Monday 18 February 2008

'We know Londoners want to walk and cycle more'

Council leader Clyde Loakes has given his enthusiastic support to Ken Livingstone’s pre-election cycling and walking package.

"We know Londoners want to walk and cycle more. One in two people say that they want to walk for short journeys when they currently use their cars. Forty per cent of Londoners have access to a bike, but currently only one in eight use it regularly."

And as the seven photographs below show, Waltham Forest has hit the ground running in helping to transform London into a paradise for walkers and cyclists. The temptation to abandon the car for walking and cycling is surely irresistible. For example, why not take a pleasant stroll along this dedicated walking route between Aubrey Road E17 and Howard Road?




















If you are a wheelchair user, why not test your skills and see if you can squeeze in between the signs cluttering the footway and the cars parked on the pavement. (Woodford New Road, junction with Oak Hill E4)




















When you are starting to feel tired after negotiating all the squalor, obstructions and decayed walking surfaces, why not pause and relax on this attractive metal bench, carefully sited to afford a beautiful view of the crash barriers, passing traffic and a wall on Wadham Road.




















And there's fun for cyclists, too. Test your traffic skills as you swerve to avoid an obstruction in the cycle lane on Chingford Road. But whatever can it be?




















Uh huh! It's those grey Council street sweepings sacks again. They get everywhere, don't they?




















Meanwhile outside Walthamstow police station there's a traffic cone in the cycle lane. (No, me neither.)




















And last of all, test your visual skills by seeing if you can spot the cycle stand in this picture. Buxton Road E17.