Cycling campaigners have asked that plans to transform Waltham Forest’s Lea Bridge Road be implemented as soon as possible after three cyclists were hit by vehicles while travelling along it in little over a week.
The London Borough of Waltham Forest is to receive £30m to introduce safety improvements as part of Mayor of London Boris Johnson's Mini-Hollands initiative. However, plans are still at the consultation stage. In the meantime, Lea Bridge Road, which is set to be transformed, has seen three separate incidents in little more than a week.
Last Tuesday, a male cyclist in his 50s was hit by a van around lunchtime and subsequently taken to hospital. This Tuesday, a male cyclist in his 30s was hit by a car on Whipp’s Cross roundabout and he too was hospitalised. Yesterday, the London Evening Standard reported that a third incident had taken place, this time opposite Lea Valley Ice Rink.
A spokeswoman for the London Ambulance Service reported: "We were called at 7.25am to reports of a road traffic collision involving a lorry and a cyclist. We treated a man in his 40s for a chest injury. He was taken to the Royal London Hospital as a priority."
Speaking after the first two incidents, Simon Munk from the Waltham Forest Cycling Campaign, said that when it came to safety improvements to the road, time was of the essence.
“It is absolutely horrible that we have had two serious incidents in one week, and I have heard from others who have been knocked off their bikes this week too but were okay. It is the most widely used road for cyclists here and also the most dangerous.
“We want the council to move forward as quickly as possible. If we want the so-called cycle revolution in London and more cyclists, we have to embrace segregation and that will hopefully mean no more families have to receive bad news.”
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The whole plan for "mini-Hollands" (argh, terrible name) is an implicit admission that the Netherlands does cycle provision properly, and that their methods are what should be aspired to.
So what excuse is there for not making everywhere under the jurisdiction into one great big "maxi Holland" ?
Is that the road with the most preposterous on-pavement cycle lane I've ever encountered?
https://goo.gl/maps/8nsYo
Yes, it is.
And still, Lea Bridge Road isn't the worst in Walthamstow / Leyton...
Looking forward to the changes to Lea Bridge Road. I might actually cycle up it rather than bypassing it
Lea bridge road, urrgggghhhhh, horrid.
I rode past the remnants of today's incident and felt a heavy stomach when I saw the mangled bike behind the two vehicles. The number of police and the kit they were using made it look like there'd been serious consequences. Fingers crossed for all involved.
I'm Simon Munk, as above. a) Feel free to ask any questions, b) the latest crash was today, c) that brings the count to four in just over a week, d) hey Road.cc folks - I'm fairly easy to find on email, twitter etc so anytime you're running a Waltham Forest mini-Holland story, just yell...