TfL considering modifying cycle lane on Blackfriars Bridge

Apologies if it's a repost. Basically TfL is considering altering the northern end of Blackfriars Bridge, adding a lane of traffic and getting rid of the cycle lane.

This is a dreadful idea - the area itself is notoriously dangerous to cyclists, and was only just modified to reduce road danger after a couple of fatalities.

Covered in detail by Cyclists in the City: http://cyclelondoncity.blogspot.com/2011/02/object-to-new-blackfriars-bridge-scheme.html and update: http://cyclelondoncity.blogspot.com/2011/02/blackfriars-bridge-tfl-is-turning-it.html

Also on Londonist: http://londonist.com/2011/02/tfl-planning-to-remove-blackfriars-bridge-approach-cycle-lane.php and Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/bike-blog/2011/feb/21/bike-lane-blackfriars-bridge

The deadline for bitching at TFL is today. Email Jamila.Barrett@tfl.gov.uk to politely suggest that this is a bloody stupid idea. CiTC also suggested cc'ing in john.biggs@london.gov.uk , jenny.jones@london.gov.uk and valerie.shawcross@london.gov.uk and BoJo's pretend email address: mayor@london.gov.uk

Plans put back up for consultation?

http://cyclelondoncity.blogspot.com/2011/02/tfl-postpones-entire-blackfriars.html

Hope so. It would be nice if planners paid attention to what road users need for a change.

Just got this response back from TfL (its quite lengthy):
Dear Mr Brain-Stew

Thank you for your e-mail, dated 22 February 2011, to Jamila Barrett regarding the planned changes to the cycle lanes at Blackfriars Bridge. As I am certain you will appreciate, we have been receiving a lot of correspondence on this subject recently so please accept our sincerest apologies for the delay in responding to your query. In order to respond to your concerns satisfactorily please permit me to give an overview of the situation before responding to specific points of contention.

The drawing of the proposed changes which was circulated on the internet amongst cyclists’ groups was recently issued for stakeholder consultation by Transport for London (TfL). This plan proposed a cycle right turn facility from Victoria Embankment onto Blackfriars Bridge. This element is yet to be approved and subject to change following consultation. In order to put this scheme in context it has been superimposed onto the proposed Network Rail station works in this drawing.

The Network Rail proposal has been approved internally by TfL and City of London, as required under Network Rail’s Traffic and Works Obligation. The drawing for this wider scheme was used for initial engagement with key stakeholders in February 2010. At this initial engagement the City of London consulted the local cycle group Cyclists in the City.

A drawing has now been provided to outline the key features of both schemes and how they differ from the original highway layout prior to any station works.
TfL is acutely aware of the dangers to cyclists which this location has posed in the past. A safety audit has been conducted on both the Network Rail proposal and TfL’s cycle right turn element. Within these audits the safety of the proposals were assessed from the perspective of all road users including cyclists. These audits were carried out in line with TfL’s Road Safety Audit procedure.

In 2004 TfL redesigned the road layout on the bridge to better accommodate cyclists. It is important to note that whilst proposals are in place to alter the junction due to the upgraded Network Rail station, the road layout on the bridge will not be changed.

When considering the proposed changes at the location various modelling programmes were used to assess the effects on all road users. Design development was carried out in the TRANSYT traffic modelling programme to establish the traffic impact of various options. This was supported by LEGION modelling which is a modelling software specifically designed to model the impact on pedestrian movements through and around a proposed junction. This software was used to define the location of the proposed crossings. VISSIM (a more detailed traffic modelling) was carried out in support of the TRANSYT modelling, which included the modelling of cyclists to establish the overall impact of the scheme.

In response to fears that TfL are prioritising drivers’ concerns over those of cyclists, the proposals are giving no more carriageway space to motor traffic, indeed on New Bridge Street the width available for general traffic reduces from 10.6m to between 9.6 and 9.2m wide. Where additional white lining is being provided on New Bridge Street southbound to define an additional lane, this is within the original carriageway width. In the original scheme the traffic behaved in a three lane flow (although this was not officially marked) and by marking in this way lane discipline will be improved, reducing the risk of collisions caused by weaving and side swipes. The organisation of traffic within the junction in this manner will also prevent very significant queuing.

Unfortunately the proposed scheme requires the removal of the southbound cycle lane outside the station entrance. This is required to accommodate a footway extension. Legion modelling of the expected pedestrian numbers entering and exiting the station has shown that for safety reasons an extension of the proposed footway is required. Furthermore the footway extension is required by DfT to provide sufficient space for station security measures.

