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News from 2005
News from 2004
Movers & Shakers Waltham Forest
This exciting new major project follows a similar project in Wandsworth and is:
* Based around getting councillors and council officers, the people who're responsible for our roads, out on a series of guided bike rides round the borough during Bike Week 2009.
* About forging better relationships with those that most affect our day to day cycling experience and showing firsthand what is good and bad about road design in Waltham Forest, with a view to improving it.
* Looking for volunteers to ride alongside councillors and council officers, to chat to them and offer them their view on cycling in the borough, during Bike Week 2009 - 15-19 June.
Whipps Cross Hospital
WFCC are assisting with the setting up of a Bike User Group at Whipps Cross Hospital. This will bring together hospital staff who cycle with the aim of convincing management to provide a good quality bike shed at the hospital and to persuade more staff to cycle to work. More information: Geoffrey (8521-2683)
Hovis London Freewheel
On Sunday 23rd September, 47 people cycled in from Walthamstow to take part in the first London Freewheel event. We rode first via the Lee Valley pathway to Victoria Park. Then after a rest we cycled on with people from other parts of east London on down to the central London circuit. The route was well marshalled and signed though slightly worrying getting across lanes on Bishopsgate. With a lap of London Bridge, we joined thousands of cyclists all bowling long the Embankment completely devoted to bikes - it was a marvellous experience, akin to that feeling of bike-power in Dutch cities. On over Parliament Square and along to Buckingham Palace completely free of cars. At the end of the Mall was the largest bikepark I have ever seen with something like 20 rows of rails each around 100m stacked with bikes.
The Festival had stalls run by TfL, LCC, etc on everything to do with cycling. We had sandwiches courtesy of the sponsors Hovis. While thousands whizzed down the Mall on bikes, others picnicked in St James Park in the sun. There were smiles everywhere. It was wonderful seeing so many people, including really young children, experiencing the pleasure of cycling in town.
Although many of our group disappeared into the throng, 10 of us did succeed in meeting up for the ride back to Victoria Park. Finally after a chat there, we returned to Walthamstow at about 6. Judging by the feedback cards everyone enjoyed the event and I am sure this will become an annual one. TfL report that 38,000 people took part. Many thanks to Charlie Lloyd at LCC for coordinating the feeder rides and information.
Whipps Cross Roundabout
WFCC members met again recently with Gina Harkell, the borough's cycling officer, and the council's planners in charge of redesigning Whipps Cross Roundabout. A recent transport planning (CRISP) report had recommended the current roundabout was scrapped in favour of a t-junction. But in plans put out for consultation it appeared that LBWF had rejected this in favour of just adding phased traffic lights and cycle and pedestrian crossings across the central island. Not a satisfactory solution for cyclists. WFCC members objected strongly to this design. At the meeting, Gina and WFCC attendees pushed for a return to the t-junction (deemed too expensive by the borough) and warned of many of the dangers of the current proposed layout. We're happy to say that the t-junction is now back on the agenda - and WFCC is working with the LCC, TfL and Waltham Forest council to see if the money can be found to do it. And also that the council planners promise to consult earlier and more extensively with cyclists in the future. Meanwhile, it would be really useful to hear your thoughts on the roundabout - do you use it, do you avoid it, what do you think of it.
Council Plan for Redesign of Whipps Cross Roundabout
Olympics Road Closures
As part of the Olympic construction, some road, footpath and cycle path closures are effective from 2nd July. This pdf file gives more details of the closures, including a construction hotline number for further details.
Marshes Gates
A letter has been written to Lee Valley Regional Park Authority to complain about the two new metal gates by Walthamstow Marshes on the busy Coppermill Lane - Springfield route. People are encouraged to write themselves to Martin Wright, LVRPA, Myddleton House, Bulls Cross, Enfield, Middlesex EN2 9HG.
Cycle Stands
A number of cycle stands have been installed on Hoe Street, Leyton High Rd and Chingford Rd as part of a TfL funded scheme. Send comments on these to Gina Harkell at the Council (gina.harkell@walthamforest.gov.uk)
Speed Cushions
The council has said it will not use speed cushions in future traffic calming schemes. We have long campaigned against their use and are pleased that sustained pressure from us has resulted in this change of policy. However we need to find out what they will use. Also, if anyone has any examples of good traffic calming humps that are not hazardous to cyclists please let us know!
Pretoria Avenue
The Pretoria Avenue oneway section with contraflow cycle lane will be opened on the 3rd of January.
Cycling Increases
The next Transport Liaison report will give the latest figures for cycling in the borough.
