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Waltham Forest has the unusual pleasure of being
semi-detached from the rest of London. It is cut off from inner
and central north London by the marshland of the Lea Valley
with its waterways, the River Lee or Lea, and the canals which
run parallel to the river.
Yet it boasts many cycle commuter routes to the rest of London.
You might ride to Finsbury Park or to join the Regent's Canal.
One major route runs from the longest street market in Europe
(it takes up the whole length of Walthamstow High Street)
to, or from, the Docklands or the West End. Ride it and you
can see swans floating and herons fishing, and hear frogs
croaking from the ditches.
The on-road network
Waltham Forest avows itself to be generally environmentally-minded and, to
give it its due it, did produce the first Green Charter in London back in
1989. Also, over the past decade or two, it has developed nearly 40 miles
of cycle routes.
These include:
- around 20 miles of (coloured) cycle lanes along main roads;
- 12 miles of fully signed quiet routes on residential roads
with dedicated traffic-light-controlled cycle crossings across
busy main roads, and
- eight miles of tracks segregated from motor traffic.
The network includes advanced stoplines at nearly every main
junction. The quiet route to Hackney and the City (London Cycle
Network route nine) is on the path used by traders and porters
who walked in and out of the City via Mare Street. It is known
as the Black Path and dates from the sixteenth century. It
forms part of the Chingford to Hackney cycle route and part
of it is open to pedestrians and cyclists only.
In surveys it has conducted, our group, has found local cyclists
generally support the borough's policy of providing main road
and quiet routes. Doing so allows most cyclists to be catered
for: those who are in a hurry and who want to bash along the
A roads and those who prefer taking it easier along the relative
quiet of back roads. However, many do complain that, in common
with many main road routes in London, the cycle lanes are
narrow and obstructed by illegal car parking, a practice which
continues despite complaints to the council.
Much of the visible provision for cyclists in Waltham Forest
has been masterminded by Gina Harkell, the borough's enthusiastic
and experienced Cycle Officer. WFCC has a generally positive
and long-standing relationship with Gina. It has regular consultation
meetings with her on all new developments involving cycling.
Facilities worth looking out for: After
sustained pressure from the campaign, the council has commissioned
secure bike sheds at Walthamstow Central and Leytonstone stations.
Unusual features in the Borough's cycle network include a
contra-flow cyclelane at the top of Leytonstone High Road.
This allows cyclists to continue along the main commuter route,
Leytonstone High Road, while other traffic has to negotiate
the lengthy one-way system. A second is 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.
Probably the best single cycle facility in the borough, though,
is the underpass under the notorious Billet roundabout on
the North Circular Road. It has cyclepaths connecting to all
of the roads entering the roundabout on an intermediate level
above the North Circular Road.
The most recent high profile cycle route was provided on the
new Orient Way which links West Leyton with Stratford along
the Lea Valley. This has very wide and smooth segregated cycletracks
and it won the LCC Best Cycle Route Award in 2001. Before it
opened, the area was a popular haunt for cyclists and local
wildlife but recently it has become the butt of criticism as
a result of glass and dumped rubbish.
Off-road and leisure riding A towpath runs
along much of the length of the Lea Navigation and this allows
pleasant, flat, traffic-free cycling north and south. A section
of the NCN 1 has also recently opened and will, ultimately,
connect London with Edinburgh.
The other great natural resource we have on our doorstep
is Epping Forest. This swathes the northern and eastern edges
of the borough and has the alternative name of Waltham Forest.
Here there are miles of wild tracks, many of which are ideal
for mountain biking, and it is possible to ride from one end
of the borough to the other on these forest routes.
With its routes to escape into the Essex countryside or options
to take trains into Essex, Hertfordshire or East Anglia, Waltham
Forest is a good borough for a roving cyclist to live in.
Indeed if William Morris had been born in more recent times
he might well have said, "Cycling is life and lack of Cycling
death", with which we could all agree.
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