Category: Monthly News Headlines

Another lively meeting on Monday 27th October in the new, and very comfortable, room in Coffee7.

• We  agreed in principle to helping Newham Council with cycle related traffic surveys and had three instant volunteers for training.
• We started by discussing the proposed Quietway proposal from Aldgate to Hainault which would pass across the north of the borough.  We thought this was a good idea in principle.   The question of traffic calming humps excited much interest – see earler post.  The points already made were confirmed by the meeting – see the earlier post of meeting with  Newham Council on 10 October.
• We looked again at our ward asks.  Most stand the test of a few month’s hindsight and fit in to the basic “vision” of a network of  quietways infilled with permeability.  The ask for Beckton,  which was recently questioned by Councillor Christie, could be clarified.  Its essence is to provide a crossing, and continuity of the cycle track, over the access road to the ASDA car park.  Subsequent to the meeting more detailed suggestions have been put forward for this junction.
• Bernard set out his vision for a traffic calmed area covering north of the Romford Rd between Forest Gate an Manor Park, which he would like to pursue.  The scheme woul not present an absolute bar to traffic but a “load of bollards” would create an area which deterred through traffic.  The meeting reacted favourably, making the points that any scheme would need to cover the whole area, and be “holistic” in the sense that it incorporated parking, 20 mph limits etc.  A precise plan would assist implemetnation, particularly if it took into account of the ward audit exercise of 400+ minor permeability improvements which was being developed and the Quietway proposal which would affect Capel Rd.  Bernard would welcome future ideas and suggestions.
• The meeting was reminded of, and discussed, the outstanding consultations on CS2, the Silvertown Tunnel and the Central London east-west and north -south routes.  Please respond individually using the avaialble cycle friendly templates if your wish. Newham Cyclists had participated at the earlier CS2 event in Whitechapel and  it appeared that the market traders were not antipathetic to a better CS2.  No response had been received to the Freedom of Information requests to Newham and TfL concerning the removal of CS2 at Tramway Avenue.  The initial response to Councillor Christie’s invitation to put forward suggestions was that the best solution was to remove the sliproad in favour of a proper junction at West Ham Lane; and, of the less effective alternatives, the best was the wands that were previously there with better signage.  We will pursue this further.
• Further information would be sought concerning the prolonged closure of CS2 eastbound in Statford Broadway and the closure of the cycle lane in Manby Grove
• The monthly newsletter for October was well received and we will continue with this format, using the Yahoo Group for rides and urgent news until LCC provided the more flexible functionality.  It was suggested that a “core e-mail group” be compiled for day to day use.  If you are interested on being on this please let me know.
• We agreed to Bill’s internet banking proposal.
• Our next meeting will be on Tuesday November 25.  it will be a social occasion with some form of refreshment and take place at the Wanstead Tap in Pevensey Rd.  We will focus our business on next years’ rides, so please come prepared with ideas and rides you would like to see and may be willing to lead.

Arnold

Monthly Meeting 29.09.14

We welcomed new member Thom Sanders who has recently moved to Newham from Camden.

E-W Superhighway & CS2 Bow-Aldgate upgrade

We briefly discussed the proposals and the plans were circulated. Everyone was asked to at least support the principle of the proposals for the E-W Superhighway even if they didn’t have time to comment on them in detail, due to the rather vocal opposition from some businesses (in particular the Canary Wharf group).

Ken mentioned that he knew one of the people responsible for organising the campaign for the Canary Wharf group and has promised to discuss it with him. Much of the concern from them is in connection with increased travel time for people from Heathrow (this particularly relates to the Embankment section of the route).

Bill suggested that there needed to be a link between CS2 & CS3 this is something that could be commented on in the proposals.

Trustee Elections

We discussed the issue of Tony Martin (right wing activist) standing for election to the Board of Trustees. Ken gave some further information on him as he has come across him in the past.
LCC currently have no ability to prevent him from standing and are passing a Special Resolution at the AGM so that this cannot happen in the future.

Aldgate-Hainault Quietway

We discussed that Richard Wadey had not reported back on this following on from last month’s meeting. Sustrans have asked us to have input on the section of the route that comes through Newham, but we have not yet seen confirmed plans or had the chance to give any feedback.
We need to see details on how the route will be signed, how junctions will be dealt with (in particular Chobham Road/Gurney Road), what kind of speed bumps will be used on Capel Road in place of what is currently there etc etc.

Olawale said that local groups need to be actively campaigning for quietways and need to be prepared for opposition. (We need the full information in order to be able to prepare for this). LCC head office can provide support. We also discussed getting the support from some of the local councillors for the wards that the route passes through. The Quietway will provide a route for less confident and new cyclists, as well as families.

