Livingston's cycle 'super highways' - has Haringey missed out?

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Permalink Reply by matt on February 12, 2008 at 22:30

Just had a thought, Adam works for a cycle charity/NGO. Wonder if he knows ...

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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on February 12, 2008 at 22:54

Yes and Adam is just the kind of person who would quietly campaign for one of these 12 cycling super highways to go right past the bottom of his street.

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Permalink Reply by matt on February 13, 2008 at 6:56

I wonder if he could quietly let fellow residents know if his organisation or indeed any other cycling organisation is actually doing that. That's if they knew anything about this announcement in the first place. Or is this just election grand standing from the mayor? He has his first meeting on stage against his mayoral contenders tomorrow after all.

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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on February 13, 2008 at 8:47

I whooped when I heard about this proposal. It sounds like a serious attempt to make cycling mainstream in London. So that even older ex-cyclists like me can remount without risking death or injury from aggressive or careless drivers. But I'm also cautious and want to see worked-out details.

Will the new super bike-lanes be kept clear? We seem incapable of enforcing the ones we have now. For example, Hale Road (near Tottenham Hale Station) has a purpose-built, railed-off cycle/pedestrian lane. Yet it's hardly used. Why? Despite regular and repeated complaints, a couple of garages park cars across the lanes. The same problem sometimes occurs in Ferry Lane - parked cars forcing cyclists out into the main roadway.

I'm pleased about the proposed bike rental scheme. But we need to learn from experience in other cities. For instance, Belgian friends tell me that many people are reluctant to use Brussels bike hire schemes because some cycle lanes are too dangerous; cyclists still have to compete with other traffic.

We also need a lot more than new cycleways. The balance needs to move not just towards bikes, but to pedestrians as well. A major problem is car and van drivers who see nothing wrong with driving or parking on pavements. So you always see cracked and broken paving stones next to the roadway. These drivers would be outraged if their elderly relative fell and broke hip or arm.

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Permalink Reply by matt on February 13, 2008 at 9:32

It's certainly a huge undertaking and one where there is little information at present, even on the TfL website!

Certainly current so-called cycle lanes are inadequate. I remember the council spending £20,000 on painting a 'cycle lane' that was all of 200 yds long, most of it outside shops on Tottenham Lane N8. Ever since cars have been parked on it. Waste of money, waste of time.

London certainly needs to learn from successful schemes. The idea till now has been to put routes via back roads or along rivers/canals. The latter is fine but new cyclists aren't going to utilize back routes that aren't obvious. If these so-called cycle super highways would actually be installed along major A-roads that run more or less straight into town (such as Green Lanes) then we would see major commuter up-take of cycling I believe.

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Permalink Reply by Birdy_Too on February 13, 2008 at 9:37

Let's not be blinkered about all this and make out motorists to be the bad boys.

From my experience of cyclists in London, of which I am one, cyclists are the most disrespectful group of all causing more danger than any other single stereotyped group.

As I stated on another post, cyclists must show respect before they expect it back, for someone who has only cycled in London for around four years, I see little coming from the average cyclist.

I would love more cycle ways to be built locally and nationally as I believe this is the way forward for ‘safe’, cheap and clean transport. This for me, is a massive priority as well as public transport.

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Permalink Reply by robertmac on February 13, 2008 at 10:30

Of course the proposal is an excellent idea - now can you get on with it, Ken and co! Apparently they've already done a year's research to identify 12 potential routes but it's going to take at least two more years before the first one is ready! Agonisingly slow. I would say glacial, but with global warming glaciers are now moving faster than TFL. We're talking about cycle paths - kerbstones and green paint - not manned space flights to Mars! Entire cities will be built in China before we can ride safely from Harringay to central London.

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Permalink Reply by matt on February 13, 2008 at 14:36

The only thing that seems to be spurring this idea on is the Olympics. Apparently this is the deadline to have about half (just half) of these cycle highways in place. Does London really have to revolve all its development around a two week event? Yes, China will have built several cities by the time Ken is re-elected and still battling through planning applications via every borough that has a cycle way going through it!

Alas, speaking to Adam this morning it appears cycle charities know little if any detail for these plans. It seems to be an election stunt; something to detail later.

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