High Road Leytonstone: ‘more appealing’ than Dutch cycling infrastructure?

David Hembrow has reproduced a photograph used in a recent post of mine with a scene from a Dutch street, commenting: In the Netherlands, this is a technique used to civilize residential streets which are not busy through roads, which do not have a high number of motor vehicles passing through and which have a 30 km/h speed limit. In the UK the same thing is being done on busy through roads with higher speed limits and lots of traffic. 

He shows lots of other Dutch examples here.

This provoked a comment:

I do not see what is wrong with the UK example you give in this post. Dare I say that the smooth tarmac of the UK cycle lane looks more appealing to me than the Dutch cobblestones... In addition, that is not a "parking lane" to the left of the picture, as the double yellow lines are also applicable within that section of road. This must therefore be just a loading bay. P.S. May I just clarify that I cycle a lot in both the UK and mainland Europe and generally feel that UK cycling infrastructure is very poor, often lethal. I just think that this particular photo, showing a well-maintained road and relatively wide cycle lane, doesn't really illustrate your point very well. 

This is a good example of the confusion which can arise from a simple comparison of two apparently similar scenes. However before commenting on that, let me quickly say that the commenter is quite mistaken in asserting that the High Road Leytonstone photograph shows a loading bay. It doesn’t. Anyone can park in these bays and similar bays can be found all along this road, most of them filled with cars (as shown in the photo above). The reason why the bays shown in the photograph used by David Hembrow are empty is probably precisely because they aren’t outside shops.

Mixing with motor traffic on a Dutch street is quite different than it is on a London street. I realise in retrospect that my photo is unintentionally misleading because it makes it appear that High Road Leytonstone is a quiet street with little parking. In fact my photo just happened to be taken when there was a gap in the traffic. Luckily it was one of a sequence which I took while cycling up this street on a weekday and I reproduce the other ones below to put this isolated photo into context.

High Road Leytonstone is a road which links up with major London through routes and it carries huge volumes of motor traffic. One relatively small section is one-way with a contraflow lane for cyclists. This last feature is of course welcome but isolated infrastructure for cyclists is no use at all unless it forms part of a coherent and connected network. This remains the British disease: cycling infrastructure of any sort is always built on car-centric terms: as soon as it conflicts with the greater priority of ‘smooth traffic flow’ it notoriously comes to a sudden end. And, depressingly, Britain continues to go ever-backward. Over in South Gloucestershire they are seizing space from cyclists and pedestrians to benefit drivers.

In the London Borough of Waltham Forest things are no different, with the model used on Wood Street E17 (below) being rolled out across the borough. It is madness to build out the footway forcing cyclists closer to overtaking motor vehicles, especially buses and lorries, while at the same time creating new dangers from ‘dooring’. To do this is to make the conditions of vehicular cycling even worse and more off-putting than they were before. Here on Wood Street cyclists are pushed even closer to overtaking motor vehicles on a dangerous bend.

The recent ‘improvements’ on High Road Leystonstone are designed to encourage car use for short journeys, and they have been introduced with the enthusiastic collaboration of Transport for London. In some sections, including the one shown in the photograph used by David Hembrow, speeding is a problem. The speed limit is nominally 30 mph – far too high for a shopping street with residential housing mixed in – but some drivers are plainly exceeding this to a significant degree when the opportunity arises (such as early in the morning, or in the evening, or when traffic levels are low).

High Road Leytonstone is a major route which runs north-south from the Green Man Interchange (where the A114 and the A11/A1199 and the A113 connect with the A12, which connects the M11 motorway and North Circular Road (A406) with the Blackwall Tunnel) down to Stratford. Its ‘A’ road status was revoked when the A12 was reconfigured and pushed through Wanstead, Leytonstone and Leyton. Just looking at a map can give completely the false impression, since this section of the A12 is basically a motorway (albeit with a 50 mph limit) and cyclists are banned, while High Road Leytonstone, which lacks even the status of a ‘B’ road, carries massive volumes of motor traffic, far in excess of other local roads of equal status.

High Road Leytonstone is precisely the kind of direct, major route with high volume traffic which requires Dutch-style segregated cycle paths and where the space is available. It is a road which was once earmarked for total pedestrianisation – a project which was relentlessly subverted to result in the motor vehicle choked mess of today. Bear in mind that it is in a London borough where cycling’s modal share is, according to the most recent TfL figures, under one per cent. High Road Leytonstone has standard vehicular cycling infrastructure, including the classic template of the cycle lane leading into an Advanced Stop Line cycling reservoir. This cycling infrastructure notoriously lures the unwary cyclist into danger, especially when it concerns a lorry driver’s ‘blind spot’. Here is a recent instance which occurred on High Road Leytonstone, not far from where the photograph used by David Hembrow was taken.