We agreed to be proactive on this item and to push for the info from Sustrans/Tfl.

Campaigner Awards

LCC have been chasing local groups for nominations for the Campaigner Awards at the AGM.
It was agreed that we should put our Tour de France ride forward for the ‘Best Ride’ category.

Newham Recorder

Last week Kerena was contacted by the Newham Recorder to comment on the removal of the section of CS2 on the Stratford Gyratory. This made the front page of the Recorder!
This week they have asked for comments on the proposals to change the Gyratory from a one way system to a 2-way road. We have not yet seen the plans for this (which Richard told us at the last meeting were only just being submitted for funding). A brief comment will be given to the paper stating that we have not seen the plans but are generally supportive as long as the proposals meet appropriate standards.

Communications

There was a question about communication/emails. Arnold & Kerena are attending a tutorial at the LCC office on the 8th October on the ‘Engaging Networks’ tool, which will enable us to tailor emails to different sections of the mailing list.

Thom offered help with website (his background is web development).

Leaway etc

Olawale & Bill had attended a meeting with Richard Wadey and TfL regarding the Leaway route, particularly the difficult sections around Silvertown etc. This is one of the strategic North-South routes through Newham. The budget is small, so some thought needs to be given as to whether it is more important to get the junctions right or improve the actual tracks. The consensus was that it was better to focus on the junctions.
The question was raised about routes for children to ride to school. The New City School route developed by Liz with Richard Wadey was discussed. We have not heard anything about this route recently, but it was agreed that this should be a key route as it takes in a large number of schools. We also came back to the 20mph limit and how this links with safer school routes etc.
There was some general discussion about the ward audits, contraflows on one-way streets etc. Bill suggested that these contraflows naturally create ‘quietways’.

• A pleasant ride up the canal last Monday (30 June) with just a bit of business.  First we will run a furher evening ride on Tuesday 5 August for those who have not fled on holiday.  Usual 7.00pm start at the corner of Sebert and Woodgrange Rds.  We will wend our way off road to  Canary Wharf for refreshment.
• The French themed ride  is on for Sunday 6 July.  Breakfast from 9.30 at the View Tube, depart after 10.15.
• Three of us attended an informal update with Newham Coucil on outstanding cycle issues.  In a nutshell:Olympic Park, CS2 from Stratford to Ilford, Westfield – not off the radar but no news.

  Quietways - Four of us looked today at the Greenway, the Roding Valley way and the Stratford -Ilford quietway with 2 TfL Officers and Richard from Newham Council, particularly scoping out improvemetns to the Greenway and creating a Stratford to Ilford quietway.  The Roding Valley has local funding for a study.  The Council are also actively pursuing  Woolwich to Forest Gate and West Ham to East Ham quietways

  Removal of cycle  parking at Leyton Rd and Romford Rd – to be looked into , since when the position on Romford Rd has become worse and more than half the pavement has been removed for car parking.

  Cycle contraflows on Cramere and Sheringham Rd – definitively blocked at the political level, as was a 20mph limit in Upper St.

  Warton Rd – the Council are looking at a separate cycle lane through the a separate arch in the railway.

  Cycle officer-  the funding from TfL for this is not being used for a full blown cycle officer but is being devoted to cycling purposes.

This is a news update to sight everyone on what is current, before the annual meeting on 31 March.

Sadly Newham’s mini-Holland bid was unsuccessful, but there are positives to come out of the exercise, and Councillor Christie has been in touch to outline these.  In fact there remains a good chance Newham may get most of what it bid for (albeit through different pots of money).   For example Stratford gyratory has been listed amongst the junctions for improvement, TfL has committed support for the Leaway (Cody Dock to Canning Town)  and there is likely to be support for the Greenway improvement and linked quietways. CS2 to Ilford may come from the CS programme.

Disappointingly our request for Upper St to have a 20mph limit was overruled. on the following grounds:   “Being a bus route and major road link in the borough it was agreed that it was not appropriate to install speed reducing features on Upper Road to bring the speed limit down to 20mph, and that the objection be overruled”  It is particularly retrograde to treat Upper St as a major through road, which it should be not and does not have to be; and then to use that as an excuse to allow motor vehicles to use it at a dangerous speed.  Cyclists and pedestrians have to pay for the police and the Council’s unwillingness to enforce traffic rules.

I have been given a design for Carpenter’s Rd for when it is opened as a through route.  This is a key Olympic Park connection route.  A 20 mph limit is proposed (it is a bus route and a through route which makes Upper St even less understandable).  It looks like cyclists are being pushed back onto the carriageway from shared paths in the railway tunnel.  I have sought further clarification.

