Camden Council is stepping up enforcement on one of its busiest cycle routes to stop vehicles using it for loading during peak hours – and is due to double capacity on one of London's busiest segregated cycle routes.
The mandatory cycle lane on Tottenham Court Road, lies at the end of the council's busiest segregated cycle track on Torrington Place, which is due to be doubled in width for a trial period starting this month.
After a number of vans were spotted by Fitzrovia News using the narrow lane to unload during its hours of operation, forcing cyclists out into four lanes of traffic the council agreed to step up enforcement of the lane.
In response to concerns raised by Fitzrovia News, a Camden Council spokesperson said: “At this location in Tottenham Court Road there is a waiting and loading restriction in place that is operational between the hours of 8:30am and 6:30pm, Monday to Friday. If vehicles are seen parked here during these hours and no exemption exists, enforcement action will be taken."
The spokesperson said thanks to the Deregulation Act, 2015 – in fact, to a clause introduced by former Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Eric Pickles – councils can no longer enforce parking contraventions using CCTV.
The spokesperson added: “Nevertheless, in light of the concerns raised our contractors have been asked to monitor the location more closely over the coming weeks”.
Tottenham Court Road is getting a £25m revamp to tie in with an anticipated influx of visitors when Crossrail opens in 2018, but a trial is now scheduled to expand the busy Torrington Place route this month.
I have today signed off the plan to double the capacity of Tavistock Place cycle route, perhaps the busiest in London http://t.co/ZrVyO9Tkl8
— Phil Jones (@philjones79) July 1, 2015
Designs for the temporary experiment for Torrington Place and Tavistock Road show the current two-way segregated cycle track made one way, with a new bike lane protected by a temporary barrier replacing a traffic lane in the other direction. Two wat parts of this busy, at times heavily trafficked, route will be made one-way for motor vehicles.
Cllr Phil Jones, cabinet member for transport, shared an infographic showing that although cycles are 43% of traffic on the route, they currently get just 13% of the space.
Why reallocating space from cars to cycling on the Tavistock Place route makes sense #space4cycling pic.twitter.com/DJ0zAmnhsq
— Phil Jones (@philjones79) July 23, 2015
Improvements to Tottenham Court Road have been heavily criticised as, with the equivalent of five traffic lanes of space, designers claimed there was no room for a dedicated bike route, instead cyclists coming off the Torrington/Tavistock Place route will share the lane with buses, taxis and, outside of business hours (8am-7pm Monday-Saturday), private cars too.
12 thoughts on “Camden Council cracking down on bike lane parking”
So, to be clear, is it
So, to be clear, is it illegal to park in a cycle lane or not?
I don’t live in Camden, but in Leeds cycle lanes are seen as off street parking.
Is it a council area by council area thing?
Confused of Yorkshire
muppetkeeper wrote:So, to be
But as ever rules are only as good as the enforcement and as you say that, like for many traffic safety rules, is by and large non-existent. Somewhat disappointing that doing their statutory duty is a cause for celebration, but nonetheless, bravo Camden Council!
Cantab wrote:muppetkeeper
But as ever rules are only as good as the enforcement and as you say that, like for many traffic safety rules, is by and large non-existent. Somewhat disappointing that doing their statutory duty is a cause for celebration, but nonetheless, bravo Camden Council!— muppetkeeper
I’ve long wished that there was someway of enforcing all of rule 140, not just the limited enforcement of mandatory lanes.
As it is, the definition of “unavoidable” seems to be any walking at all. We’re surrounded by main roads that have bicycles lanes with cars parked in them, most of which could have been parked in side roads less than 50m away.
As a piece of guidance, it’s completely and near universally ignored.
This is the most concerning
This is the most concerning thing. You wonder who in their right mind would introduce legislation like this until you see the phrase Eric fecking Pickles.
Well the interesting thing in
Well the interesting thing in Camden is it seems someone at the local authority is making moves to improve cycling, we’ve had recent rebuilding works by Kings Cross (near Somers Town) and opposite Kings Cross train station.
However, without a concrete barrier to physically prevent them, it seems certain motorists and companies could care less about the thick white line denoting a permanent cycle lane
This “Loomis” security vehicle is regularly parked on the permanent cycle lane going up Pentonville Road- also a “Red Route” (i.e. no stopping at any time) causing cyclists to swerve out into busy traffic which is usually buses and cars speeding.
If anyone from the local authority sees this article, please send your enforcement team down there;)
Different authority I imagine
Different authority I imagine – probably Islington Council.
Annoys the hell out of me that you never see red routes enforced and now it emerges you can’t use CCTV to catch certain offences.
As for Loomis it’s pretty clear their drivers value the collection of cash over the safety of cyclists.
jasecd wrote:
As for Loomis
They are trying to limit the exposure time that the guy carrying the cash box has to getting violently robbed. I think I’d rather cycle round a parked van, than walk 100 yards carrying a cash box on Pentonville Road myself. Given the relative risks I think these guys might have a vaguely reasonable reason to stop there briefly. Much in the same way that I take the lane at pinch points.
@atgni
I completely disagree
@atgni
I completely disagree – they shouldn’t be allowed to deliberately and repeatedly disregard the law like this. From the picture the van has crossed a solid white line, is parking in a cycle lane and is stopped on a red route – three separate offences.
If the risk of being violently robbed is so significant why is there no legal exception that allows them to park like this?
I don’t buy the argument that the supposed increased risk of being robbed should take precedence over the actual risk of making cyclists move out in to two lanes of fast flowing and often aggressive traffic. Their behaviour makes a mockery of what little protection exists for us and undoubtedly adds to congestion for other vehicles. If businesses need to move large amounts of cash around then they should do it within the law.
jasecd wrote:@atgni
I
I agree they should do it within the law, there needs to be enforcement. My point was that in this case they are not just being inconsiderate as most obstructions are but that they do have a personal safety reason for doing this action. We do need to share the road sensibly without yet more them and us and belligerent percieved entitlement.
That guy in his work clothes
That guy in his work clothes riding an sworks on zipp wheels LOLLLLL.
I cycle along that part of
I cycle along that part of Tottenham court road every day, and nearly every day there are vehicles parked in it. What is the point in having parking and loading restrictions if they are just ignored? Presently that is a pointless cycle lane as it always blocked, streams of cyclists are forced out into very busy traffic. The police aren’t doing anything to prevent this at the moment. This was the scene this morning. 3 vans parked in a row, all illegally.
I commute up TCR and hadn’t
I commute up TCR and hadn’t actually noticed a cycle lane under all the vehicles.