Centralised discussion space for TfL plans and cycling in London

Turning left off Seven Sisters Rd will be fun.

Isledon/Tollington already has a pretty deserted bus lane, really don't see the point there. If anything, trying to fit cycle lanes and bus stops around each other just makes everything worse.

Needs junction details but it looks like more budget cycle infrastructure. Without time at lights and protected junctions it's not really that much. Covers a really small part of that "route" as well

Lots of gauranteed red light junctions there. And simply giving a head start does little for casual cyclists.

No dedicated cycling space deposits acres of pavements shows that the city still aren't that great for cycling

I've seen some (not yet public) slightly more detailed plans for one of the junctions and it includes time at lights and decent protection. Hopefully that'll be repeated everywhere.

Yeah, a closer look shows decent protection at some junctions but only for the straight through routes

Has there been a consultation or admission of guilt by those responsible for building one of the worst cycle lanes in London? I'm talking about the utter shit show that is the bike lanes on Westminster bridge.

I'm guessing the clown that designed that has probably knighted or something, but its absolutely shit. It may be usable at 4am but every time I've been along there in day or night its definitely more dangerous than it was before, and I now ignore it completely and cycle in the road 100% of the time.

Obvious major hazard is tourists just standing in it taking selfies or pics for gram of Big Ben and the London Eye, which I accept is likely to happen at probably the worlds most photographed clock and big wheel. Do TFL or whoever came up with this not consider footfall and the gazillions of people at this spot ALL THE FUCKING TIME, and maybe try and come up with a workable design. There's nothing to indicate it is a cycle lane so nobody treats it like one, no blue smurf road of even painted bicycles on the road. And the lane itself is stupidly super narrow with no way for passing any gawping zombie peds or any cyclists which makes it feel very sketchy.

And every 3 feet they've got what I assume are some kind of anti terror pavement mounting bullshit, rectangular metal posts that are serrated and look like they'd fuck you up good and proper if you had the misfortune to crash or be knocked into one.

Seriously who comes up with this shit. I want to see whoever came up with it to ride along it any at time during the day and report back how they found the experience, and if its summarised as anything other than harrowing, they're talking bollocks. I might try and film it one day going over in both directions to show how bad it is.

Looking at the map I'd mainly agree. That bus lane is virtually always fine, the only possible improvement will be if you're heading straight on going west at the Holloway Rd junction which can sometimes be a bit unpleasant. Not sure what the plan is with that (if anything).

The bit where it would be most beneficial would be heading east by Finsbury Park station but it stops just before that.

C50 The westbound route is largely good. The Eastbound putting the bike lane on the right hand side of the road on Severn Sisters is wacky and will need further thought.

Putting it on the right minimises the conflicts with turning vehicles. Not a great solution but it is with reason

The full route will have cyclists coming north up Caledonian Road and emerging from Warlters Road, so putting the track on the left would require squeezing in a crossing somewhere.

It would also create a conflict with the busy bus stops outside the shops there.

The bit of Seven Sisters from Fonthill to Blackstock, in either direction, is certainly the section that cyclists I've dealt with find the most intimidating and confusing. Positioning at the bottom of Tollington, where traffic can go 4 ways, is also a mess.

Not strictly true to the thread title but the City of London have opened a survey on reducing pollution on Beech Street (tunnely by the Barbican). Simple survey to show, not show support or add suggestions to a map.
https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/services/streets/traffic-schemes-and-proposals/beech-street

On topic, TFL consultation on St Pauls gyratory closes tomorrow (25 Jan), it's a very simple survey...
https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/services/streets/traffic-schemes-and-proposals/st-pauls-gyratory

Battersea bridge consultation survey closing tomorrow..
https://haveyoursay.tfl.gov.uk/batterseabridge

LTN consultation for West and East Greenwich
https://greenersafergreenwich.commonplace.is/en-GB/proposals/design-proposals-for-west-greenwich/step1

https://greenersafergreenwich.commonplace.is/en-GB/proposals/design-proposals-for-east-greenwich/step1

and for Peckham rye: https://consultations.southwark.gov.uk/environment-leisure/c35-phase1/

Croom's Hill reps incoming !

Beautiful hill ruined by, that's right you guessed it! Cars

I can't help but feel as though the pipeline for TfL-led cycleways has almost totally dried up. When TfL released the new Cycling Action Plan (https://content.tfl.gov.uk/cycling-action-plan.pdf) in June my heart sank. It contains very little ambition and no commitment to new projects. The impetus is now on councils to push local projects forward, and whilst the idea of local routes for local people is great, many councils have little interest in taking road space away from drivers (Southwark being a good example, neighbouring Lewisham a comparitively bad one).

There are examples of routes under construction that are of amazing quality and exemplify what could be. These include C4 from Tower Bridge to Greenwich and C9 from Hammersmith to Hounslow. By the threading together some disjointed sections in the middle, these two routes together could provide a nearly 30km long east-west corridor along congested, neglected but ultimately lively corridors.

But speaking as someone who has lived in South London for the past decade, these routes are nothing but a curiosity as most South London boroughs are served by relatively low quality routes - something that I expect most people across the city can relate to. What I fear is that the momentum of the past five years is ebbing, and TfL's appetite for real transformation has been battered by the twin enemies of budget cuts (thanks to the pandemic and a vindictive central government) and political antipathy (the Mayors office has expended so much political capital on the ULEZ it dare not stir the pot further ahead of the mayoral election in May).

I engage as much as I can, supporting the LCC, responding to consultations and just using cycling as my means of getting everywhere. But no candidates for the next mayoralty have an evidently pro-cycling agenda, which never fails to surprise me considering the majority of London households don't own a car and even fewer regularly use one. Our streets are choked by traffic, and the only solution is to get people out of their cars - and the cheapest way to do that is by creating a high-quality cycle network.

I suppose this is a bit of rant, and I guess I'm looking for a bit of hope. My partner works in micro-mobility, and it is interesting to see from the inside how critical companies like Lime are of the Cycling Action Plan. But that doesn't seem to put a dent in the opposition. What's the way forward from here?

Whatever happened to the plan to close Regent's Park to through traffic?

That would be against British values.

Regent's Car Park

The Crown Estates Paving Commission have the power and are refusing to talk to anyone about it.

For anyone that cycles through Parliament.

Cycle Movement Strategy (CMS) Phase 3: Abingdon Street. Questionairre closes soon..
https://cmsabingdonstreet.commonplace.is/

Closes this Monday 12 Feb. Usual diatribe from taxi drivers, where anything = bad.
It is a limited scheme (protected in 1 direction) and worth point out general support but they could do more.

https://cmsabingdonstreet.commonplace.is/en-GB/proposals/standard-question/step1

I made the mistake of reading some of the comments, it's kind of interesting that these people have nothing to actually add to the discussion, just comments like 'its stupid', 'destroying london', all cyclists are law breakers' etc, literally nothing to do with the scheme.

How do councils interpret such comments because surely it shows how pointless and bigoted the anti position is.