'Overall, cycling in Waltham Forest has increased by 83% in the 8 years since 1998. The biggest increases are on Wadham Rd, Woodford New Rd, Sewardstone Rd, Coppermill Lane and Ruckholt Rd. Ruckholt Rd has now overtaken Lea Bridge Rd with the largest number of daily cyclists: 764, while cyclists on Coppermill Lane now number 430 a day.'
This reinforces the urgent need to get the Ruckholt Rd railway bridge improved and establish new east-west routes through the Olympic Park.
Lea Bridge Road
The cycle path and footpath is being stripped and resurfaced and money is being spent on other sections of the route to widen cycle lanes and fulfil the CRISP study recommendations.
Improvements are being planned to the section from Markhouse Road towards the Mosque. The central reservation will be cut back and a “buffer-zone” introduced between the parking bays and the cycle path to reduce the risk of “dooring”. Work for this should be completed by end of March 2007.
Cycle Parking
New cycle stands are to be put in along Lea Bridge Road (30 new stands) and along Chingford Rd and Hoe Street (93 stands).
We have discussed the Walthamstow Cycle shed with the Council. The shed has not worked efficiently for some time and we agreed that the automatic locking system should be disabled with a view to being replaced by Sheffield stands. We think that cyclists will be unlikely to pay 50p a day for parking. A manual override would be installed in the shed to ensure no one was locked in again. If you are a shed user, do give us your views.
The bike shed at Leyton station has been open about 6 months now and has space for more users.
A covered cycle shed has been proposed for Leyton Leisure Lagoon. We have suggested it should be near the front.
The Council had adopted guidance on cycle storage for new dwellings. The group thought future planning permissions should include reference to this as the standard for applications.
Olympics
Members of WF Cycling Campaign are involved with plans for the Olympics and have been attending various meetings to ensure that cycling is properly included, for current users of the area, spectators at the Games, construction workers, Olympic staff and for people using the park area after the Games. (See more on the Campaigns page)
Twenty Mile Per Hour Zones
The Council is proposing to introduce “except for cyclists” signs on some one-way streets in the borough to allow cyclists to use them in both directions after considerable pressure from WFCC.
Speed Cushions
We are hoping to meet council engineers to discuss the design of speed humps in local roads. We do not support the rubberised cushions currently used in the borough as they are slippery in the wet and force cyclists to change direction.
Signs
As you may have noticed, cycle direction signs on the borough’s four quiet routes are not being looked after despite reporting of twisted round or missing signs by us and by a paid checker. We are writing to the Leader of the Council and the Head of Street Services expressing our anger that the council’s Street Services section is failing to maintain direction signs for cycle routes so that cyclists know where to go. If you notice sign problems, please raise them with your local councillors.
Dangerous driving
Figures from Transport for London show that 1020 fixed penalty notices were issued in Waltham Forest in the last four months for driving offences. WFCC thinks that there is far too much poor and dangerous driving locally which can cause fatalities and that more police officers should be used to enforce the laws so that people drive more sensibly.
Lea Bridge Road
A study of the whole length of the Lea Bridge Road cycle-route is being
carried out now by Atkins with input from the Cycling Campaign. We expect
the report will lead to significant improvements to this old well-used
route which was the first in the borough and which needs upgrading.
Blackhorse Lane Regeneration
WFCC has been active in giving input to the Blackhorse Lane area regeneration plans. We support Option 3 which includes a 120 bike
secure parking facitity at Blackhorse Rd station and new access to the Walthamstow reservoirs. See the Waltham Forest Council website for details.
Pretoria Avenue
We are giving views on the proposed traffic calming scheme around Pretoria Avenue, Walthamstow.
Bike Theft Register
More than 80,000 bicycles were stolen in London last year, but only five per cent of those bikes made it back to their owners. To help tackle the problem Transport for London has teamed up with the Metropolitan Police and City of London Police to include the registration of bicycles on the Immobilise Register, a register that has demonstrated success in tackling mobile phone crime in the last year. This register is a system that allows the UK Police to identify the owner of any registered item of property. The public can "flag" any registered item as lost or stolen and this then appears on any police search.
For more information or to register, visit www.immobilise.com
Silverlink Bike Ban
Silverlink had introduced an arbitrary ban on bikes on its trains for two hours in the morning and evening peak on certain sections. This ban now (December 2005) appears to have been lifted.
Lighting for Coppermill Lane
The street lights that we campaigned for in Coppermill Lane, Walthamstow have finally been switched on. This means that Coppermill Lane is now a secure route for commuting throughout the year. If you have been put off by the dark there before, give it a try. It is far more pleasant than Lea Bridge Road.