• The Council have adopted Honour Lea Avenue.  This is the key east west cycle route through the Olympic Park for which LLDC left its miserly and minimal cycle facilities – in particular a two way cycle track on only one side of the road.  Fortunately the Council in this instance recognises that the cycling provision should be better (indeed throughout the Olympic Park and Westfield areas).  So still lots to play for here. On the bright side,  the crossing over this River Lea on this route (near the Copper Box) has been left as stairs and a lift.  This was a matter of constant objection from LCC and it now looks like something better is going to happen.

• Sandringham Rd and Cramner Rd cycle contraflows, as request by us,  are now going to be put in place (albeit later than the one introduction of the one-way schemes).

The “No to Sivertown Tunnel” have campaign have written to seek support, financial or otherwise.

The first of this year’s Newham Rides had a good turnout this Saturday and excellent weather.

Another excellent meeting.

• CS2:  the LCC post implementation audit of the section completed, which covers the criticisms raised at the January meeting is in the hands of both TfL  and Newham council.  still no news on when the Staratford Broadway section is likely to be completed.  In response to a request from Action and Rights of disabled People in Newham the consensus of the meeting was that there was no significant problem, so far, at the island bus stops.  There was no objection to giving priority to pedestrians at the raised tables but, on the other hand, there may be an advantage in not having priorities by analogy with the idea of shared space found, notably, at Exhibition Rd.
• This new website was greeted with an acclamation of approval.  Thanks were given to Rob for getting this up an running.
• The ward audit with Newham Council is due to continue this week and the team of volunteers has expanded.
• We were given an outline of the plans for improving the Greenway and permeability in the area around the Hospital, New City, Brampton etc. schools including more ramps on the Greenway, permeability in the areas and a north south quiet route from Boundary Lane to the Romford Rd.  This would meet a number of our long standing requests.
• Our next meeting on 31 March at CoffeE7 will be our annual meeting.  It will be a social occasion and celebration of the progress over the year.  Light catering will be provided.  Watch this space.

Ward asks were discussed.  They need to be formulated into a headline sentence and a description of not more than 100 words.  In the light of our discussions these are my first tentative drafts on which comment (or alterantives) would be most welcome (by 21 Feb please to me – see contacts):

• Stratford and New Town.  “Support the mini-Holland Proposal to remove Stratford Gyratory and complement it by facilitating safe cycling in Warton Rd, Carpenters Rd and Cam Rd – the Broadway.”  Themes- Liveable Town Centres and  Protected Space for Cycling.  Warton Rd and Carpenters Rd need protected cycle routes.  The Cam Rd access to the important Channelsea Path would be facilitated by two way working on CS2 for which there is room if the redundant barriers were removed.
• Manor Park.  “Completion of CS2 from Stratford to Ilford according to good continental standards”  Theme- Protected Space for Cycling.  “The completion of CS2 will provide a safe route on a major route linking densely populated areas to a string of town centres and assist cycle commuters. All bus and cycle lanes included in the design should be operational 24 hours.
• Little Ilford and Wall End.  “Establish a “Lower Roding Way” using opportunities to create a continuous cycle and pedestrian path on the Newham side of the A406″  Theme- Greenways.  There is the opportunity to create a greenway through Little Ilford Park, Barrington Playing Fields and Langdon School linking CS3 to the Romford Road and the Roding Way.  It would also involve improving or bypassing the A406 junction with Barking Rd.  It would link to other Greenways and quietways in and connected to the Newham; and ease the difficulty in cycling north-south and open up a useful connection to the Riverside Opportunity Area.
• East Ham South.  “Improve the crossing of the A13 at the Greenway to make it more cycle and pedestrian friendly.”  Theme – Greenways.  This junction has cycle provision through a series of toucan lights but they are extremely and unnecessarily adverse. This would improve the linkage to the southern section of the Greenway and also complement the Beckton ward ask.
• Beckton.  “Improve the Asda roundabout and restore the cycle/and bus lane between there and the A13.”  Theme - Protected Space for Cycling.  The Asda roundabout is cycle unfriendly roundabout made worse by the difficulty crossing traffic leaving Asda.  This needs redesigning and the major desire route to the A13 (and CS3 and the Greenway) northbound along Woolwich Manor Way needs protection which could be given by a  cycle track or a 24 hour bus/cycle lane (effectively restoring the bus lane that has been removed).
• Canning Town North. “Completion of the Lea Valley Path from Three Mills to the Thames in accordance with the mini-Holland proposals.” Theme - Greenways.  The planning for this work has been inherited from the Thames Gateway Development Corporation and would create a major leisure route and a route linking Canning Town to Stratford.
• Plaistow South, Plaistow North and Green St West.  “Complete a quietway from the A13 via Brampton Manor Schools and New City Rd to the Romford Rd” Theme –  Safer Routes to Schools.  This route can be carved from existing off road and quiet routes and would link numerous schools and the hospital.
• East Ham Central.  “Permit cycling both ways on the restricted section of High Street North and improve the junction with Barking Road.  Theme- Liveable Town Centres.  “This is the natural route for cyclists wishing to visit East Ham Town Centre.
• Forest Gate North and South. [This ask would benefit particularly form further consideration.  The square brackets indicate an extension of the idea to the south of the Romford Road] “Transform Woodgrange Rd  and Woodford Rd [/Upton Lane] from [St Angela’s School/] the  Romford Rd to Wanstead Flats by removing on street car parking, preventing through coaches to Stanstead, enforcing a 20mph limit, and drawing on the example of the Exhibition Rd shared space scheme to  discourage through traffic, and give more priority to pedestrians and cyclists”  Theme- Liveable Town Centres. Removing the onstreet parking will make it safer for pedestrians and cyclists and it would give sight lines from side streets.  Coaches to Stanstead have a perfectly good route via the Lea Interchange.  This scheme would complement other public realm improvements in the pipeline such as Forest Lane and Earlham Grove. The present system encourages through traffic to the environmental degradation of Forest Gate town centre – not least by the adverse phasing of lights at the expense of pedestrians and cyclists.  Shared space will help ensure careful driving at an (adequate and suitable) 20mph speed limit.”

