{"id":6576,"date":"2015-08-19T14:11:05","date_gmt":"2015-08-19T14:11:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lewishamcyclists.co.uk\/?p=6576"},"modified":"2015-08-19T14:11:27","modified_gmt":"2015-08-19T14:11:27","slug":"molesworth-street-improvements-to-cycleway-response-to-tfl-consultation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lewishamcyclists.org.uk\/molesworth-street-improvements-to-cycleway-response-to-tfl-consultation\/","title":{"rendered":"Molesworth street Improvements to Cycleway: Response to TfL consultation"},"content":{"rendered":"
We were pleased and appreciative that TfL has taken on board, to some extent at least,\u00a0 our opinion that any improvements made to Molesworth St, should take into account how people cycling use it, that is, it is part of a wider system of journeys made in the area on a bike, and any adaptations to it should seek to improve the safety, ease and usefulness of those journeys. \u00a0Including Lewisham High St in the plans takes some account of this.<\/div>\n

On the west side of\u00a0\u00a0Lewisham High St ( Courthill Road to Engate St) we like\u00a0<\/span>the \u2018stepped\u2019\u00a0 2m cycle lane. \u00a0This is,\u00a0presumably one way Northbound. \u00a0 We are not sure why it couldn\u2019t be at carriageway level semi-segregated using armadillos or similar and would prefer to see it as a 2 way 3.5m lane connecting back to the Toucan crossing outside Tesco, just North of Courthill Rd. We suspect \u00a0it\u2019s not a<\/span>\u00a02 way lane\u00a0because the space needed for that would involve using approx. 1.5m of the pavement on the West side of Lewisham High St and \u2018relocating\u2019 several mature trees that are on that section of pavement, remembering\u00a0 comments at our meeting with Rob Hunter about the implications of removing trees. \u00a0Whilst we agree that trees are an important part of the public realm, they can be replaced elsewhere, or nearby once improvements made.\u00a0 Sacrificing good infrastructure choices for this reason, is we think, shortsighted. \u00a0The benefits of decent safe bicycle links into town centres greatly outweigh removing of a small number of trees, especially when those trees can be easily replanted and mature in twenty years, so it’s not really even a loss.<\/span><\/p>\n

From \u00a0Molesworth St (Engate St to Toucan Crossing (at Cut Line on diagram)), the\u00a0<\/span>short section of Northbound mandatory lane beyond Engate St appears to be non-segregated just delineated by a white line. \u00a0We are not clear why this isn\u2019t stepped like the previous section or at carriageway level and segregated using armadillos or something similar.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Lewisham High Street Southbound<\/span><\/p>\n

It seems cyclists are to share a\u00a04m bus lane<\/a>,\u00a0that includes a double length bus stop. \u00a0This is somewhat disappointing and no improvement on the current provision.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
From \u00a0Molesworth St (Toucan Crossing Cut Line on diagram) to the tunnel through to Cornmill Gardens, it seems that the only\u00a0<\/span>changes to the cycle lane along this section seem to be to re-pave the pedestrian East side, move the lighting columns to between the pedestrian and cycle lanes and improve the treatment across the entrances to the car park etc. We wanted to see a widened (3.5m), segregated\u00a0 2 way lane\u00a0at carriageway level on the East side with the pedestrian pavement moved to the West side. We envisaged that the space to do this would come by using land to the West of the current shared pavement and possibly some width out of the current carriageway.<\/span>\u00a0 We understand that taking land is not always simple, but would hope that creating safe infrastructure that people will actually want to use on their bikes would by now be seen as sufficiently important within transport planning to justify taking space wherever necessary and possible. \u00a0Especially given that with bicycles, unlike roads for motor traffic, the amounts of space needed and costs so relatively small and the potential benefits for the whole community, so great.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Priority of the cycleway over two of the side access roads will be emphasised, which we appreciate, but, bafflingly, the cycleway and footway will still have to give way to motor traffic entering and exiting the most Northerly access road to a small car park. \u00a0Are we reading the plans correctly? If so, this is confusing and inconsistent with current best practice.<\/span><\/div>\n

On the east side \u00a0the large areas of shared footway\/cycleway along Molesworth St and\u00a0the extension and widening of the bus lane from Molesworth St into Lewisham High St, should assist Southbound cyclists, although sharing space with buses should never be seen as a substitute for dedicated bike infrastructure. \u00a0This is not after all a “superhighway” type facility. \u00a0It should be seen as an area where we are facilitating the whole community to cycle. \u00a0I cannot think there are many people who would want to share a bus lane cycling along with their children, or older grandparents. \u00a0The bus lane is also of limited value if buses continue to park along Molesworth St. \u00a0The southbound bus stops along Lewisham High St are commonly occupied by many stationary buses. \u00a0This presents an actual hazard to cyclists, forcing them out in to the stream of fast flowing traffic to the right.\u00a0\u00a0Given the width of the footway here and the relatively low footfall, compared to the other side of the shopping centre, this area could easily be modified to include a segregated cycle lane and a bus stop bypass. TfL’s failure to see that is very disappointing.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Cycle access to\/from Limes Grove<\/span><\/p>\n

No effort is made to improve this at all. It is particularly awkward when cycling North up Lewisham High Street and wishing to turn right up the cycle path onto Limes Grove or when coming from Limes Grove to the Post Office depot on Engate Street.<\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, although we recognise both are out of scope for the present project, it is disappointing to see no mention of ensuring safe cycle provision into Lewisham Gateway or removing the dangerous carriageway narrowing on Lewisham High Street Northbound just North of the Courthill Road junction.<\/span><\/p>\n

We do appreciate that this is a busy and congested area, where space is at a premium and that TfL must consider the needs of all road users in these situations. \u00a0And we also appreciate that you have taken some of our comments on board. \u00a0However, we continue to stress that if difficult, brave and innovative decisions are not taken now, then our town centres will become increasingly congested and polluted. \u00a0If we are not prepared to even replant a few trees to create infrastructure that will get people out of their cars or freeing up space on our public transport, and on to bicycles wherever possible, then, the transport future looks bleak. \u00a0Creating infrastructure that enables anyone to use a bike to get around our city should be an absolute priority. \u00a0It doesn’t just benefit those riding the bikes, it benefits the whole community, in terms of more space for other traffic, improved air quality, quieter, safer, more attractive public space.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We were pleased and appreciative that TfL has taken on board, to some extent at least,\u00a0 our opinion that any improvements made to Molesworth St, should take into account how people cycling use it, that is, it is part of a wider system of journeys made in the area on a bike, and any adaptations… Read More »Molesworth street Improvements to Cycleway: Response to TfL consultation<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lewishamcyclists.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6576"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lewishamcyclists.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lewishamcyclists.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lewishamcyclists.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lewishamcyclists.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6576"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lewishamcyclists.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6576\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6578,"href":"https:\/\/lewishamcyclists.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6576\/revisions\/6578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lewishamcyclists.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lewishamcyclists.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lewishamcyclists.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}