Suburban cycling cut to pay for central London cycling

News from Jenny Jones: Suburban cycling cut to pay for central London cycling

Analysis of new figures released by Transport for London shows how the Mayor is planning to spend £57m on a Velib style cycle hire scheme in central London whilst spending less on schemes which would benefit cycling in outer London. New figures show that out of a total of 383 schemes which have not been funded in the coming year, 260 are in outer London boroughs.

A provisional breakdown of the £111m cycling budget for 2009/10 has been sent to Jenny Jones. TfL have allocated nearly half the money to cycle hire and £12m to the cycling superhighways, which are fast commuter routes into central London. However, nothing is specifically allocated in the coming year to cycling hubs in outer London and the total spent on the pan London Cycle Network will be just over a third of what it has been this year.

Jenny Jones said:
“I think that the cycle hire scheme is brilliant and so is the idea of cycling superhighways, but the London mayor is paying for these high profile schemes by cutting hundreds of local schemes which would make cycling safer in London. We have a zone one cycling mayor who is giving far less money to the London Cycle Network in outer London, despite the advice from experts who tell him that four fifths of the potential new cyclists come from the suburbs.”

Notes to Editors

1. Analysis of the money provided to the boroughs for the LCN+ shows that a total of 383 schemes have not been funded in the coming year, 260 of them in outer London boroughs, see attached table based upon Question to the London mayor No: 2698 / 2008.

2. TfL’s cycle hire scheme is aiming for 55,000 cycling trips per day by bike. At present there are around 540,000 cycling trips.

3. Money spent on LCN+ was £33m in 2008/09, but drops to only £12m in 2009/10. These total figures are divided up between borough roads and the Trans London Road Network (TLRN). The LCN+ expenditure on the borough roads drops from £20 to £10m, whilst the LCN+ spending on the TLRN drops from £13m to £2m.

4. The London mayor has the target of a 400% increase in cycling, but the Transport for London report which proposed this target showed that 80% of the new potential cyclists would have to come from outer London.


For more details please contact the Green Party Group Press Officer - Ian Wingrove on 0207 983 4424, 07967 205 330 Ian.Wingrove@london.gov.uk

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cycling, croydon

Addiscombe Road - TfL remove the lane

This post is dedicated to the two friendly, young policemen who stopped and searched me under the Terrorism act whilst I was trying to take these photos. Sorry guys I can't remember your names, but if you'd like to add a comment then it would round out this post nicely.

An email from Jim notified us that the cycle lane had been removed, as predicted by another cyclist. The cycle lane now suddenly stops some distance from the junction, at the point where the traffic is directed into two lanes.



The advanced stop line still exists, and has now been painted green.



However, the ASL box is completely useless as not only is it almost impossible to get to in heavy traffic, without going round the outside, it is also technically illegal to enter the box on a bicycle because there is no cycle lane giving entry.



Satellite Image

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cycling, cycle lane, croydon

Addiscombe Road - now it's dangerous!

The recently refurbished cycle lane, LCN 75 westbound on Addiscombe Road, was looking like a real improvement over the previous road markings, with a lane wider than the usual Croydon crap which was mostly clear of traffic.

Not any longer, it is now looking pretty dangerous.



An extra line has been added to the junction to signify that the traffic should form two lines.
This pushes most of the cars into the cycle lane.



This is in response to the buses which turn right at this point.



The result for anyone trying to use the cycle lane is a disaster.









The TfL engineer responsible for this cock up should be forced to ride this junction repeatedly in heavy traffic until s/he gets the message.



Satellite Image

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cycling, cycle lane, croydon

Addiscombe Road - was it a cockup?

Just had this message from a Croydon Cyclist

"Make the most of those wonderful wide cycle lanes, for tonight they will shrink to the size you are more familiar with. Apparently the contractor made a mistake on the original dimensions."

If this is true it just goes to prove how fucked up cycle infrastructure design is in Croydon.

Satellite Image

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cycling, cycle lane, cycle path, cycle track, croydon

Addiscombe Road - half finished or half baked?

The recently refurbished cycle lane, LCN 75 westbound on Addiscombe Road, has been causing excitement amongst some Croydon Cyclists.



Not only is it 1.6m wide, twice as wide as some Croydon cycle lanes, but it no longer comes to a halt before the traffic lights several metres short of the Advanced Stop Line.



At the moment it is unfinished, and lacks cycle signs and green paint, but the really big advantage of the new road layout is that there is now only one lane of traffic. This means that the cycle lane remains mostly clear of motor vehicles. It is also remarkable in being one of the few occasions in Croydon where a significant amount of road space has been transferred from cars to cycles.

Not that some of Croydon's drivers have got the message about the changed road layout yet!



However, TfL have still failed to get the design right, and the lane falls short of the minimum standards for a good cycle facility. At 1.6m this lane is still below the 2.0m minimum set out by the DoT in "Cycle-Friendly Infrastructure: Guidelines for Planning and Design". It is also only an advisory lane, meaning it cannot be enforced by law. Mandatory lanes where motor vehicles are excluded have solid lines separating them from the carriageway.

So for want of a bit more white paint, placed only 40cm further from the curb, Croydon might have had its first good quality cycle lane.

The problem with advisory lanes was clearly illustrated by a group riding motorbikes down the cycle lane whilst I was taking these photos.





Motorcycles represent one of the biggest dangers to cyclists and pedestrians, after lorries and buses, because of the way in which they compete for the same road space as pedal cycles. They also are one of the biggest threats to local air quality because they are not subject to the same strict pollution controls as cars and are not subject to the Congestion charge.

Satellite Image - taken before the changes.

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cycling, cycle lane, cycle path, cycle track, croydon, TfL

Wickham Road in Shirley

Here's an example from the A232, Wickham Road in Shirley (westbound, just west of the Hartland Way junction). After passing an old garage forecourt, the cycle lane inexplicably veers left before running into the corner of a parking space (occupied in the photo) and the corner of the bus stop cage, where it abruptly stops. Instead, the cycle lane SHOULD continue straight-on and go down the RHS of the bus stop cage!
Photo taken on 16 Aug 2007.

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cycling, cycle lane, cycle path, cycle track, croydon

Purley Way - Southbound

A short section of TfL cycle lane to guide you through the traffic lights...



...and run you into the pavement!!



Photos by Matt

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cycling, cycle lane, croydon

Godstone Road, Purley

Just on the southern edge of Croydon lies Purley, and yet another poorly thought through cycle lane. This one is on the southbound side of the Godstone Road (the A22) at the junction with Approach Road.

The somewhat narrow cycle lane disappears within a yard or two, a new, boldly marked cycle lane appears:

Take this enticing option and within a few yards you will be suddenly forced to choose between hitting the crash barrier or the side of the passing lorry. Alot of heavy goods traffic uses this road.

At first sight it looks like a good idea - a feeder lane to allow cyclists to get to the advance stop line when the cars are stopped. But if the traffic is moving you'll get a very nasty surprise.

Well intentioned, but probably much safer to not use it.

Satellite Image

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purley, croydon, cycling, cycle lane, cycle path, cycle track