Blog

Newham Ride report

Although 16 places were booked on the ride were were but six on the day. The weather was damp and cold but the ride covered some beautiful and interesting spots in the borough For those that wish to investigate themselves here is the link to download the GPX file:

www.newhamcyclists.uk/wp-content/uploads/gpx/Newhamride121123.gpx

Readout from 30 October 2023 Meeting

In relation to rides, the Bike from Boleyn ride has taken place since the last meeting and went well. There will be a local Newham Ride on 12 November.

There has been a maintenance session for the children’s cycle club of Ambition, Aspire, Achieve at the ARC. There is still work to be done at their Abbey Hub and the meeting indicated at willingness to seek to arrange this in November or December. If you are interested in either maintenance of helping with a Saturday children’s ride let me know.

There was a Fix Your Ride session at Woodgrange Market on 14 October 2023 and the last one of the year (i.e. 2023) is scheduled to take place on 11 November 2023.

On infrastructure:

  • A report on the last monthly meeting with the Romford Road Active Travel Team (RRATS) is available. The completion of the current phase #1 has now been put back to December 2023 with phase #2 (eastern end , Dersingham Ave to Ilford Hill) due to start in January 2024 next year. NC have been emphasising the need for good publicity for the scheme given the piecemeal approach to this project. The Council are planning a public event in November. The meeting expressed frustration at the delay in opening the sections of phase 1 that appear to be complete.
  • There is also available a report on the useful Newham Liveable Neighbourhoods (LN) team organised audit ride of 26 September of schemes around the Romford Rd, western end. There was a good turnout from the Newham Council new Liveable Neighbourhoods (LN) and Transport for Lonon (TfL) teams, including Michael Barratt – a longstanding friend of NC.

    The audit ride looked at the schemes in the recently created (from 2020) Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTN’s) in the Stratford, Maryland and Forest Gate areas which have now been made permanent and examined a possible new LTN scheme bounded by Vicarage Lane, Romford Rd, Ham Park Rd and Upton Lane, the major motor traffic “cut through/rat runs” runs being Ham Park Rd, Margery Park Rd and Tavistock Rd.

    NC are seeking regularly LN events of this sort. The meeting recalled that a Newham Planning Committee had recommended that Wyatt Rd should be made two-way directional for all carriageway traffic and filtered to meet the concerns of residents with regard to “cut through/rat run” issues. This is within the area under examination.

    Comments were also made about some movement of installed planter observations in the existing LTN’s.
  • Still no more news on the Woodgrange and Capel areas and a related concerning lack of information.
  • There are major developments coming up for planning permission around the North Woolwich Rd which provide opportunities for the Council to leverage funding to support local Active Travel. Specific current “planning permission” related schemes schemes include the Beckton Masterplan and the Bromley by Bow Gasworks where NC have a particular concern about the fact that the major routes providing potential Active Travel connectivity are currently designated “private roads.”

London Cycling Campaign (LCC) HQ have provided membership by ward data. NC have increased membership to 171 but membership is still heavily biased to the north of the borough. The meeting noted that the opening of new university campuses in Newham provided an opportunity for outreach, as did spreading our activities to different areas of the borough. It was also worth seeking lessons from other LCC borough groups with a more successful outreach in terms of local membership and activism.

Other business:

Next meeting provisionally set for Monday 27 November by Zoom subject to other arrangements to be notified.

Readout from 25 September 2023 Meeting


Newham Cyclists are now using the registration facility for our social cycle rides on the London Cycling Campaign (LCC) website.

The next social cycle ride will be the Bike from Boleyn Ride on Sunday 8th of October 2023 from the ‘Champions Statue’ (opposite the Boleyn Tavern) to the London Stadium to coincide with the West Ham United FC (WHUFC) home English Premier League(EPL) match. If you are available to marshal please contact Arnold.

NC are putting together an autumn programme of maintenance and a ride for the children’s cycle club at the charity Ambition, Aspire, Achieve (AAA) with whom we have been partnering with for some years.

The NC September 2023 cycle maintenance event Fix Your Ride (FYR) stall was not as busy as the previous month but there were nevertheless generous donations.