Unfortunately it is not possible to extend the carriageway on the western side to provide space to accommodate both the footway extension and the southbound cycle lane outside the station entrance as the tear-drop island is located over areas with limited load bearing due to shallow utilities including a large gas main. As stated above, it is necessary to mark three lanes of motorised traffic to avoid long queues back through the junction at peak time and to prevent widespread congestion. Although three lanes are marked, motorised traffic will not be using any more carriageway space than was originally allocated.

TFL is not expecting to see an increase in the amount of traffic using this junction from the original levels in 2008 (prior to any station works). We would also expect to see more constant traffic speeds due to the proposed road markings improving the lane discipline of drivers.

We have considered requests to reduce the speed of the traffic by imposing a reduced speed limit through the location. 20mph zones are generally more suited to residential areas rather than the principal road network, of which Blackfriars Bridge is a part. While TfL has no objection to the principle of 20mph zones we do not believe that this would be suitable for Blackfriars Bridge.

In a number of areas the proposals are giving carriageway space to cyclists. At the southbound New Bridge Street and westbound Queen Victoria Street stop line flares have been removed, reducing the carriageway width from 3 lanes to 2, resulting in right turning cyclists only having to traverse a single lane of traffic where previously they had to traverse two. Advanced Stop Lines (ASL’s) are also being provided for cyclists at all of the approaches to the junction and pedestrian crossings.

Unfortunately the reduction of the cycle lane from 2m to 1.5m northbound through the junction is required to accommodate the widening of the footway which is currently below standard. 1.5m cycle lanes are used throughout central London and are in line with TfL guidance for safe facilities. Whilst TfL would prefer to provide a wider cycle lane this is not possible given the spatial constraints of the scheme in this location.

With regards to concerns relating to pedestrian traffic across the junctions, the expected pedestrian movements have been modelled within a software package called LEGION. This was used to determine the location of the proposed crossings to ensure that they are on the most direct desire lines for pedestrians.

Unfortunately due to the expected numbers of pedestrians once the station has been upgraded it was not viable to maintain the temporary crossing in its current location on New Bridge Street. Modelling has shown that the two major desire lines for pedestrians are between the station entry/exit and the eastern and western side of New Bridge Street. It was not considered viable to maintain both crossings on New Bridge Street due to traffic capacity issues. However, it should be noted that subway entrances 8 and 1 will remain open allowing access between Watergate and the Blackfriars pub.

Finally, we have received many comments relating to the construction of a ‘traffic island’, from the plans, which splits the northbound flow of traffic through the junction. This is not a traffic island. All traffic islands and footway extensions are marked in blue on the latest drawing. What is being thought of as an island is only proposed to be road marking (hatching) which will be at carriageway level.

I hope that the above information has proved interesting to you and goes someway to alleviating your concerns. Please be assured that TfL takes the safety of everyone using the network as a priority. I thank you for your correspondence and apologise once again for the delay in responding to your queries. If there is any other matter which you think I may be able to assist with, please do not hesitate to contact me.
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Yours sincerely

[FONT=Arial]Alexander Jackson[/FONT]
[SIZE=3][FONT=Arial]Customer Service Advisor[/FONT][/SIZE]

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DO NOT DELETE.............................
{ticketno:[1541961]}
DO NOT DELETE.............................

Charming letter from TfL. Basically says "Fuck off, we're doing it anyway"

I hope the LCC is totally on top of this as well as the bloggers who've been talking it up as I think it has the potential to become a substantial future issue.

Righto, time for a 'spot the difference' competition.

Old scheme proposal:

(Click through for the large-size version.)

New scheme proposal (higher resolution PDF attached):

There are a few extremely minor changes (such as a southbound cycle lane), but in essence, this is the same scheme as before.

What do you think?

2 Attachments

• Blackfriars Revised Design.pdf
• 

The new scheme, by the way, represents TfL's response to the consultation that they agreed to open on Blackfriars following political pressure.

If you can, please retweet this and spread the word:

http://twitter.com/#!/London_Cycling/status/70923189462634496

We don't think the Blackfriars proposals go far enough.

http://www.lcc.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=2260

Please support the campaign if you agree, and come to the bridge on Friday morning. Exact details will be tweeted.

Some more info:

Summary of the changes:

**Pros
*** Southbound cycle lane outside Bf station mandatory and 1.5m - March plan - section eliminated

• Traffic lanes outside Bf station reduced from 3 in March proposal to two (same as interim)
  
• Cycle crossing from Embankment to moved to diagonal across island - reduces conflict with peds.
  
