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CS11 protester says group she heads not behind Regent's Park tacks

Claims campaigners ‘are not anti-cyclist’

The leader of a campaign to stop CS11 from being built has said that her group was not behind the tacks spread at Regent’s Park last week. Tacks were found on the Outer Circle – which is on the proposed CS11 route – at 7am on Friday, following a similar discovery on the Inner Circle eight days before.

Regent’s Park Cyclists’ spokesman, Justin McKie, said: “Cyclists doing laps generally travel at around 20mph, so getting a puncture which causes loss of control will quite often leave the rider on the floor and most likely injured. If that’s in front of a car, then that’s the big concern.”

Jessica Learmond-Criqui, who is behind a crowdfunding drive to raise £150,000 for a judicial review of CS11, condemned the actions and told Ham&High that most objectors were not ‘anti-cyclist’.

“If the tacks on the road were placed there deliberately that is criminal, homicidal irresponsibility and should be condemned by anyone and everyone. But tacks are not just anti cyclist, it’s anti motorist too.

“I understand that there may be long-running tensions between training cyclists and residents and or motorists in the park. I have never met anyone involved in objecting to CS11 who would countenance or condone putting tacks on the road.

“CS11 objectors are not anti-cyclist and we have made that clear on many occasions. Any suggestion otherwise is provocative and designed purposefully to stir discontent.”

In April, Learmond-Criqui said that Cycle Superhighway 11, which is proposed to run from Swiss Cottage to the West End, would “act as a cork” to traffic, forcing cars onto narrow residential roads and worsening air pollution.

The employment lawyer, who lives and works around Hampstead, said: “Finchley Road is used by 35 million vehicles, and CS11 will see more than 200 more vehicles per hour being funnelled through the streets of Hampstead because TfL are trying to narrow five lanes to three at Swiss Cottage. Hampstead has 12,500 children and 55 schools and pollution is a danger. Hampstead is exceeding safety levels for pollution."

Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.

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9 comments

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brooksby | 7 years ago
3 likes

And another thing: does she understand that the CS is pretty much sod all to do with "training cyclists" riding circuits of the park...?

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brooksby | 7 years ago
3 likes

...Claims Pope is not Catholic  1

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Bluebug | 7 years ago
3 likes

Her campaign is nonsense.

Cycling superhighways tend to be just blue paint on the road for most of their distance.  The roads that are used  tend to be only one lane width wide anyway for cars, vans etc and all they do is stop cars parking along the road all the time.  This means if you are driving and an emergency vehicle needs to get through you move into the blue paint as long as there are no cyclists there.

Also people like her shouldn't be in cars during busy times of the week. Only those in the trades,  delivery people and the disabled should be allowed to use their cars at those times. She like many of the other lawyers I know should be using public transport to get around.

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HarrogateSpa | 7 years ago
5 likes

It's truly ludicrous to claim that making provision for safe cycling increases pollution.

J L-C is anti-cycling and pro-car, and it is the cars that produce the pollution and are the congestion. How do these people expect to be taken seriously when they say such stupid things.

Is the paragraph about Finchley Road being used by 35 million vehicles correct? That must be about the total number of vehicles in the UK, and I can't imagine they all converge on one road.

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wycombewheeler replied to HarrogateSpa | 7 years ago
3 likes
HarrogateSpa wrote:

It's truly ludicrous to claim that making provision for safe cycling increases pollution.

J L-C is anti-cycling and pro-car, and it is the cars that produce the pollution and are the congestion. How do these people expect to be taken seriously when they say such stupid things.

Is the paragraph about Finchley Road being used by 35 million vehicles correct? That must be about the total number of vehicles in the UK, and I can't imagine they all converge on one road.

I don't think this some sort of sreal effect where every car journey between any two places in the UK goes along the finchley road.

Assuming cars pass continually at 30 a minute (2 second seperation between vehicles for safety) on all 3 lanes. 24 hours a day 365 days a year that would total 47 million vehicles per year.

So while I think yhe figure is vehicles per year and will count many vehicles multiple times, I still think it is a tad high.

I used to ride through there and it was busy but it wasn't flowing like a motorway.

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wycombewheeler | 7 years ago
8 likes

earmond-Criqui said that Cycle Superhighway 11, which is proposed to run from Swiss Cottage to the West End, would “act as a cork” to traffic, forcing cars onto narrow residential roads and worsening air pollution

 

this is only true if equal traffic volumes are imposed on roads regardless of capacity, like rainwater drainage. But we know that car use expands to fill the space available. If car journey times increase people will look for other solutions and total motor traffic (and therefor pollution) will decrease.

The backlash is that it is too easy and comfortable to travel by car and people don't want to look for other options, once they find them they probably won't even miss the drive. After all urban driving is not enjoyable.

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davel | 7 years ago
8 likes

"Jessica Learmond-Criqui, who is behind a crowdfunding drive to raise £150,000 for a judicial review of CS11, condoned the actions"

Privately, she might well do, but you mean 'condemned' there.

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Leviathan | 7 years ago
2 likes

Learmond-Criqui? Too posh by half; not in my urban park. The lady doth protest too much.

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DaveE128 | 7 years ago
11 likes

If Learmond-Criqui is really so concerned about air pollution, then she'd realise that protected cycling infrastructure is part of the solution.

I don't buy the idea that she isn't anti-cyclists - she doesn't seem desperately concerned about the safety issues that protected infrastructure is designed to address!

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