NC have had regular monthly meetings with the LB Newham council team working on the Romford Road Active Travel Scheme (RRATS) improvements. At the September 2023 meeting it was stated that the completion of phase 1 has been pushed back to December this year (2023) and phase 2 (at the Ilford end of the scheme) will not now start until the New Year (2024). A current project recurring ‘issue’ has been the need to secure approvals from the Transport of London (TfL) bus team with regards to the existing bus service enabling infrastructure on Romford
Road, but LB Newham plan to seek approval for the whole RRATS project from TfL by July 2024.

The LB Newham RRATS team are planning a further public engagement event next month (October 2023). A very important point was made at the meeting which was that what had been constructed/installed and planned so far was good, but there needed to be more publicity and explanations of the overall plans to provide reassurance and continuing support for the project and final aims. Delays on the implementation of RRATS caused by TfL ‘issues’ were a concern and if this jeopardised the current scheme (for which time limited central government funding is at stake) then an earlier Newham council plan based on making existing Romford Road bus lanes 24 hour operational and and existing cycle lanes mandatory could be deployed. It will be useful to engage with London Cycling Campaign (LCC) HQ on these issues.

There was a NC Catch Up meeting with Richard Wadey (the new LB Newham Head of Transport Policies and Programmes) on the Tuesday, 8th of August 2023.

The Catch-Up meeting discussion centred around the financing of LB Newham’s sustainable transport developments for which there was £5m from the capital budget for the 2023/24 financial year. Highlights of the Catch Up meeting were :

1 A LB Newham borough-wide 20mph speed limit on borough adopted roads had been approved by the LB Newham cabinet on the 5th of September 2023.

2. A programme of installing bike hangers (aka on-street secure cycle parking
storage units) was progressing. The council wanted these storage units spread across the whole borough.

3. 4 more Healthy School Streets (HSS) were proceeding taking the total up to 25 (out of a possible 84 borough schemes).

5. Consultation was proceeding on the TfL Cycle Future Route (CFR7) [Leytonstone to Stratford section] – a high cycleway quality scheme. However there were no plans announced for the section of CFR7 from Stratford Town Centre southwards towards Plaistow and Barking Road A124 along the current A112 alignment.

6. Early work had started on the proposed Low Traffic Neighbourhood (LTN 8) area scheme (south of the Romford Road A118 alignment). NC plan to accompany council officials on a planned audit ride on 26th of September 2023.

7. Work was under way on improvements to the environment within existing LTNs with regards to new Public Realm schemes around the filter location areas.

8. No further progress to report on the proposed LTNs 5 (Woodgrange) and 6
(Capel). The sense of the meeting was concern at the lack of progress given the
money already spent and allocated to these schemes in the near future. If the
problem was primarily with proposed LTN 5 scheme then the council should be
urged to implement the LTN 6 scheme separately where their seems to be better
political and general support for implementation. The closure of Balmoral Bridge to ‘cut through’ or ‘rat running’ motor traffic (including from residents of LTN 5) would be a ‘step change’ improvement.

Other infrastructure news:

There are tours of the proposed development at the Bromley by Bow Gasworks
(BBBG) mentioned and continuing engagement on the development’s Active Travel modes intention and provision.

NC have been active in consultation response on the Beckton Riverside proposals. These include much needed improvements to Tollgate Road and Woolwich Manor Way for Active Travel modes. We were pressing for Active Travel mode facility improvements within the development area itself.

NC have submitted a highly critical response to the Silvertown Tunnel Active Travel proposals.

AOB:

The London Cycling Campaign (LCC) Volunteers and Campaigning Summit will take place on Saturday, 18th of November 2023. We discussed the NC Social Media strategy. It needs to become more active and be aligned with that of the LCC itself.

improvements within the development area itself. NC have submitted a highly critical response to the Silvertown Tunnel Active Travel proposals.

AOB:


The London Cycling Campaign (LCC) Volunteers and Campaigning Summit will take place on Saturday, 18th of November 2023.

We discussed the NC Social Media strategy. It needs to become more active and be aligned with that of the LCC itself.


Silvertown cycle bus: Embarrassing

TfL are consulting on a long-awaited and much-needed new crossing of the Thames east of Tower Bridge. The bad news is, it’s not the bridge that got cancelled, or even a high quality RoRo ferry like the ones in Amsterdam. Why have an actual cycle crossing, or even a ferry you can cycle onto, when you could have… a bus with some bike racks?

