London - CS7 - What have they done ??

[hatler]

First time along CS 7 today since the early days of the lockdown. Not the full distance, just from Colliers Wood to Blackshaw Road (the turn for St George's hospital).

Good god !  What a mess. They've stuck wobbly posts within the blue lane (so reducing the demarcated width for bikes and significantly reducing the available freedom of movement for bikes).

In addition, they've cast the bus stops adrift from the pavement and the cycle lane now runs behind the bus stop island with a really short radius curve and a hideous ramp up to get to pavement level.

Absolutely disgraceful implementation.

When heading West at Colliers Wood as the CS ends the cycle lane used to run between the left-turning lane and the straight on lane (just before Merton bus garage). Now, the CS stays left of both vehicle lanes and the cyclist is forced into a circus-style manoeuvre to go straight on.

Surely this is the work of traffic clowns.

One final indignity for anyone suffering a medical emergency. You'll note I made mention of St George's. Unsurprisingly there's quite a bit of blue light A&E traffic along here. Now the wobbly posts are in place drivers have nowhere to go when they have an ambulance trying to get somewhere in a hurry, and in rush hours, it's nose to tail along there, both ways.

[grams]

Good god !  What a mess. They've stuck wobbly posts within the blue lane (so reducing the demarcated width for bikes and significantly reducing the available freedom of movement for bikes).

We've gone from zero dedicated space for bikes to some dedicated space for bikes.

In addition, they've cast the bus stops adrift from the pavement and the cycle lane now runs behind the bus stop island with a really short radius curve and a hideous ramp up to get to pavement level.

This is one of the few sensible ways to resolve the conflict between big dangerous heavy buses and small squishy cyclists.

The nice thing about dedicated infrastructure is that it's ok to slow down a little, because you're not constantly racing the snarling engine behind you.

[hatler]

If I go back that way I'll get a photo to show how poorly the bus stop diversions have been executed.

[ian]

I haven't seen the changes, but CS7 was generally a bit of a joke that got worse the further you headed out. Post-Clapham South the blue lane seemed mostly to exist to facilitate parking.

I'm not saying it is good or bad, but really, if you want dedicated space for cycling, then something has to give. The problem is generally that councils are less willing to do the obvious thing and reduce vehicle traffic along those roads. And no, I don't agree that it should be an option for drivers to park in a cycle lane to let an ambulance by. That's not a solution.

[Notsototalnewbie]

One final indignity for anyone suffering a medical emergency. You'll note I made mention of St George's. Unsurprisingly there's quite a bit of blue light A&E traffic along here. Now the wobbly posts are in place drivers have nowhere to go when they have an ambulance trying to get somewhere in a hurry, and in rush hours, it's nose to tail along there, both ways.

To be fair the wobbly posts largely replace cars parked in the cycle lane so this situation is unchanged as far as emergency vehicles go.

[hatler]

One final indignity for anyone suffering a medical emergency. You'll note I made mention of St George's. Unsurprisingly there's quite a bit of blue light A&E traffic along here. Now the wobbly posts are in place drivers have nowhere to go when they have an ambulance trying to get somewhere in a hurry, and in rush hours, it's nose to tail along there, both ways.

To be fair the wobbly posts largely replace cars parked in the cycle lane so this situation is unchanged as far as emergency vehicles go.

Not the case in the rush hours though.

I had been doing Colliers Wood to the City every day since June 2017 and as long as I was in town before 10am and off the CW end by 7pm the blue lane was almost always 100% clear.

It was about as good as I hoped cycling in a city to be.

[hatler]

Wandsworth have suspended their LTN plan - https://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/news/september-2020/low-traffic-neighbourhood-trials-suspended/

It looks like chucking money willy-nilly at the problem and not thinking things through have prompted an irresistible cry for the plans to be suspended.

I think they were trying to do two things at once; closing off side roads to prevent rat-running and 'enhance' the cycle provision. Too many straws apparently.

[grams]

It was about as good as I hoped cycling in a city to be.

Write me a tragedy in fourteen words.

