Unusual features in the Borough's cycle network include a traffic light-controlled cycle filter at the Blackhorse Road/Forest Road junction. This halts all other traffic, allowing eastbound cyclists 10 seconds to get ahead of the traffic or to turn right without having to weave across three lanes.
On Friday I pedalled this way from Tottenham. I waited at the cycling lights, which were at red. The other lights went to green for motorists. I waited. Still red. The lights went back to red for drivers. The other lights for drivers on Blackhorse Road and Blackhorse Lane went to green. Then the lights for the drivers to my right went to green. The cycling light stayed red. And then the lights for drivers went to red. And my light stayed red. And the lights for drivers on Blackhorse Road and Blackhorse Lane went to green. And I realised the light for cyclists was never going to go to green. Maybe the sensor is broken. I'd wasted five valuable minutes at a dysfunctional facility. So then I had the challenge of cutting across a lane of left turning traffic and slotting myself in among three lanes of impatient drivers. Cycling in Waltham Forest? It's bloody marvellous.