South Access Road
Over the summer, we had a site visit with the Council cycling officer to discuss the contentious and notorious barrier on South Access Road which we are not happy about. We think that we may have demonstrated to the Council that the shared-use path on the pavement is not acceptable as a route so they may consider re-routing the cycle path away from the pavement. We also did a survey of cycling which indicated 32 cyclists going past the barrier
in an hour in the morning. The majority of cyclists asked said the design of the barrier was poor.
Winns Avenue & Palmerston Road
The Waltham Forest Cycling Campaign has been liaising with the Council this year about two traffic calming schemes: the Winns Avenue area near Lloyd Park and the Palmerston Road area in Walthamstow. We have been trying to make sure that existing cycle routes are protected for cyclists. Several one-way streets have been introduced or are being planned. If you have thoughts on these schemes do get in touch with us.
Bike Shack
Note the new bike shop "The Bike Shack" which has started up in Midland Road, Leyton (close to the Leyton Midland station). Please support it as we could do with more bike shops.
Sponsored Ride
If anyone would like to join Geoffrey on a big sponsored ride next September in Poland for the Marie Curie Cancer Care, let him know (tel 8521 2683).
Lea Valley Towpath
Waltham Forest Cycling Campaign has teamed up with Hackney Cycling Campaign
to encourage cyclists to slow down along the Lea Towpath. There have been a
number of incidents recently where cyclists have collided with pedestrians
along the Lea Towpath and in one case a child was dragged for a few yards by
a cycle. Local residents are very concerned about this and want to restrict
access for cyclists. WFCC and HCC are encouraging cyclists to be more
considerate and to give way to pedestrians on what is a shared use path. If
you are cycling along the towpath you should take it easy and enjoy the
views and atmosphere rather than travel at high speeds. The roads are the
best place if you want to get from A to B quickly. If we do not give
pedestrians some consideration then there is a strong risk that cyclists
will have their access to the towpath restricted through barriers or similar
obstructions.
Leytonstone Bike Shed
The new Leytonstone bike shed is open now. The shed is in the station car park on Church Lane,
Leytonstone and is smart-card operated like the Walthamstow one. The smart-cards are issued at the One Stop Shop under the Library on the corner of Church Lane and the High Road rather than the taxi firm as has been advertised.
Cycle stands in the High Street
Waltham Forest Cycling Campaign has noticed that the three cycle stands
at
the junction of Palmerston Road with the High Street have been removed
while
repaving work is taking place. We have written to Cllr Simon Wright
about
this and have been told that they should be replaced in due course once
the
work is finished. However following the loss of cycle stands next to
the
Selborne Road entrance to Selborne Walk (under very similar
circumstances)
we must keep the pressure up and ensure these are replaced. So far
thanks
to the redevelopment of the town square and other facilities in the
High
Street there has been a net loss of cycle stands rather than a net gain
and
we do not want this to continue. If other members/cyclists could write
to
the Council about this it would be very helpful. You should write to
cllrs.wright@lbwf.gov.uk or
cllrd.blunt@lbwf.gov.uk
Velodrome & Velo-Park Get Go-Ahead
15th February 2005: London mayor Ken Livingstone has confirmed that the proposed £22m velodrome and velo-park mooted for the Lee Valley Park will be built with or without London being successful in its bid to host the 2012 Olympics. The redevelopment of the Eastway site will be part of London's 'pre-build' for the Olympics. If the London bid fails some of the planned facilities would never get built. British Cycling is jubilant that the velodrome is a guaranteed construction project.
For British Cycling, today's announcement by Ken Livingstone and the organisers of London's Olympic bid, represents a highly successful outcome to almost 18 months of hard work alongside the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority, Sport England, London Development Agency and
other parties. The new facility at the Lee Valley park will also be a regional base for British Cycling's Talent Team programme, which tests over 30,000 children across the UK annually, in the search for future GB team riders. British Cycling has maintained from the outset that the new London velodrome needed to be a permanent facility and not temporary, as the early plans suggested. Velodromes have good "pre-build" and "legacy" characteristics: they are relatively cheap to build, extremely economical to run and attract a high number of users from the local and regional community. The Velodrome is expected to be the centre-piece of a "Velo-park", incorporating a BMX track, closed road circuit and cycle speedway track.
Bike Shed
The last couple of months have seen a significant increase in the number of
cyclists using the Bike Shed at Walthamstow Central station. The Shed
is the first secure cycle parking facility of its kind in the country. Aside
from one instance of mechanical failure the Shed has been operating smoothly
for a couple of months, we are hopeful that the teething problems have now been
ironed out. Smartcards for the Shed (new ones have now been issued) are £5 each
(returnable deposit) and can be obtained from Central Radio Cars at the corner
of Station Approach. Use of the Shed will now be free forever! Jon
Snow attended the official opening of the Shed on Friday May 28th. Plans are
afoot for secure bike parking at Leytonstone station. Gina Harkell, the borough's
cycling officer, is minded to develop the next shed with a smartcard entry system
but with Sheffield stands inside to try and avoid the mechanical failures that
the first shed initially experienced.
