Alien'-looking road junction in Manchester leaves commuters scratching their heads with a confusing network of cycle lanes and islands

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An ‘alien’-looking junction resembling a large eye has left commuters scratching their heads.

The ‘cyclops’ design, part of a £13.4million Manchester bike lane project, has been branded confusing, with businesses also unhappy with the disruption caused. 

One Chorlton-Cum-Hardy resident said it has made life worse for pedestrians, who must now walk through cycle lanes to reach ‘islands’ to get across the road.

‘There are so many different coloured surfaces and road markings. It looks completely alien,’ they added.

The ‘cyclops’ design, part of a £13.4million Manchester bike lane project, has been branded confusing, with businesses also unhappy with the disruption caused

The ‘cyclops’ design, part of a £13.4million Manchester bike lane project, has been branded confusing, with businesses also unhappy with the disruption caused

One Chorlton-Cum-Hardy resident said it has made life worse for pedestrians, who must now walk through cycle lanes to reach ‘islands’ to get across the road

One Chorlton-Cum-Hardy resident said it has made life worse for pedestrians, who must now walk through cycle lanes to reach ‘islands’ to get across the road

An aerial view of the new cycle lane crossroads where Wilbraham Road meets Barlow Moor Road in Chorlton, Manchester

An aerial view of the new cycle lane crossroads where Wilbraham Road meets Barlow Moor Road in Chorlton, Manchester

The cycle optimised protected signals (cyclops) design is said to prevent ‘left hook’ incidents, where those on bikes are hit by vehicles turning left. 

Riders approach by one of the green cycle lanes and go around the junction clockwise, following their own traffic-light system of signals.

It is the first of 30 planned cyclops crossings in the county. Businesses have claimed four years of traffic disruption to install the routes have severely hit their profits.

A Manchester council spokesman said a range of ‘unavoidable delays’ had put back the project.