The Council’s draft Sustainable Transport Strategy covers the years 2024 to 2041. That’s a long time – 17 years in fact.
A plan of a similar length ending today would have kicked off in 2007. For those interested Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black was the year’s biggest selling CD, Alberto Contador won the Tour de France and Gordon Brown was the Prime Minister. Feels like another country …
More to the point, cycle infrastructure – in London at least – had yet to be invented. Hard to believe? Well, here’s a timeline.
2010 The first two cycle superhighways (CS3 and CS7) were opened.
2015 Walthamstow created its first Low Traffic Neighbourhood.
2016 Cycle Superhighway 1 was opened.
2023 20 mph speed limits were introduced on 17 miles (28km) of red routes in Camden, Islington, Hackney, Haringey and Tower Hamlets.
So, any strategy that extends over 17 years should be ambitious.
We don’t think the Council’s strategy is ambitious enough. As an example, we’ll focus on its proposed cycle network. Here’s what the Council is proposing.
You can see that the Council is not proposing to add very much to what we already have. In fact, the Council seems to be planning to add just 50km to the existing network by 2041 – that’s an average of just 3km per year. It’s not going to make a difference.
Here’s what we think the map should look more like:
It’s only a network built along these lines – incorporating quiet streets, protected and segregated cycle tracks – that will allow residents to choose cycling as a means to go about their daily lives.
So, when we respond to the consultation, we need to make this point loud and clear.
Redbridge Cycling Campaign 