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Campaigners say London’s Nine Elms cycling proposals are "woeful"

Walking and Cycling Commissioner encourages cyclists to respond to consultation

London Cycling Campaign (LCC) has strongly criticised Transport for London (TfL) proposals for Nine Elms and Battersea Park Road, saying they fall some way short of London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s ambition to make London a ‘byword for cycling around the world’. In response, the capital’s Walking and Cycling Commissioner, Will Norman, has encouraged cyclists to have their say before designs are finalised.

“For something that was billed as being ‘better than Amsterdam’ for cycling, the new proposals for Nine Elms and Battersea Park Road are woeful,” writes LCC on its website.

“Instead of having a safe, physically separate, cycle lane along this wide road, cyclists will have to make do with a part-time bus lane and painted cycle lanes. The major junctions will still offer cyclists and pedestrians no protection from ‘left hooks’, where vehicles can turn across people heading straight on – incredibly risky given the high number of large lorries in the area.

“This is far below the standard needed to encourage large numbers of people to cycle, and doesn’t match the Mayor’s ambition to make London a ‘byword for cycling around the world’.”

The campaign group says it has seen a number of recent schemes that prioritise motor traffic badged as ‘Healthy Streets’ – which is supposedly the term for a long-term plan to encourage more Londoners to walk and cycle.

“What message does this send from Sadiq, his Walking & Cycling Commissioner Will Norman and TfL to the rest of London?” it asks. “We think it means anti-cycling boroughs will think any old rubbish they want to bring forward will get funding; that putting some ASLs and a bus lane in will mean the scheme ticks the boxes for cycling.”

Norman subsequently got in touch with the group to say: “We are committed to improving cycling right across London and I want to assure you that we will only take forward projects that will bring real benefits.

“We will ensure that the final designs for Nine Elms Lane and Battersea Park Road offer a safe, high quality cycle route that can be used by all Londoners to travel between Battersea and Vauxhall. The proposals we published are not finalised designs, they are ideas for consultation and I strongly encourage you to have your say.

“We want to hear views from as wide a range of people as possible as the plans are developed. We need both your support and your criticism, and I can assure you that your voice will be listened to and reflected in the changes that will be made to the design for this route following the consultation.”  

The deadline for feedback is August 20. You can have your say here.

Norman continued by highlighting other upcoming cycling projects.

“We are consulting on a long-overdue transformation of Waterloo IMAX, closing off one arm of the roundabout to create a tree-filled public square and segregated cycle lanes. And a little further up the river, we have developed proposals to make walking and cycling safer at the northern and southern roundabouts of Lambeth Bridge. On the bridge itself, our plans include two-metre wide cycle tracks in both directions.

“I can also tell you that we’re looking forward to sharing our plans for the next two major cycling routes – Cycle Superhighways 4 and 9 – in the autumn. As you’ve seen from our Strategic Cycling Analysis, we’ve got big plans for the future of cycling in London. Our Cycling Delivery Plan, to be published later this year, will set out more details on which of these routes we will be prioritising for investment and I encourage you to keep making your voices heard so that that we can take these projects forward.”

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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JohnAc | 6 years ago
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@emishi55  re:grid  From the draft Mayor's Transport Strategy
Proposal 3
The Mayor, through TfL and the boroughs, will deliver a London-wide network of cycle routes, with new routes and improved infrastructure to tackle barriers to cycling. The Mayor’s aim is for 70 per cent of Londoners to live within 400 metres of a high-quality, safe cycle route by 2041.

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emishi55 replied to JohnAc | 6 years ago
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JohnAc wrote:

The Mayor’s aim is for 70 per cent of Londoners to live within 400 metres of a high-quality, safe cycle route by 2041.

That's a fantastic ambition I agree John.

But by 2041??

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emishi55 | 6 years ago
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 “We are committed to improving cycling right across London and I want to assure you that we will only take forward projects that will bring real benefits."

 

I wonder if there will also be any consideration given to the ironically named 'Quietways'.

London is after all just one huge conglomeration of rat-runs.

TfL could start by using the London roads they have jurisdiction over, to create a grid of cycle routes.

The other task (more problematic since London borough authorities vary greatly in terms of having insight and awareness of cycling's obvious needs) involves the simple if likely to be contentious, task of closing off all the stupid tiny, back streets to through-traffic (many of these are just 'alley ways', wide enough for a single motor vehicle).

Simple No Entry signs at both ends of these streets would enable them to remain open to emergency and service vehicles (a definite win where residents may have some anxiety over access for such groups).

Alternately, with the rise of the white van as weapon of choice, you would expect there to be a degree of awareness amongst the public, culminating in the call for more segregation of public space from potentially lethal motor vehicles.

Meanwhile, Will Norman, it should be noted, has expressed satisfaction with the 'Quietways'.

Preferring perhaps for cyclists (of all ages) to bear the brunt of confrontation in physical form rather than having to go fight this corner with the verbal form.   

        

 

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