A rendering of a bus stop with a futuristic-looking bus shelter, next to a single decker bus with bicycle racks on it and middle doors. Someone on a hand cycle is negotiating the entrance (although it's not clear how she'll be able to turn around once inside.) A commuter type wearing a tie, hi-vis jacket, and helmet, waits to load his bicycle on behind her. A woman sits on the bench holding a helmet, presumably waiting for other people to get onto the bus.

This is part of the new Silvertown Tunnel scheme, a new crossing for cars and lorries (with a piecemeal bus network) that will run from the Royal Docks to North Greenwich. We oppose this scheme as it stands, and this—presumably intended to say the scheme does something for cycling—is frankly embarrassing. There are many reasons it won’t work:

  • Larger cargo cycles unlikely to fit (meaning deliveries by car or van would enjoy an unfair advantage over zero-emissions last mile freight)
  • Adapted cycles are unlikely to fit—especially if the bus eventually looks like a minivan with a trailer
  • Unpredictable journey times
  • Low capacity that doesn’t allow for large volumes of people cycling
  • No clarity on what form the service will take, frequencies, operating hours, or whether a fare will be charged
  • The physical awkwardness of dismounting and loading your cycle into racks when getting on/off. We find it hard to believe the Silvertown Tunnel would’ve been approved if drivers had to load their cars onto car transporters to be driven through the tunnel

We can’t support the cycle bus scheme because it’s not viable as a 24/7, step-free, accessible cycle crossing that people will be able to use independently. Historical precedent suggests it is doomed to failure. It’s a box-ticking exercise that allows the promoters of the Silvertown Tunnel to pretend they’re doing something for people who don’t have a car, don’t want one, or can’t afford one.

Because of this, we have no confidence in TfL or the current Mayor delivering a viable cycle crossing east of Tower Bridge—despite the fact we desperately need them. We would love to be proven wrong, so invite TfL to seek funding for and commit to things that would actually work, including:

  • Increasing frequency and operating hours on the Woolwich Ferry, and removing the need for cyclists to dismount on the ferry decks
  • Abolishing fares on the Cable Car and extending operating hours
  • A new ferry at Rotherhithe, which TfL’s own modelling suggests could be very popular
  • Pedestrianising the Rotherhithe Tunnel, or the Blackwall Tunnel’s original Victorian bore (by TfL’s own omission, not suitable for high volumes of motor traffic, and built with a bend to prevent horses from bolting)
  • Building new fixed links—be that new cycle-only bores for the existing foot tunnels, or reviving the Rotherhithe Bridge proposal

Tell TfL to stop making excuses & do better

There’s a consultation open until this Sunday (10th September) where you can tell TfL what you think of these proposals. We’ve posted our response below in case you need inspiration, but we recommend telling them:

  • East London is crying out for actual river crossings that don’t require a car
  • A bus service that allows people to bring bikes as luggage is fundamentally flawed & won’t meet that demand
  • TfL should be prioritising high-quality crossings that would actually scale to large volumes of cyclists—ferries at the very minimum, and fixed crossings in the longer term
Tell TfL to do better than the embarrassing cycle shuttle bus
Newham Cyclists Silvertown Tunnel cycle bus responseDownload

Readout from 31 July 2023 Meeting

The rain relented to allow a short ride to look at the first short section of the north Woolwich Rd upgrade. It is promising. At the meeting which followed:

  • Bill Bremner was elected as Interim Treasurer.
  • The Fix Your Ride at Forest Gate Festival on 8 July was very successful in terms of number of bikes looked at and donations to the group (in excess of £110). Our next Fix Your Ride session in Woodgrange Market will be 12 August.
  • We marshalled the Kidicle Mass Ride based on the QEOP and Stratford Town Centre on 22 July. It was great fun and established some useful contacts amongst the 25 or so participants. Our next rides are – Greensted (10 September), a Brewery Ride 16 September – this may be proceeded by assisting Woodcraft start their Lea Valley Ride) and Rainham Marsh (24 September). Details to be confirmed on our website.
  • We had not yet received any payment for marshalling the feeder ride from Stratford to the Freecycle Ride.
  • The website update is proceeding with new frontpage giving information about the group which will allow better links. We are considering how to make best use of our various means of communication, in particular the LCC mailing list and our own discussion Group.Io. We are seeking to make the website more robust by paying for hosting and looking into updating our branding.
  • Consultations:

    McGrath Rd Bridge was left to individual responses. it looked OK.

