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Originally Posted by flecc
It that case it's just traffic calming and daft as you say Hal. We have the same pinch point islands but always with pedestrian crossing incorporated. many of them are the long dog leg safety type with railings so people can't just run straight across, they have to do a left and right in the middle
Absolutely not, the Croydon Cycling Campaign are always attacking the council over their negative attitudes and some of the daft traffic decisions they take. This is almost all TfL work, the Trams as a PPP initially but now taken over by TfL. The bus, bus shelter and main route Toucan crossings have to be TfL of course.
We do have 20 mph zones at all school points but we had to push the council into instituting adequate ones, and they've spoilt some of them for cyclists by including the sharp edged "chocolate block" type of traffic calming platforms.
But really Hal, to say Ken has been neutral towards cycling simply doesn't stand examination and is grossly unfair. He is the one who has driven the cycle lane budget upwards against the GLC council opposition, it reaching £24 million in some years. He also instigated the free cycle route maps for London against opposition. He is the one who has driven the cycle parking facilities against opposition from many local councils, and it was he who started the full page advertising campaign to get cyclists treated better by other road users. He is the one who proposed cycle "motorways" and the Paris style cycle hire scheme, now both dead since he hasn't been elected.
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As I said I stand to be corrected but what I do not understand is the divide between the South and the North and (this is what lost him the election) the inner and outer boroughs. I do take into account the cycling facilities in Finsbury park, but they cost millions and are vastly under utilised. I may be wrong but for me they are the icing on the cake - please can we have some space to cycle first and most importantly safe junctions? All those I ask about cycling say they won't do it because the roads are too dangerous - they don't say it is because of a lack of parking facilities. (For a while I did cycle to the park at Finsbury but getting on packed tube after cycling was unbearable - I nearly collapsed with heat exhaustion).
I say neutral because from the beginning he failed to get his road planners on message (he controls the major roads which are TFL). Talking of messages, he was the one who suggested putting licence plates on bicycles! He had eight years I don't think cycling was anywhere near the top of his agenda (I think there is some confusion - being anti-car is not the same as being pro-cycling). As for the two proposals - yes great but they came too late. Shall we talk about the 9 corruption cases that have gone to the Police? You can tell I am not a great fan, maybe we should agree to disagree!