Author: jeremypcross4

‘To boldly go …’.

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. 

Sustainable Transport Strategy

Over the next month we will put up some posts on our website covering issues raised in the consultation that we think are worth responding to.  For example, we think the strategy should include creating networks of ‘cycle streets’ that residents can use to cycle in comfort to the Borough’s railway and underground stations, schools, town centres and parks.  The strategy covers 17 years (to 2041), so there’s plenty of time …

So, you might want to leave making your response until closer to the closing date (5th January 2025) and after you’ve read our posts.

In the meantime,

The map – use it now!

Sustainable Transport Strategy | Let’s Talk Redbridge

At the bottom of the page there is a button that takes you to a map. 

You can add pins to the map and make a comment or suggestion.  Clearly this is more relevant to the here and now than 2041 but anyway ….  

We can see some people have already put up some good suggestions.  For example, we like the suggestion to put in protected cycle tracks on the inclines on Herman Hill to prevent motor vehicles close passing cyclists as they slowly pedal up.  It’s a modest proposal but it would make a difference.

We’d encourage you all to use the map.  If we all do, we think the map could provide a comprehensive picture of what Redbridge can do over the next few years to make cycling the obvious choice for local journeys. 

Some of you with long memories may remember that a few years ago Redbridge encouraged us cyclists to do something similar.  At various meetings we heard various excuses as to why the data hadn’t been compiled and then it wasn’t going to be compiled. To all intents and purposes, the data is now lost.

So, this time we have decided to create our own shadow map so we can be sure the data is not lost – so you can post with confidence.  

The survey

The survey comprises 24 questions. 7 questions are for the purpose of equalities monitoring, 6 ask for information about your travel habits and 7 ask for your opinion on aspects of the strategy.  All these questions are closed and require you to choose an option from a list.  We think they are very much focussed on the here and now rather than where we might want to be in 2041

There are 4 open questions – questions 7,11,16 and 17 – that give you the opportunity to say what you think about the strategy.   7, 11 and 16 are very poorly worded but you can get the gist of what’s being asked.

Email

If you want to make a bespoke response – maybe you have some very specific ideas and want to include photos – then you can send an email to sts@redbridge.gov.uk. 

Sustainable Transport Strategy

The London Borough of Redbridge has launched a consultation on its draft Sustainable Transport Strategy. The consultation runs until 5th January 2025.

We will be discussing the strategy at our next two meetings and will hear from Council Officers at the next meeting of the Redbridge Cycling Forum in November.

We have also sent the link to the people at LCC central to see what they think.

As our thinking crystallises we will put up updates to this post.

In the meantime keenies can find the consultation documents etc. at https://engage.redbridge.gov.uk/sustainable-transport-strategy

And if you have any thoughts let us know.

School Streets Need Cycle Streets

RCC has enthusiastically supported all the council’s previous school streets proposals, and we are supporting this next set of proposals too. For the first time Redbridge are proposing to create school streets at secondary schools. This is a logical development, but it does throw up a new problem.  

Here’s the link to the consultations.

Redbridge says that:

‘School Streets aim to reduce levels of air pollution around our schools, making the air children breathe cleaner. They protect children from traffic hazards at the school gate, preventing accidents and keeping children safe. Students are also encouraged to walk and cycle to school, improving health and fitness’.

When it comes to secondary schools it’s the last aim that’s the problem.

No doubt many of those dropped off by car could easily walk to school but secondary schools do have much larger catchment areas than primary schools so some pupils who, at the moment are dropped off, would face a long walk to school. This is unlikely at a primary school. Of course, pupils can swap their parents’ car for a bike but only if the School Street scheme is complemented by the Council creating safe cycle routes to the school from all corners of the catchment area. This is do-able.

I have looked one of the schemes at a secondary school that I familiar with and, from the outer reaches of the catchment area, cycling to school instead of going by car is not an option.  There just aren’t routes that parents will consider safe for their children to ride. So, to the extent that all secondary school schemes suffer the same problem, the shift to active travel will be limited. More likely what will happen is that the drop off points move. 

If you think School Streets are a good idea support the schemes – so your response goes in the ‘yes’ pile – but in your response say that, to fully achieve its aims the council must introduce cycle routes (cycle streets as they are called in Germany) and traffic reduction measures across the catchment area to make cycling to school a safe and realistic choice.

The closing date for these consultations is 21st October 2024.