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@hippy
Drive-thru Danger - Why it Matters
For the first time ever, Ealing Cycling Campaign is formally objecting to a planning application by speaking at a Council Planning meeting. The proposed access road from the A40 to the new drive-thru restaurant will sweep across the present cycle track at a diagonal angle that will make it difficult for vehicle drivers to see cyclists. It ignores the draft London Cycle Design Standards which state that cycle tracks should enjoy priority over turning traffic. Ealing Council acknowledges the danger, and is asking McDonald's for money for safety improvements. It talks vaguely about installing a zebra crossing or signals, but has produced no plans. We don't believe this crossing can be made safe without significantly altering the layout of the pedestrian path, cycle lane, and access road. We think the council and the public should be able to see these plans before planning permission is given. As an alternative solution, we are suggesting a safer access road could be provided from Leamington Park which would remove the need for the road to cross the cycle track.
The plans also compromise the proposed East-West Cycle Superhighway from Park Royal to Hyde Park Corner. The addition of a slip-road into the drive-thru has reduced the width available for the Cycle Superhighway. Instead of two cycle tracks and a separate pedestrian pavement, there will be a single path that pedestrians and cyclists will have to share. For this long-distance, fast commuter route this is not a safe option.
We are also disappointed at the quality of the proposed cycle track. The present track has proved unpopular largely due to its close proximity to fast-moving traffic, noise, and pollution. The original aim at this site - and others along the A40 where homes were knocked down - was to develop a green corridor. Instead of running the cycle track next to the road, the expectation was that it would be set away from the highway, and separated from it by a raised bank and vegetation. This idea has completely vanished.
The proposal, which comes before Ealing's Planning committee on Wednesday, appears to breach national and local planning guidelines. It disregards Highways Agency standards that state that turnings to and from trunk roads "must be limited as they can give rise to accidents". It ignores the National Planning Policy Framework that says developments should "create safe and secure layouts which minimise conflicts between traffic and cyclists". And it turns a blind eye to the London Plan's specific guidance that "developments should facilitate the Cycle Superhighways".