The photographs below show conditions for cycling northward on High Road Leytonstone after the junction with Southwell Grove Road, a distance of less than half a mile. They were taken in a single continuous journey over a period of about three-four minutes. The first one was taken just before the scene shown in the photo used by David Hembrow, and the others show conditions beyond that location.

The reality is that the double yellow line ‘No Waiting At Any Time’ restrictions, designed to deter drivers from parking in the cycle lane, are regularly ignored, and that apart from the danger of ‘dooring’, drivers leaving their parking space rarely bother to consider if a cyclist is coming along, and block the cycle lane as they manoeuvre to slip into the line of traffic backed-up from the signalled junction at Church Lane. The final blurry photograph records what happens when a bus driver moves into the cycle lane in order to deposit passengers before reaching the bus stop.

In short, cycling up High Road Leytonstone is not a relaxing experience, and is fraught with danger and obstruction. The notion that conditions for cycling on this street are superior to those found on Dutch streets is not persuasive.

The Olympic cycling legacy: it's crap

 (Above) Exciting new infrastructure in the Lea Valley close to the Olympic Park.




 In a nutshell, this is what the Olympics amounted to as far as ordinary cycling is concerned.


 1. The pre-Olympics cycling pledges were broken and the Greenways were never built

 

(Above) The map shows three proposed Olympic Greenways in the London Borough of Waltham Forest. One already existed in the form of the Lea Valley towpath, which was of course subsequently closed to cyclists and pedestrians at the point where it reached the Olympic Park. The other two, which also incorporated some existing routes, were not built.

(Below) The start of one section of a proposed Olympic Greenway which was never constructed, linking the Green Man roundabout with Snaresbrook Road.

2. The opening night of the Olympics saw the greatest mass arrest of cyclists in British history by a police force which is institutionally anti-cyclist and which has long incubated petrolhead police. 
 

Copyright The Press Association




3. With symbolism at its most bleak and brutal a young London commuter cyclist was crushed to death beside the Olympic Park on the sixth day of the Olympics, killed by an official Games vehicle transporting corporate journalists 

This appears to have been a classic instance of a left-turning heavy vehicle colliding with a cyclist who was going straight ahead. The fatality occurred at a site which the London Cycling Campaign over an eight year period had been warning was dangerous for cyclists.

What’s more
 
I have established that “advance stop lines” – the cyclists’ only boxes at traffic lights – were removed from the junction at the intersection of Eastway, Ruckholt Road and the A12 west-bound slip road to give priority to Olympics VIP buses and cars 10 days before the fatal crash.

 

4. Some sports cyclists won medals, including individuals who have no ethical objections to being sponsored by BP or BMW. And another sports cyclist famously shared his thoughts on cycling safety. 

(One cycling blogger asked their local council for a breakdown of expenditure on infrastructure for everyday cycling and expenditure on sports cycling; the answer is interesting.)

5. The Mayor of London announced RideLondon: 

Capitalising on the popularity of Britain's two-wheel Olympic triumphs, an annual festival of cycling is to be held in London – including a mass road race to rival the marathon. 

Hugh Brasher, race director for the London marathon and part of the team organising RideLondon, said he believed it would become as big a fixture as the running equivalent, and could continue to inspire cycling after the Olympics. He said he hoped it would "encourage people to get fit, cycle and start commuting into London by bike".

Well it might do. But we know that once you have “encouraged” people to try cycling a phenomenon called “churn” occurs. The majority do not enjoy the experience and give up.

 although many people have taken up cycling in the past decade, a similar number have stopped cycling. 

Sometimes even hardened and experienced vehicular cyclists give up:

Sad to say I have all but given up commuting into London now. It can hardly be described as a pleasant experience and there is no meaningful support from the police. 

But not everyone feels like this.

Trott said she felt safe cycling in London, but added that more cycle lanes should be created. 

Yeah, right. This brilliant cycle lane in Leyton, which runs close to the eastern perimeter of the Olympic Park, is just the thing to get the masses cycling, no?

And all you cheery optimists who cling to the fervent hope that Boris will one day implement his ‘Go Dutch’ commitment, do please pay close attention to this remark:

Johnson said that substantial sums were being spent to make the streets safer for cyclists but said he did not want to "bully" motorists by changing roads, and that there had to be compromises made. 

I was going to say more about RideLondon but the Vole has already said it



(Below) Recommended cycling route to the Olympics, along National Cycle Network route 1, at a point where you can see the Olympic Park. Photographed two days ago.

