Kingston - Hampton Court - Cycle Lane works

[hatler]

Does anyone know what the works to the north side of the Kingston Hampton Court Road are all about ?

They appear to be widening the pavement a 100 yard stretch at a time from about the mid point (ie half way between K and HC), heading towards Kingston.

It all looks very fishy to me.

[joftek]

I haven't seen it yet, but I suspect it will eventually be the planned shared use path that will run from the Hampton Wick roundabout to just before Lion Gate.

Jonathan
Richmond Cycling Campaign

[hatler]

OMG !

My worst fears are realised.

It looks like the entry for the Eastbound side is a few hundred yards after Lion Gate.

There's nothing happening on the other side yet.

joftek,

Have you any links to why this was felt necessary ?

I am a bit disappointed that as a daily user of this route for the last four years I have not been canvassed for my views, nor has anything appeared on the route explaining what was afoot.

Will the path only be on one side of the road ?

Dear god.

[hatler]

Sorry all. I'm starting to seethe now.

This cycle lane is possibly the one bit of cycle infrastructure on my route that has any slight benefit at all.

The cost of the works will be enormous, they are entirely unnecessary, and they will also significantly degrade my commute because : -
    the shared use path will not be as good a surface as the road
    I generally do around 30kph on this stretch so should be on the road
    the available road space will be significantly reduced thereby giving me less room
    vehicle drivers will now get closer to me and be more frustrated and more likely to vent their frustrations by driving close to 'teach me a lesson'
    given the increasing amount of anecdotes it looks like I will get little protection from the police if I do get hit by a vehicle whilst on the road if there is a nearby cycle facility.

[joftek]

Nothing is planned for the other side of the road as far as I know.

It is part of the CRISP process for the 167 LCN+ route, so all stakeholders were notified and given the chance to give their opinions during that process.  That doesn't include members of the public but does include community groups.  I can't remember if the Richmond Cycling Campaign were involved in this particular CRISP or not, I certainly wasn't.

When I saw the plans, I voiced similar concerns to the principal engineer.  They were going to remove the cycle lane on the road as well, but decided not to in the end.

The money comes from TfL and LBRuT has to spend it on 'improving' LCN+ routes like this one.

Jonathan

[David Martin]

There should be plans available for this work available on-line throughthe council website.

..d

[Tim Hall]

Jonathan
Richmond Cycling Campaign

And the Modern Lovers?

[hatler]

And here's an article in the local press explaining that this type of scheme is a resounding success. So far the two comments are very good (from an on-raod cycling perspective).