Cycling Summit
WFCC held a Cycling Summit on 15 May to which about 15 members turned up including
Diana Murray one of the local councillors. We had a wide ranging discussion
about cycling and especially maintenance issues in Waltham Forest and identified
a number of priorities both at the detailed level, such as arranging to go out
with the highways inspection team to review maintenance issues, and also at
the more strategic level, such as lobbying for better quality of works and more
effective arrangements for dealing with snags. You can read the minutes of the meeting on this site
Save our Bridge!
We are supporting local residents in Leyton who want to save the Marsh Lane
Footbridge from demolition by the Channel Tunnel Rail Link development. This
Footbridge is the only car-free link between Leyton and the River Lea/Hackney
Marshes. The only other alternative is to go along Lea Bridge Road, which is neither car free nor quiet. We have been campaigning to preserve and hopefully upgrade the Marsh Lane footbridge over Orient Way. The bridge can form part of a potentially very useful cycle route from Leyton to Clapton and the City. Ramps to help cyclists get over the bridge are to be installed on the steps of the bridge this year.
Whipps Cross Hospital
WFCC is trying to promote a more cycle friendly attitude in Whips Cross Hospital
but needs some support from members that might work in the hospital. Do you
or other cyclists you know work in the Trust? If so get in touch so we can put
pressure on the Trust to improve facilities as part of the redevelopment programme.
Bike Recycling
The award winning bike recycling scheme at Low Hall Transport Depot continues
- recycled bikes can be ordered and cost around £35 each. The project also welcomes
donations of spare parts/second hand bikes. We would welcome help from people
who are confident about their bike repair skills and can spare half a Saturday
a month to help with bike recycling and maintenance. If anyone is interested
in acquiring/improving their bike maintenance skills we can help and are even
prepared to help a few people get on bike maintenance courses if they are prepared
to commit time to the scheme in return.
Lee Navigation
Waltham Forest Cycling Campaign is very pleased that two sections of the Lee Navigation towpath have been improved over the winter by Lee Valley Park Authority. This allows a more pleasant ride along the canal than before.
Cycling Summit
We are holding a 'cycling summit' on Saturday 15 May to give people a chance to tell us what they want for cyclists in Waltham Forest. The half day event is open to all and is free. It is your chance to air your views in the prescence of the local group's committee and Borough cycling officer. For full details, click here.
Bike Shed
The Bike Shed at Walthamstow Central station, the first secure cycle parking
facility of its kind in the country, has been open for a few months now. Gina
Harkell, the borough's cycling officer has been working hard to iron out some
of the inevitable teething problems that have arisen. Administration of the
smartcards, which enable entry to the Shed, has now been taken over by Central
Radio Cars, the taxi firm on the corner of Station Approach. Central Radio Cars
have proved much more helpful than Wagn over dealings with the Shed. For the
time being initial purchasers of a smartcard (£5 returnable deposit) for the
Bike Shed are being given 20 free units. Usage of the Shed is creeping up; there
are regularly 8 or so bikes in there but it holds 35. If you sometimes get the
tube or overland to work from Walthamstow Central and want to save time and
money by cycling to the station why not buy a smartcard and try the Shed out.
The council is planning to install similar facilities at Leytonstone and Blackhorse
Road stations but no date is set for these yet and much will depend on the success
of the Shed at Walthamstow.
Whipps Cross Hospital
Our efforts to build links with Whipps Cross hospital in order to improve cycling
facilities for staff there are continuing. Staff at the hospital are being encouraged
to use 'green' travel methods and the hospital is introducing car parking charges
for staff for the first time. If you work at the hospital and would like to
assist us with this please email Geoffrey Whittington geoffrey@wfcyclists.freeserve.co.uk
Bike recycling
The award winning bike recycling scheme at Low Hall Transport Depot continues
- recycled bikes can be ordered and cost around £20 each. The project would
also welcome donations of spare parts/second hand bikes. Finance is being sought
for the employment of a full time mechanic but in the meantime we would welcome
assistance from people who are confident about their bike repair skills who
can spare half a Saturday a month to help occasionally with bike recycling and
maintenance. If anyone is interested in acquiring/improving their bike maintenance
skills we can assist and are even prepared to finance a few people who are prepared
to commit to the scheme to go on bike maintenance courses.
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