Blog

Out annual account for 2014-15 is below:

Our annual report is available via this link (right click to open) :

Annual Report 2015

With the weather looking dry, breakfast and/or morning coffee having been taken at the view Tube, 20 of us set out for Ware along the Lea Valley.  Our group included guests from Romford, Stockwell and Greenwich.

With only minor mishaps (one puncture and one deviation from the route) we managed to reach coffee/lunch at the white Water Centre.

With time getting on we decided that Broxbourne was far enough, so we fixed the second puncture and enjoyed a breeze assisted ride back to the View Tube with occasional glimpses of sunshine.

Thanks to Chris Kendrick for leading us for this enjoyable 40 mile jaunt and to Simon Leicester for the photos.

(If you would like to see the drawings and notices please contact newham@lcc.org)

Our objections have been lodged in the following terms:

Newham Cyclists object to the plans for the Upton Corridor.

Upton Lane is a combination of residential and shopping with access from it to both parks and schools. Furthermore the section of Upton Lane from St Georges Ave to Romford Rd is a key section of a proposed North Woolwich to Forest Gate quietway cycle route providing an essential north south route for cycling linking numerous schools and Newham Hospital. This section of road also complements Woodgrange Rd, north of the Romford Rd where improvements are contemplated using Crossrail money.

This context requires that genuine priority should be given to pedestrians and cyclists.

This can be achieved by:
• The creation of segregated cycle lanes and safe junctions, providing proper “Space for Cycling”. The traffic flow along Upton Lane justifies this. Alternatively;
• The creation of genuine “shared space” route where a completely decluttered space gives pedestrians and cyclists as much priority as motor vehicles, following the principles put into effect, most notably, in Exhibition Rd.

This scheme is misconceived because it does neither; the result is expenditure of public money which will be wasted in gestures to cyclists and pedestrians, but which will not achieve the proper objective of making the Upton Lane along the Upton Corridor a living street which pedestrians and cyclist will consider themselves safe and will actually want to use the space – as opposed to a space where the needs of cyclists and pedestrians remain so obviously secondary to those of motor vehicles. A particularly egregious example of gesture expenditure are the cycling “patches” when the scheme as it stands is unlikely to bring about any significant increase in cycling as it does not properly address the safety of cyclists and certainly will not increase the perception of safety for cyclists. Therefore this scheme does not assist in bringing the level of exercise in the Borough up from its present shameful place of the worst in the country.
No serious thinking appears to have been given to cycling. In particular there does not appear to have been a Cycle Level of Service (CLOS) analysis. This should be done.

In the light of the above, Newham Cyclists advocate the scrapping of these plans and replacing them with something giving genuine priority to cyclists and pedestrians following one of the models outlined above.
Should the Council nevertheless persist in this “gesture scheme” Newham Cyclists object to the following features:
• It is vital that this whole section of Upton Lane be limited to 20mph, given the context outlined above. Furthermore, (a) a 20 mph limit is a the natural complement to steps taken to prevent fast exit from side roads, to facilitate pedestrians crossing the road, and to improve the general environment; (b) the curving line of the road makes travelling more than 20mph particularly dangerous. In the past Newham Council have objected to requests for 20mph limits on the grounds of objections from the bus companies. But there is no need for buses to travel at more than 20mph along this stretch of road.
• The Upton Cross and Romford Rd junctions should be made safe for cyclists to normal continental standards enabling them to avoid being “left hooked” by motor traffic and giving a safe option for right turns.
• St Georges Rd should have a cycle contraflow (as already contemplated as part of the LIP minor schemes) improvements, and, as a consequence provision for cyclists to turn right into and out of it should be made, as a matter of joined up thinking.
• We support the additional cycle parking but do not consider it sufficient – particularly as Upton Lane includes one of the very few cycle shops in Newham.
• We support removal of guardrails which just encourage motor vehicle to regard the road as a race track, but consider they should all be removed.
• Build out of pavements should be used to benefit pedestrians and cyclists rather than create additional parking space.

We support the removal of the cross hatch dead areas in the middle of the road and central bollards. This is space that could be made available for cycle lanes or tracks.

Well attended and lively as usual.  There is still a lot going on – much is positive.