• Yellow box narrowed and extended
  
• Bike lane northbound on bridge widened from March plan to 2.5
  
• Bike lane at island widened to 2m from 1.5m
  
  

**Cons
*** 30 mph reintroduced

• Pavement space taken away from pedestrians
  
• Priority still given to high capacity motor traffic flows
  
• Opportunity missed for creating a satisfactory junction for all road users
  
• Double T junction not considered or referred to in letter
  
• Cycle lanes not extended to bus stops as suggested
  
• Protected lane northbound left as a narrow 1.4m
  
• Southbound traffic lane into Embankment widened to create additional traffic lane
  
• Temporary crossing for pedestrians to be removed as planned
  
• ASL at right turn into Q Vic St removed
  
• No action to make Watergate two way for cycling
  
• No action on South approach to Bridge or at Ludgate Circus
  

Bump. There is going to be a 'flash ride' at Blackfriars to protest about the thoroughly inadequate scheme that TfL are proposing--sticking plaster solutions, narrow cycle lanes, and still far too much space for motor traffic when this is the busiest cycling bridge in London. Come along and show your support.

Just bumping this again.
I think it's fantastic that LCC are sticking their necks out and calling this flashride tomorrow at 08.30 on the bridge. Over 600 people wrote to TfL telling them their original plans were truly appalling, but the new scheme they've come up with is basically a bit of extra paint and some space taken away from pedestrians. It's still going to be 30mph with 3 lanes of traffic in places, and there's no ASL for people trying to get to Queen Charlotte St. People on bikes are the majority of peak hour traffic here, and are being treated like second class citizens just to try and squeeze a few more cars through.

And there's no space here for future cycling growth at all - whatever happened to London becoming a cyclised city?!

I'm going to be there tomorrow morning ( http://bit.ly/ivH6c9 ) it would be great if bods from LFGSS could come along too.

Blackfriars Bridge, 08.30AM by the Dogget's Pub / south junction. Come!

Out of interest do the LCC submit their own plans for TFL's consideration or do they just say "no, we don't like this" and ask TFL to make changes?

Bump! LCC will be publishing a vision for Blackfriars. In the mean time see everyone at the bridge 0830 tomorrow.

Mustafa
(LCC Trustee - Chair of Campaigns & Active Membership)

bump...

http://ibikelondon.blogspot.com/2011/05/flash-ride-for-blackfriars-bridge.html

(apologies for new thread, but the other title might be overlooked...)

I work quite near the South of the bridge so might join in for a bit.

Out of interest do the LCC submit their own plans for TFL's consideration or do they just say "no, we don't like this" and ask TFL to make changes?

Bump! LCC will be publishing a vision for Blackfriars. In the mean time see everyone at the bridge 0830 tomorrow.

Mustafa
(LCC Trustee - Chair of Campaigns & Active Membership)

What Mustafa said. We have our own vision, but it is also worth noting that we first fed that into the process back in 2006/7 or so (can't remember exactly when). TfL drew it up into a design but apparently dismissed it during the process leading up to where we are now.

This vision is of a simple layout with two T-junctions, in particular removing the 'teardrop island' in the centre which causes such a strangely twisted carriageway layout.

Blackfriars is a key location, one of the most important in London, and an unmissable opportunity to do something progressive. Should be a good turnout tomorrow morning! Do come along.

Oliver
LCC

http://ibikelondon.blogspot.com/2011/05/flash-ride-for-blackfriars-bridge.html

(apologies for new thread, but the other title might be overlooked...)

Thanks, Chameleon. Here's the other thread, which has information in it on the problem with the 'redesign':

http://www.lfgss.com/newpostinthread60211.html

Great! It really shouldn't take too long or too much of anyone's time. If everyone assembles on the south side of the bridge just before 8.30AM the bridge is really not that long. Let's hope lots of people turn up, the blogs and twitter have been going nuts about it.

I'll be there bumpity bump bump.

This is really important so I hope lots of people do show up, Blackfriars is not just about this one intersection, it's about showing TFL that we've had enough of their car centric designs and Boris that we've had enough of his car centric leadership.

Thanks, Peej. It's always worth pointing out that the LCC is non-party political. We want the best for cycling regardless of who is in charge.

See you all bright and early tomorrow, 8:30am. This will be good fun.

Late evening bump. Come along tomorrow, 8:30am, south side of Blackfriars Bridge.

Late evening bump. Come along tomorrow, 8:30am, south side of Blackfriars Bridge.

BUMP BUMP!!!

Though what are the chances of me making it? Errr....

shuffles off to bed

Morning bump. :)

that was fun!