TfL proposal for protected cycle track through Vauxhall gyratory |
Transport for London has submitted its plans for Cycle Super Highway 5 for public scrutiny. And there's an awful lot to take in. Super Highway 5 will run from Victoria to New Cross Gate.
First things first: When TfL first drew up plans for its Cycle Super Highways, there was no public scrutiny at all. In fact, I was lucky to be given some drawings of the original plans for the scheme back in 2011. And they were truly useless. You can see some of the 2011 plans on this post and you can admire how TfL's teams had originally planned for a super highway around Vauxhall gyratory that was - well, no different at all to what's there at the moment. It would have meant that cyclists going from Harleyford Road into the bus/bike lane towards Vauxhall Bridge needed to filter across five lanes of motor traffic (usually moving at way over 40mph). Twice. A complete and utter joke.
TfL has now come up with something much more interesting. The basic principle of the plan is actually really good. The bus lane heading from the Oval towards Vauxhall would be extended up to the traffic lights at Durham Street (currently, you have to jostle for position with a dozen white vans here) and a segregated bike track would lead you under the station, in a straight line to Vauxhall Bridge. The route is much more direct than currently and it actually follows what a lot of cyclists already do (albeit not legally).
In other words, Transport for London has looked at what cyclists already do and given cyclists a more direct route through the gyratory, it has taken a lane away from motor vehicles and given it to the cycle track. Instead of having to cycle around two sides of the gyratory in each direction, you'll be able to pedal straight through the middle of it. Which is actually pretty impressive and shows TfL is beginning to 'get' it. Full marks on that front.
This section to become a protected bike track. Heading east on Kennington Lane I hate cycling on this bit at the moment |
AsEasy blog is quite right to say there's a risk that "Just as a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, so a cycle route can be rendered pointless if there are difficult gaps in it". Will people stop and wait in order to use it? Possibly. At the moment, the set up involves waiting here anyhow, then waiting twice more nearer to the station in order to get through that same tunnel. This new scheme means you still have to wait at three traffic lights to get to the station tunnel, just different ones to cars.
The other issue I can see is that the pedestrian island (which is already a busy shared use pavement/bike space) can be very busy at times. If the bike tracks are going to work then those bike/pedestrian crossings look way too narrow to me. They're about the same size as the current crossings and you'll often see half a dozen people on bikes plus a dozen people on foot all penned in waiting to cross on the narrow toucan crossing.
The other major proposal here is Vauxhall Bridge itself. The Bridge is a complete travesty at the moment. Cyclegaz produced an excellent video of the terrifyingly dangerous bike 'infrastructure' that is in place on the southbound side of the Bridge.
TfL's proposal here is quite radical. Back in 2011, TfL had planned to do almost nothing here. The idea was to simply rub out the bike lane and let cyclists play chicken with the lorries. Now, TfL has something quite quite different in mind - It suggests either: a protected bike track running the entire length of the Bridge and a separate bike traffic light at the southern end or moving the bus lane to the left hand side and having bikes and buses share. In theory, either of these options sounds like a massive improvement on what's there at the moment.
TfL plan for southbound Vauxhall Bridge. Protected bike track and cycle traffic lights. |
I have to say that, as far as Vauxhall gyratory is concerned, I think Transport for London has shown some really fresh and clever thinking.
But there are a number of compromises that need addressing. And these revolve around the fact that bicycle must still cede to motor car.
This is London's inner ring road in action. It is the road that skirts the central London congestion charge. And I can only just imagine the hoops TfL has to jump through to fit meaningful bike infrastructure in to this horrible junction.
Exiting Vauxhall Bridge southbound at the moment This is what it looks like at rush-hour most days Cyclists squeezed in a 1metre wide gutter |
I'm going to review other parts of the super highway over the coming days. There's an awful lot to read through. If you have time and inclination, you can see all the details on TfL's consultation hub pages.
If you use Vauxhall gyratory, you should tell TfL what you think by filling out the relevant sections of the TfL Cycle Super Highway 5 online survey.
"I think TfL deserves a thumbs-up for fitting some pretty decent bike infrastructure into this area. But it really needs to address the links between those better bits of infrastructure and optimise them."
ReplyDeleteI think you are right to give credit where it is due, but it is absolutely essential that TfL take on board your wider point. As Cycling: the way ahead explains:
"The best guarantees for finding intelligent solutions - which must very often be adapted to the specific situation in hand - include taking into account the experience of people who cycle on a daily basis and the imagination and subtlety of analysis of those in charge of the projects. Only by studying a cycle route network, however, will it be possible to truly grasp the situation and to act in a targeted and highly efficient fashion."
This is a busy junction, with cyclists coming and going from all sorts of different directions. To give you just one example, you might wish to consider this.
If anybody from TfL is reading this, please bear in mind: "Studying the feasibility of a network is of a similar importance to setting up a cycling unit or appointing a cycling coordinator." (Cycling: the way ahead)
The irony of the situation that cyclists find themselves in is delicious. Before 2000 London had a barely functional strategic cycle network but no strategic transport authority. Since 2000 London has a barely functional strategic authority but no strategic cycle network. Beautiful, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteOne thing that needs to be considered in all of this: can it handle a huge increase in the number of cyclists?
ReplyDeleteIf this infrastructure is to stand the test of time (and it wouldn't be good value for money if it didn't) then any new infrastructure must be able to cope with targets or estimates for increased cycling.
Most of the cycle lanes and ASLs are already overflowing at peak hours, they're not capable of safely handling any more cyclists. We shouldn't make the same mistake again!
I think route 5 is a reasonable effort at improving Cycling along this route alignment. However there are some very nasty spots where cyclists have not been considered and the designers have shown that they do not ride a bike. The design on the north side of Vauxhall bridge once the junction has been cleared is likely to be a killing field as cyclists blidly follow the blue surfacing with takes them across 2 lanes of traffic. Motorists won't be expecting it and cyclists are unlikely to aware of this as they are likely to 'trust' in the infrastructure.
ReplyDeleteThe comment on future proofing is some key, segregated cycle lanes and tracks should not be narrower than 3m and mandatory cycle lanes should not be narrower than 2m, it's a backwards step if they are.