It looks like chucking money willy-nilly at the problem and not thinking things through have prompted an irresistible cry for the plans to be suspended.

It was killed by outside agitators and councillors who weren't up for that sort of fight. There are bored/redundant cabbies and UKIP dregs stirring up shite against all of these schemes.

[hatler]

It was about as good as I hoped cycling in a city to be.

Write me a tragedy in fourteen words.

It looks like chucking money willy-nilly at the problem and not thinking things through have prompted an irresistible cry for the plans to be suspended.

Fair point. I should more properly have said "It was about as good as I could reasonably have hoped cycling in a city to be."

[hatler]

It looks like chucking money willy-nilly at the problem and not thinking things through have prompted an irresistible cry for the plans to be suspended.

It was killed by outside agitators and councillors who weren't up for that sort of fight. There are bored/redundant cabbies and UKIP dregs stirring up shite against all of these schemes.

Completely agree on this point. We're seeing the same thing for Merton, eg this mildly incoherent rant/petition - https://democracy.merton.gov.uk/mgEPetitionDisplay.aspx?ID=25&RPID=4141396&HPID=4141396

[ian]

Personally I always found CS7 awful. It took them years to sort out the deadly junctions at Oval and Stockwell and I've never found the bits around Clapham, Balham and Tooting not to be blocked by parked cars and delivery vans. That and it seems to attract a fraternity of wannabe TdF riders. There didn't seem to be much difference to the A23 in my opinion, other than the blue paint.

As to the petitions, they just regurgitate the same shit every time (for 20mph zones, home zones, street closures, you name it). But the moral of the story is to never pitch these change as 'for cyclists,' they have to be framed by broader benefits. Which isn't even difficult, no one actually likes being run over or breathing out of an exhaust pipe. Sometimes I think they set up these things to fail.

[alexb]

The section through Balham is blighted by the decision to allow loading bays all the way along the High Street. This means that you are ejected back into the traffic at 100m intervals.
The section from Balham to Tooting has the new wobbly poles.
Having got over the shock of the new, they're OK, but the carriageway for bikes has been narrowed and the bus stops are shit compared to other ones on the other cycle superhighways. The islands are too small for pushchairs and wheelchairs, so functionally pretty dire.

There's also a confusing section near to the garage by Argos where the poles have been placed close to the kerb. So on this short section you dodge to the right of the poles. Someone will get this wrong and slam into the kerb at speed. It's inevitable, especially in the dark and wet weather we have coming...

[ian]

I didn't get a chance to go look, but it sounds like what happens when they try to lever in cycling infrastructure into the existing mix without really changing anything. You can't have wide pavements, wide roads with a full complement of traffic, loading bays, parking, and a proper cycling route.

I was struck that there's a small length of cycle path through Croydon. It doesn't appear to serve any functional use as it runs from the flyover to the pedestrianized bit. I confess, I was left scratching my head.

[Notsototalnewbie]

I was struck that there's a small length of cycle path through Croydon. It doesn't appear to serve any functional use as it runs from the flyover to the pedestrianized bit. I confess, I was left scratching my head.

When they first put it in, the arrows switched sides at least twice, but they've at least sorted that now. I guess it is symbolism more than anything else. The bits on London road are a bit more useful.

[ian]

I was struck that there's a small length of cycle path through Croydon. It doesn't appear to serve any functional use as it runs from the flyover to the pedestrianized bit. I confess, I was left scratching my head.

When they first put it in, the arrows switched sides at least twice, but they've at least sorted that now. I guess it is symbolism more than anything else. The bits on London road are a bit more useful.

Indeed, it doesn't really go anywhere useful and it wasn't an especially dangerous bit to cycle along.

I did encounter the bits on London Road, which is generally an improvement, if inconsistent. The roads by the Mayday was never fun unless you're a bolshy take-the-lane and ignore the homicidal drivers of Wild West Croydon. It wasn't an encouraging cycling environment. The council made London Road a lot worse by expanding the pavements and parking bays (see also South Croydon).