    Express Bus Superloop has few implications for cycling.

    The Silvertown Tunnel Active Travel Bus will have an official Newham Cyclists response. The discussion pointed to this being a fundamentally unserious provision to alleviate the many problems arising from the Silvertown Tunnel. We will liaise with Greenwich Cyclists and prepare some campaigning material.

    The consultation in respect of the Jupp Rd Bridge widening will have an official Newham Cyclists Response.

    A major planning application on land adjacent to North Woolwich Station is an opportunity to press for funding to improve retrospectively TfL’ s recent poor project for the Pier Rd approach to the Woolwich Ferry.

    We attended a workshop in respect of a possible Low Traffic Neighbourhood between West Ham Park and the Romford Rd. The general response was encouraging.
  • We have asked for reinstatement of the monthly meetings with Newham Council on the project to upgrade the Romford Rd and also to resume the catch up meetings following changes in Council officers.
  • The mood music for proceeding with the proposed high quality Westfield Avenue (retroactive) upgrade is good
  • There will be no meeting in August and we will confirm the arrangements for a meeting in September as we are examining alternatives to the regular last Monday of the month.

Readout from meeting of 26 June 2023

Following a pleasant and instructive ride around the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park we held a brisk meeting and discussed the following.

  • Fix Your Ride has been busy at Woodgrange Market and will be held as part of the Forest Gate Festival on July 8th.  This  will be busy so volunteers as fixers or simply to discuss cycling in Newham with festival goers welcome.
  • The Freecycle feeder rides from and back to Stratford was well attended and successful.  Our feedback has  been given to LCC HQ.
  • The Brewery Ride due on 1 July has been postponed to 16 September.
  • We are planning to support a Kidicle Mass ride, likely to be 22 or 23 July.
  • 16 July a number of us are planning to participate in the London to Southend Ride.
  • On 12 August Bexley Cyclist are organising a Family Cycle Fun day in Greenwich Park and welcome visitors.  We will consider if a feeder ride is feasible.
  • The refreshment and modernisation of our website is underway and work will continue in liaison with LCC.
  • A local charity, the Renewal Programme, based at High Street North Manor Park, has bought a couple of electric cargo bikes in order to collect food for its foodbank. It is seeking volunteers for this project.  This is the role description.  

As usual a lot going on in respect of infrastructure

  • We have submitted objections to the formal planning application for Crown Wharf.
  • We have written to the Council urging progress on LTN’s 5 and 6 (Woodgrange and Capel) given that funding for this features in the Council’s capital spending list.
  • We have been pursuing with the Council instances where road works have involved unnecessary blockage of cycling and walking.  There is a need to keep up pressure on the Council and its contractors.
  • Our FOIA request has revealed that the appalling bus priority scheme for Prince Regent Lane was undertaken without reference to the Cycling Level of Service tool in LTN 1/20, contrary to TfL’s and Newham’s own best-practice standards. The excuse given was that the preliminary design for the scheme was undertaken prior to 2018/2019, but this does not hold water: if the scheme does not meet modern standards, it should not have been funded and built in 2023 as a “Healthy Streets” scheme and should’ve been redesigned. We are considering with LCC HQ how to bring pressure to prevent TfL causing detriment to cycling through motor traffic capacity schemes masquerading as “bus priority.”
  • TfL has been adding route signage to the Newham portion of Cycleway 16. We have objected to this route in the past due to junctions that range from substandard and confusing to outright dangerous, including the infamous Temple Mills Lane bus bridge. We are pleased to hear that Newham Council understands these deficiencies and is proceeding with design work to look at longer-term fixes, but our view remains that this route should not be marketed as a Cycleway in its current state and risks damaging the brand. TfL’s own Cycleway route assessment for C16 (which we have obtained via FOIA) appears to be little more than a tick-box exercise that outright ignores many of the key issues on the route.

As always, do get in touch if you would like further information on any of the matters mentioned here.