• We discussed the latest TfL consultation on Bow Flyover for pedestrian improvements – see the earlier post.
• We discussed the recent Greenway diversion.  Whilst it is disappointing that the shorter diversion using Canning Rd was not chosen, there are some improvements to the chosen route planned for the immediate future: signage throughout,  improving the crossing of Manor Rd into  Leywick St and opening up more the pathway near Abbey Rd DLR.  The latter two are in any event  “ward audit” improvements.  It is heartening to see the efforts put into the ward audit bearing fruit.
• We decided to object to Council plans for the Upton Corridor (i.e. Upton lane between West Ham Park and Romford Rd) on the grounds that the improvements (extra zebra crossings, raised table on side roads, removal of staggered crossings) needed to be accompanied by a 20 mph speed limit.
• We agreed the general thrust of our vision for Stratford gyratory (see post of 22 February) which when it has received its final tweaking will be distributed to neighbouring boroughs, Councillors and LCC.  TfL are presently indicating a finishing date of 2019 for this project.  We raised the issue of how long the current Windmill Lane diversion was due to last.
• Quietways news: (1) Newham Council is waiting to hear from TfL which of the planned second tranche of quietways in the borough (the northern quietway was in the first batch); (2) a pilot of delimiting solar lighting is being trialled on the Greenway around Upper St, although the Council’s aspiration is for high quality lighting along its whole length; (3) the Roding Way study is progressing.
• Olympic Park news:  (1) we are attending, with the LCC campaigns manager,  a meeting on 4 March with LLDC, which has been responsible for the current substandard cycling provision; (2) consultants hired by the Council have already made some cycle friendly recommendations for Westfield Ave/Montfichet Rd.  The study is being extended to a broader area around Westfield where the cycle provision is shameful; (3) Northwall (formerly the Northern Loop Road) is currently redundant and closed but was identified as a potential leisure cycling asset; (4) we are in discussion with Waltham Forest Cyclists concerning improvements to the northern section of Temple Mills Lane to Ruckholt Rd (which is due for improvement under their mini-Holland scheme.  Temple Mills lane east has no been made a permanent bus/cyclist only link but there is room for improvement to remove conflicts with buses.
• We agreed to have a talk at our next meeting about CLOS (Cycle Level Of Service) – a system for evaluating how cycle friendly a street/area is.  It is now becoming widely used (including by TfL and Newham Council)and is regarded as a good tool by the LCC.  We will have some serious training for those interested in the spring.
• We agreed to submit observations on the Newham Local Plan and Statement suggesting some further cycle and pedestrian quietways which Newham should as a matter of planning policy protect for future development.
• We decided to develop this website to have a (moderated) comments facility.
• Our annual meeting on 30 March 2015 at Coffee E7 at 7.00p will include a light buffet.  If you have any nominations for posts (Co-ordinator, Secretary, Treasurer)  please lodge them via the contact details on this site.
• Our first two rides for 2015 will be 22 March up the Lea Valley to Ware, and a Newham Ride on 4 April. See the events calendar.  The rest of the programme will now be put on the calendar.
• The Council have prepared some good plans for the Silvertown Way/Canning Town area.

If you would like further details on any of these items please get in touch through the contact details on this site.

Phew

As long ago as 31 July 2103 Councillor Conor Mcauley, then Executive Member for Regeneration,  trumpeted in the Newham Recorder “Our vision is for Newham’s streets to be made more accessible for cyclists” and called for more of the Cycle Superhighway type of infrastructure in Newham.  He ended “We’ll keep lobbying TfL to do their bit and deliver a cycle hire scheme and a cycling network that will benefit all.”  This looked like a change of approach from the Council that had previously blocked Cycle Superhighway 2 through Newham. Completing CS2 to Ilford is one of Newham Cyclists Space for Cycling suggestions to which Councillor Patel of Manor Park signed up.  It was included in Newham Council’s mini-Holland bid, but this was unsuccessful.  Since then  we have seen  no sign that Newham Council has pressed for this and it now appears to be dropped from TfL’s Cycle superhighway programme.

This unsurprising  outcome is compounded by Newham Council’s approach to the existing CS2.  It has secured the removal of a key section providing protection for cyclists from being “left hooked” at the junction of Broadway and Tramway Avenue, leaving the current dogs breakfast, which needs a plethora of signs addressed to both drivers and cyclists to be careful. This change was demanded in the face of a safety audit that confirmed that this change made this junction more dangerous for cyclists.  The reason? As the Council eventually admitted, this was to accomodate “driver misbehaviour”.

On 17 September 2014 Councillor Corbett  told the Recorder “The Council has made clear to TfL the urgent need to fully address all safety issues at this location and review the design proposals,” he said. “This should be done in conjunction with key stakeholders such as the council, police, emergency services and cycling groups.”

” We will return to install the final, agreed design later this year once the local development works are fully completed, and remain committed to provide safe cycling infrastructure across London.”

There has been no change to this unction, made more dangerous for cyclists by the actions of Newham Council itself.

On 3 December 2014  a spokeswoman for the Council misleadingly told the Recorder that the removal was at the behest of TfL, wrongly said that the Council only closed the risky sliproad (which is still open) and that the changes were done following unspecified “concerns” raised by the police and cyclists. The Council have  now admitted  that these “concerns”  were expressed by three cyclists who happened to randomly stop when Council officials were looking at the junction, but they have still to reveal the nature of these “concerns” despite two freedom of Information requests concerning this junction.  There is no indication that these cyclists preferred the current situation to the protection provided by the CS2 with its “wands” i.e. the latest version provided by TfL.

At no time were Newham Cyclists consulted despite the latest in a series of claims that ” We value the views of Newham’s cycling community and are committed to ensuring that there are safe cycling routes in the borough.”