Richmond Park = Full of tossers

Royal Car Parks

ftfy

The sooner this rotten institution, unaccountable to anyone except a handful of out of touch jaguar drivers, gets done away with, the better for us all. Should be abolished by an act of parliament with estates ponied up to councils.

Work Colleague has just run a half marathon for charity….The Royal Parks? He was truly surprised that I didn’t sponsor him.
But I suppose the Divide and Conquer tactics of splitting cyclists/runners/walkers/horse whippers allows you to Conquer

I've got some sympathy here. As a pedestrian, particularly with a toddler, it would be nice not to have to be concerned about bikes flying round the park at high speed.

I don't really know why London still has parks with roads through the middle generally, they should just close them off and turn them into pedestrian priority paths.

The roads are the old carriage drives, i.e. where the upper crust went to drive their carriages around after mass on Sundays. As cars replaced carriages, that use continued, minus Sundays and masses. It's an interesting example of a continuing tradition. Obviously, in both Regent's and Richmond Parks, the drives are mainly around the perimeter, but in both there are destinations inside the park that require car access, e.g. posh homes in Richmond Park. I remember encountering a homecoming driver in Richmond Park on the Matchlit Ride organised by the VCC, long after the park gates were closed.

Parks, of course, are huge permeability blockages, and the park roads provide some additional permeability.

Fuck off … ! I’ve just had a lovely couple of hours riding round the park - beautiful - leaves turning , deer out - well , for a couple of weeks before the Cull - not much traffic … before rush hour when it’s just a rat run full of SUV’s and mopeds blasting it around ….. it was cracking and as a South Londoner I’m chuffed we have somewhere so nice to ride - away from the SUV’s and mopeds. …… oh ..
plus … I wasn’t doing any high speed stuff !

I think Aggie was refering to Regents more than Richmond, but could be wrong.

I do think Regents has a bit of an issue with quite aggressive and intimidating riding. The lack of adherence to the red lights making it a less than pleasant road crossing IME.

Richmond is a fairly different vibe from a pedestrian point of view, though some of the full on chain gang stuff is probably a bit much.

Ha ! … may have dropped by the pub on the way back from my lovely ride in the park …. Regents defo pulls more the “ straightouttaevans “ aero Canyon / Cervelo/SWorks bro crowd … all taking it a bit too seriously for their own good- ( which does lead to them riding around not giving a monkeys about any one else - red light jumping etc or just North Londoners ! ). …. You’re riding around a park … in a massive concrete city … be grateful we have all of them … ( even if they’re all full of tossers ! )

full on chain gang stuff is probably a bit much

The irony is that they ride in Richmond because they don’t feel safe riding on public streets due to drivers behaving towards them the way they behave towards pedestrians in the park.

Some ride like civilised members of society getting their sporting fill, but most act like full-on wankers.

It's not the same behaviour at all though, a bike hitting you is likely going to do a whole lot less damage.

I’d say it’s the same selfish behaviour of putting one’s own capricious wants over other people’s safety. It’s an urban park, not a race track, but the ‘chain gangs’ close-passing pedestrians and other cyclists at 40km/h with no warning or a rude one seem to forget how unpleasant and dangerous or dangerous-feeling it is when cars do that to them on public roads.

Wasn't sure where to put this but...recently paid a visit to Regents, having not cycled around it for many years. What I remember as a reasonably OK place to ride seems to have become an obstacle course, with scores of cars backed up at the junctions. Now and then I spotted a roadie, on their own, stubbornly trying to get a ride in, whilst negotiating around the metal boxes. On the inner circle there were a couple of groups of 2, seeking refuge. Maybe I caught it on a bad day, but it felt pretty grim and like things had gone massively backwards. Not what I'd call cyclist dominated.

It's unrideable after 8am due to car traffic

I had an amusing time last time I visited, taking roehampton to Richmond gates on the way somewhere as I was with a club member who had never been.

I suggested we do a sweepstake on how long it would be before we had a close pass by a chain of London Dynamo. I think it was within 2 mins

There's a very legitimate reason for the roads in richmond and regents park, they are needed so people can actually get there and use the park for leisure purposes. Like wheelchair athletes and handcyclists and all kinds of other people who can only access it by car.

The problem is that the roads are also open as traffic sewers for every motorist in London who gets routed through by waze, so they aren't just used by the people coming to the park, they're like any other rat run for traffic that should be sticking to A roads.

I even used to come across argos delivery lorries driving through richmond park sometimes.

I'd say the traffic in Richmond Park is mainly annoying to cyclists and other people in cars. As a pedestrian, the traffic is pretty irrelevant as the road is pretty easily crossed and then you're away. Most of Richmond park feels further from a road than anywhere else in London.

The wider traffic issue is a bit difficult. Ideally, no cars using it as a cut through, but the road network, particularly between Richmond and Kingston cannot handle the traffic. That's partly because the park combined with the river leaves room for only one normal road, which has to get through Petersham Village, which buses already struggle with. It's similar for Barnes> sheen>Richmond. I can see why those are the bits that still allow through traffic in the park, even though I'd prefer it wasn't the case.

Cars will always fill the amount of available road given to them, so I’m not sure that closing the rat run to cars would actually result in the traffic armageddon you suggest.

Maybe not. I'm just saying that I can see how it's ended up like it has. The closed section has a good road alternative (Kingston hill + A3), the park sections still open have the alternative route generally already being a traffic jam down streets that people live on.

The partial closure at Broomfield has greatly improved me and my partners commute, not a day used to go by without someone doing something stupid.

Along with the Kings road one-way trial, small improvements that offer safer spaces for more people to use a bike over being traffic.

Either way, the rat run drivers seem to manage when the gates are closed for the dark winter months. No need for these trials, we get a trial 3 months of every year.

Cars will always fill the amount of available road given to them, so I’m not sure that closing the rat run to cars would actually result in the traffic armageddon you suggest.

Hmmmm, but but but maybe one more lane would fix it?

It isn't just that it's annoying and dangerous for park users, it's also clearly harmful to the park as a site of special scientific interest (which it's been since 1992). As an sssi the presence of motor traffic and the associated pollutants (tyre rubber, brake pad material being washed off the road by rain in to the parks earth, noise pollution, engine fumes etc) should clearly be minimised.

What's darkly comic is that the 'friends of richmond park' were demanding that through traffic be blocked through the park as long ago as the 1960s.

The other bit ill never forget for as long as I live is how the royal parks banned cycling in the park during the pandemic on the grounds of 'plumes of exhalation.'

the royal parks banned cycling in the park during the pandemic on the grounds of 'plumes of exhalation.'

Wow, that's actually so embarrassing

banned cycling in the park during the pandemic

I thought cars were banned for a bit?

Yes, they were overwhelmed by gridlocked drivers trying to get in and out of the park so panicked and shut the whole place to drivers (instead of insituting a 'book ahead' system...), and a few weeks after, during which the park was being used by thousands of people enjoying car-free cycling, wheelchairing, roller skating and so on on the park roads, they banned them all too. Unless you were a 'key worker' and could prove that you were cycling through the park on business.

And nowadays the royal parks want us to raise money for them, lmfao.