N(ice)

The metaphysics of traffic signing are among the great philosophical challenges of our time, wouldn’t you say?

I didn’t notice this sign when this section of the cycling-friendly A112 was full of slush and ice, and it would be very Waltham Forest to stick it up once all the snow and ice had melted. But in any case, why here? This location is no different to any other as far as the weather is concerned. Indeed, the A roads always clear much faster than the side roads.

It would be much better to put signs like these on the borough’s off-road cycle paths, with the additional words: NO GRIT EVER USED ON CYCLING INFRASTRUCTURE.

Snow horror

Bit of snow today, taking the council completely by surprise yet again...

Fictitious grit

Alison Nicholls, 34, from Bromley, said: “We never see gritters in my road. I heard Boris Johnson say there was 60 per cent more grit this year, but I've seen no evidence. I haven't been offered any or a shovel, just a link to the council's website.”

Bromley said that either end of Ms Nicholls's road had been gritted.

But not the bit in the middle where Ms Nicholls lives. The enormously talented officer responsible for this response is wasted in Bromley and should be instantly recruited by Waltham Forest. And there is only one consultancy capable of spotting talent of this order – in a word, bung the task to Rockpools!

Cycle blogging on thin ice

Winter wonderland… magical... complete crap for cycling… ungritted back streets covered in ice… paltry cycling infrastructure as usual totally neglected by crap council… vermin having a wonderful time opening sacks of rubbish on the pavement… Zzzz….

Would you like some ice with your cycle lane?

Forest Road (A503) westbound, yesterday. The narrow cycle lane has ice in it all the way from the junction with Greenleaf Road to Wolsey Avenue. The advisory speed sign outside the adjacent police station helpfully gives you the speed of drivers who are flouting the 30 mph speed limit. Or it would do if it hadn’t been broken for weeks.

Mr Grumpy passed this way before me, commenting The source of water wasn't obvious, it looked as if it came from some hardy soul cleaning their car in an adjacent street.

No, no, Mr Grumpy! The water is bubbling up from beneath the road surface and has been for days. This is yet another case of Australian ice.

And they do mean roads

AN estimated 20 tonnes of leaves is being cleared from the borough's roads a day.

And now here is a cycle path at the Crooked Billet underpass. The first photograph was taken on 15 November 2009 and the second one in the same place one year later, on 7 November 2010. What a difference a year makes!

Can you spot the bicycle?

Maude Road E17, yesterday in the rain. It’s the awesome London Cycle Network again, with a bike logo painted on the road surface and a little blue sign saying it leads on to the even greater glory of the National Cycle Network (enjoy). This route has also in the past received an ecstatic thumbs-up from Sustrans.

Waltham Forest council fails to maintain its cycling infrastructure in all kinds of ways. The slippy, slimy leaves in November will in due course be replaced by snow and ice, and when it comes nothing will be done to clear the dedicated cycle crossing at the end of this road. That’s assuming it’s not already been rendered unusable by contractors!

Another crash on Woodford New Road

The collision occurred when a Nissan Micra, which was being driven by a woman learner during a lesson, was hit from behind by a Waltham Forest dustbin lorry at around 10:45 on Monday (October 18).

The crash happened on Woodford New Road in Walthamstow, near the junction with Forest Road.

The crash site is adjacent to the new Forest Road ‘improvement’ scheme which has just raised the speed limit from 30 mph to 40 mph.

Yesterday I came across the aftermath of yet another crash on Forest Road at the junction with Hoe Street. Broken glass all over the road and the cycle lane and some tangled metal, evidently someone hitting the vehicle in front.

Challenging cycling environments

The Grumpy Cyclist has been out on National Cycle Network Route One, a glorious piece of infrastructure previously celebrated on this blog here.

Our grumpy cyclist reports:

On the Sustrans website, this diversion is noted with a little exclamation mark and the text "Cycling diversion onto grass". Now that isn't really true is it? A more accurate description would be "Cycling diversion onto terrain that bears some resemblance to a WW1 battlefield".

Cheer up, Mr Grumpy! For a more relaxing ride I recommend the Walthamstow-Chingford ‘quiet route’ where the quality of the infrastructure is, well... what you’d expect from Waltham Forest council.

Cycle to B & Q, for that little bit extra

The cycle stands at Walthamstow B & Q are smashing. Yes, those white flakes are broken glass from the shattered fluorescent strip by the wall.

Sky Ride: the day after

Let’s imagine you are from the London Borough of Waltham Forest, were not previously a cyclist, and went on London Sky Ride. Newly enthused by the experience you return to your borough and the next day you try out this cycling lark.

