turn left off Hilmore Way, you cross the entrance to a retail park. There’s a special design feature here called Bay Rose crossing, and an information board says it was co-designed by the People’s Jury on Climate Change.

The road markings indicate that it does not provide legal priority over motor vehicles.

I would rather have a cycle crossing with priority, not a novelty crossing with none. Creative artwork is great in the right place, but not helpful here.

Railway Path Morecambe to Lancaster

The railway path from Morecambe to Lancaster, and beyond Lancaster to Caton, is a nice gentle start to the Way of the Roses.

The surface is ok, but could be better. It would be great if it was genuinely and consistently smooth – i.e. please resurface the whole lot.

Also, white line segregation is not the current standard. A level difference and different surface colour or texture would be far better.

I do much prefer the current arrangement with a white line to fully shared/no segregation, where people are much more likely to block the path.

Low Road, Halton Green

After leaving the railway path at Crook of Lune, you pass the snack bar pictured above then turn right on Low Road.

It is quite a steep hill and a narrow, twisty lane, and there’s a fair bit of traffic. It feels unsafe because you have to dodge potholes while drivers are overtaking you in a constrained space.

The Low Road section of the Way of the Roses needs to be resurfaced properly.

Junction of Aughton Road and Borwick Road/Fall Kirk

The signs at the junction of Aughton Road and Borwick Road/Fall Kirk are not right, as follows:

• the Gressingham/Hornby sign points in the correct direction but
• the Eskrigge/Aughton sign does not point the right way – it should be pointing towards the photographer

I raised this with Lancashire County Council in November 2025, and they appeared to say they would take action. When I passed this point again in October 2026, nothing had changed.

It may be that someone keeps tampering with the signs.

The B6480 Between Hornby and Wray

The B6480 is a nasty, busy road.

Thirty years ago, English B-roads might have been fine as cycle routes, but now there is too much traffic and there are too many impatient drivers.

A country that took touring cycling seriously, and genuinely wanted to attract visitors with a good experience, would put a cycle path parallel to the road. Ideally it would be other side of the hedge.

It might third party land – but then negotiate the right to put a cycle path there and do it.

Junction of Mewith Lane and Spen Brow

The signs at the junction of Mewith Lane and Spen Brow are repeatedly pointing the wrong way, damaged or missing.

In November 2025, I reported to Lancashire County Council that they had been turned round to point into the field.

I don’t know what action the council took, but by October 2026 there was still a problem:

• the eastbound sign had gone missing and
• the signpost was falling over

It could be that someone is repeatedly tampering with this sign.

Fragment of Path by the A65

There’s a fragment of gravel path soon after Clapham, which enables Way of the Roses cyclists to avoid the A65.

At the time of writing it is being resurfaced – which, given that it’s North Yorkshire Council, is a miracle in itself.

The obvious thing to do would be to do it properly with a sealed surface that will actually last. I expect we are getting more gravel or crushed limestone, which will deteriorate quickly.

Leaving Settle

As you pass The Folly when you are leaving Settle, the road splits in two: School Hill to the left and Victoria Street to the right.

There is a sign directing you along Victoria Street, but it’s sideways on so hidden.

Ultimately, the two roads rejoin further up at Settle Junction Lodge, so it doesn’t matter.

Still, my recommendation would be to decide which is the official route, then sign it with signs that people can see as they approach the junction.

The B6265 in Cracoe

You have to ride on the B6265 in Cracoe, and it’s busy with motor vehicles including quarry trucks. The volume of traffic and the 40mph speed limit makes it hostile to cycling.

It’s difficult to see where a dedicated cycle path could go, so focusing on speed would appear to be the way forward.

If the road were made 20mph with traffic-calming, it would feel much safer – so that is my suggestion.