I READ with interest the article about the cycle track at the junction of Murton Lane and the A166 (An L' of an idea, The Press, July 5).

Last month, I cycled from Prague to Milan, calling in at the Velo City cycling conference, in Munich, where I presented a technical paper. I am pleased to say I did not come across the type of design installed at Murton Lane, and consider it undesirable.

When the Millennium cycle bridge was being considered, about seven designs were submitted. These were produced by professional organizations, but from memory six designs had safety defects, so it is far from easy to design good cycling facilities.

The A166 cycle crossing is poor because it involves crossing extra traffic lanes and joining traffic, plus the traffic viewing and expectation aspects may be reduced.

Extra delays would be involved, plus large vehicles waiting on Murton Lane could obstruct the crossing. Also, cyclists not familiar with the junction may not know to use the appropriate path.

Other cycling facilities in York are also of questionable quality from a convenience and safety point of view. What could be helpful to councils across the region is for all cycling facilities designs to be submitted to national cyclists' organisation CTC's regional group, and for a quarterly meeting to evaluate and approve or reject the designs.

Colin Clarke, Hon Sec CTC Yorkshire and Humber Region, The Crescent, Stamford Bridge, York.

A City of York Council spokeswoman said: "This type of feature - a jug-handle turn - is primarily aimed at less-confident cyclists, many of whom use the National Cycle Network paths, and gives them an alternative to turning right in the conventional manner.

"More confident cyclists are still able to turn right as they would at other junctions by signalling and moving to the centre of the road.

"This type of facility has been used successfully throughout the UK and can be found in guidance from the Department for Transport, Cycling England and Sustrans.

"In recent years, City of York Council has created more than 140km of cycle routes to accommodate as many cyclists as possible, from novices through to traffic-hardened commuters.

"While we would agree that not all facilities are the most appropriate for all cyclists, they have all undergone risk assessments and safety audits to ensure they are safe for use "The local CTC representatives and the York Cycle Campaign are consulted on cycle-related schemes and their views taken into consideration."