We also discussed a borough-wide ask for the Mayoral election:

• “Promote cycle safety for children by making a general 20mph speed limit and promote an “every child a cyclist” scheme.  Theme – 20mph.  Newham is ideally suited for 20mph (except for the A12 and A13) as it is mostly narrow residential roads or new development that should be designed with residents in mind.  The present complexity of variable speed limits and the existing anachronisms encourage speeding.  A borough wide 20 mph limit would promote Newham as a place to live rather than a place to drive through, and facilitate enforcement and decluttering. An  enforced 20mph speed limit would be an excellent environment in which to train young people to develop the safe cycling habit.

Arnold

 

 

By Arnold Ridout

The majority of the meeting was dedicated to the LCC Space for Cycling campaign with the help of Amy, the LCC Actiism Co-ordinator.

Of the other matters happening:

Newham received the largest grant from the London Boroughs, of almost £1m to promote the Mayor (of London’s) Cycle Vision. This can be used for projects such as cycle parking and training. The Council are to be congratulated for achieving this. We will ask what specific projects they have have in mind.
The Council e awaiting the outcome of its excellent Mini Holland bid following presentation made last week. Fingers are crossed, but even if not successful the bid provides a blueprint for cycle improvements some of which can be funded through other sources.
The Council has taken on board our request for cycle contraflow in Godwin and Sandringham Rds. There remains some technical issues about reconsultation which may affect implementation.
We will respond to a concultation on a 20mph area around Upper St Plaistow. We will make the point that the whole borough should be 20mph (not such a radical objective these days) and the specific point that if the area around Upper St is to be made 20mph the same should apply to Upper St itself.
There were a number of volunteers to host some Dutch students on their visit to the Bow Flyover on Thursday.
We are participating in the Friends of the Greenwich and Woolwich Foot Tunnels Group. It is making headway with improvements.
We discussed the completion of CS2 at the Stratford Broadway end. It was meant to have started by now. I will enquire. There were criticisms of the work that has been done, especially the left hooks at Warton Rd/Carpenters Road/puddling and paint deterioration. These confirm an earlier post implementation audit carried out by LCC, Tower Hamlets and ourselves. I will enquire whether TfL have this.
The website is on its way despite an unavoidable delay. A twitter feed will follow. We decided to set up a new and improved Facebook account.
There was an update on the ward by ward audit for permeability measures. This is intended to identify and prioritise minor measures such as drop kerbs, signage, cycle contraflows and vehicle barriers that would improve the permeability of urban Newham for whihc existing funding on £100,000 pa is avaialble over the next three years. The Council are aiming to complete this exercise by the end of February. Two outings have been undertaken and we have lined up a group of volunteers to continue this exercise.
The first Newham Ride will take place on 15 March. It was thought that there is too long a gap before the next one in June and that a repeat of the Councillor’s ride might be a good idea.
Space for Cycling Campaign

We considered the LCC Space for Cycling Campaign for which we have been asked to identify one “ask” per ward to improve cycling. The ask should follow one of the 6 themes of the campaign.