And what larks!

Go shopping in Walthamstow High Street and you’ll find attractive and convenient cycle parking…



























For that trip into central London there’s the very popular Lea Bridge Road commuter route with its ‘Tate Modern’ potholes…





























And exploring the quiet back streets you can discover for yourself the exciting concept of permeability. The council closes off roads to through traffic, but the two kerbs and the grass represent no problem at all for a Sky Ride cyclist. It’s what mountain bikes were made for.


























(Vernon Road E17, Lea Bridge Road by the junction with Hitcham Road, Alexandra Road/Longfellow Road closure. All pics taken yesterday.)

The perfect start to National Bike Week in Oxfordshire

The county council has applied loose chippings to nine roads in the city in the past week and a further 60 across the county.

Driver ‘loses control’, kills child pedestrian

A teenage boy was killed yesterday when an out-of-control car ploughed into a shop front and crushed him against the store.

'The car came from the top of Cape Hill. Apparently it overtook a bus and lost control.'

Nine other people were injured, or suffered from shock, in the accident. Four pedestrians were hurt in the accident, one of them - a woman in her 30s - seriously.

Waltham Forest’s idea of off-road cycling infrastructure

The reason why segregated cycling infrastructure has such a low reputation in Britain is that where it exists it’s, well, total crap.

It’s almost invariably badly designed (by transport planners who almost certainly don’t themselves cycle), when it eventually meets the highway you can be sure that cyclists will automatically take second place to motor vehicle flow. And last of all, like cycling infrastructure generally, it's badly maintained, because cycling isn’t something that most people do, whether they are transport professionals or local councillors.

This example of rubbish cycling infrastructure can be found alongside the A503 in Walthamstow, by the junction with Spruce Hills Road E17. It’s almost in sight of the Town Hall, which seems somehow appropriate.

The cycle path usually contains pedestrians because it runs past Waltham Forest College. It also requires cyclists to give way to cars coming in and out of the college. And it contains dangerous crap like the surface shown above. Evidently a utility hatch in the cycle path has been broken (and these are usually damaged when heavy goods vehicles drive over them, which in itself tells you something about this cycle path).

Instead of replacing the frame and hatch, the contractors employed by the council appear to have cut corners by laying plastic bags over the damaged frame and then putting tarmac on top, without replacing the hatch. The work of cowboys. Are any of the new batch of Labour councillors bright enough to start asking the officer responsible for this work some very hard questions? Or is it going to be four more years of complacency?

And here's where this crap cycle path leads. It invites cyclists to take a sharp turn and ride directly out into the path of two lanes of fast moving traffic on an A road, with no physical protection. Just another reason why most of the population of Waltham Forest have no interest in taking up that danger-filled activity known as cycling.

Hazardous cycling on Hoe Street

This tilted manhole cover is a hazard to all road users but particularly to those on two wheels. The cover is made up four triangular segments and this segment keeps appearing in the tilted position, with one corner forming a point some two to three inches high, with the other corner dipping down. My guess is that it does this after a lorry or a bus has driven over it. But it only ever seems to happen to this particular triangular section. And it's been going on like this for a long time. It gets repaired and is OK for a while, then it happens again. Dangerous.

Hoe Street, at the entrance to the cycle lane into Cairo Road E17.

A smashing cycle lane!

It’s always an illuminating experience cycling around Waltham Forest, with its fabulous twenty miles of cycle lanes. But sometimes it can be shattering. Hoe Street, E17, Saturday.

As the poet said

These fragments of fluorescent lighting I have shored against my ruins.

The death of Sayit Huseyin

TRIBUTES have been paid to a "cycle fanatic" who died after falling off his bike in "treacherous" icy conditions as he pedalled to work along a quiet backstreet.

Sayit Huseyin, 50, a chef at Fish Central, in King Square, Finsbury, was just 200 metres from the popular restaurant when he came off his bike in nearby Dingley Road shortly after 9am on Friday.

Police have spoken to the driver of a silver Mercedes which was passing him on the opposite side of the road and are investigating whether there may have been any minor contact with his bike

"It was treacherous. As soon as he was carried away the area was cordoned off and the council came down to grit the street."

Yesterday

Cycle parking in Queen Square, central London, yesterday. FREESPIRIT it says on that first bike. And you need to be one to cycle in London.

This morning it's pouring with rain and the snow is thawing fast.





















(Below) By the entrance to the British Museum.






















(Below) Normally there are no available cycle stands at the British Museum, unless you get there very early. Yesterday there were lots of them.