We progressed on a number of wards and decided to bring forward our February meeting to confirm these and to decide ward asks for other wards. This meeting will take place on Monday 10 February at CoffeE7 (our usual meeting place) at 7.00pm. In the meantime please forward to me any specific cycle projects for your area which you think are important wand which we can consider for a ward ask in the campaign, particularly if it is for a ward not so far covered (see below).

it is clear that Newham is in a special position because many of the Space for cycling themes can be linked to projects found in the miniHolland bid.

Here are the outcomes.

Stratford and New Town Removal of Stratford gyratory as per the mini Holland bid but making the access streets to Stratford town centre more cycle friendly (amongst those raised at the meeting were access fro Cam Rd to the Broadway, Warton and Carpenters Rd. Comment: This accords with the “liveable town centre” theme. If the mini Holland bid is successful, including this as part of the campaign will help ensure local political support and therefore increase the chances of implementation. If that bid is unsuccessful there are many other alternative potential ward asks.

Manor Park and Forest Gate South Completion of Cycle Superhighway 2 from Stratford to Ilford. This accords with the “Protected Space for Cycling” theme and the response to the LCC survey which gave greatest priority to this theme. Again a project which is part of the min-Holland bid but which has lacked political support in the past.

Forest Gate North Removing through traffic from Woodgrange Rd, decluttering it and a 20 mph limit for necessary traffic (for deliveries or access.) Comment: This meets the “20mph” , “liveable town centres” and “roads without through traffic” themes. It is not part of the mini Holland bid. Some funding for improvements to Forest Gate town centre are contemplated from Crossrail environmental improvement money. This will need some working up in order to identify the specific measures that would achieve access only.

East Ham Central Cycle contraflow in the restricted areas of High St North and improvement of the junction with Barking Road. Comment; Accords with the “liveable town centre” and “protected space for cycling” themes.

Wall End Improve Burgess Rd by removing the mini roundabouts, ensuring 20mph along its length and replace the existing square cushion traffic calming humps which encourage speeding traffic to swerve.Comment: This meets the “20mph” theme.

Beckton Improve the Greenway link where it crosses the A13 and the section from that crossing to Gallions Reach. Comment This accords with the “quietways theme”. it could also provide a link to a prospective cycle route up the Roding Valley. Whilst part of the mini Holland bid there is also potential funding for this though a separate Quietways fund. Political support makes implementation more likely.

Canning Town North Complete the Lea Valley Path from Three Mills to the Thames in accordance with the plans originally drawn up by the late Thames Gateway Development Corporation and adopted in the mini Holland bid. This includes at least two crossings of the River Lea. Plus improve access via the Crows Rd bridge (currently closed) Comment Whilst part of the mini Holland bid there is also potential funding for this though a separate Quietways fund. Political support makes implementation more likely.
Arnold

News:

In the past month

• Our suggestions for Henniker Rd and Oxford Rd in Stratford have been taken up by Newham Council.
• LCC have submitted objections to the cycle facilities in and around the new Chobham Manor development in the Olympic Park, which dispay the usual tendency of developments in the Olympic Park to provide the minimumcycle provision required by planning guidance and dress up poor quality facilities as something good for cyclists.
• We have participated in a post implementation audit of the CS2 extension which picked up lots of small points where the provision is unecessarily sub-optimal. These will be recorded for future reference but the main priority was seen as improving CS2 from Bow to Aldgate (including the Bow flyover).

Coming up;

• Karena is attending the seminar on Thursday hosted by our London Assembly Member, John Biggs, on CS2. We disussed our main bugbears, but if you have any you would like to draw attention to please post them on this site for Karena to take up.
• The Bike Jumble Sale at the view tube will also have bike marking. There are still some spaces if you would like to have a stall there.
• Our annual meeting will be on 31 March 2014.

Rides 2014:

• We will be looking to run Newham Rides on 15 March (linked to Velodrome event); either the beginning or the end of Kike Week (whihc is 15-22 June), 8 July (the day after the London stage of the Tour de France) and 20 September (the Waterfront Festival). Planning will continue on these and longer rides over the winter. Possibly also a ride linked to WWI commemorations.
• In addition to co-ordinating with Tower Hamlets Wheelers next year we will publicise the Hackey Cyclists series of social rides.

The website

• This was our main item of discussion. The experimental pilot is going well. If you would like to see it, the current temporary address is

https://newhamcyclists.robideas.com/

Please bear in mind that this is the exprimnetal site as is the existing content, which is not to be relied upon. All feedback on the layout of the site and what you would like to see covered by it gratefully received.

• We thought we had progressed enough to obtain a propoer domain name and go live in the New Year. Watch this space.