We have recently contacted by members of the London Cycling Campaign about various aspects of the council's approach to cycling.
After following up their points, I am happy to report that Camden is doing fairly well.
Under the watchful eye of Cllr Paul Braithwaite, Camden's cycling champion (and Lib Dem colleague from further south in the borough), Camden is one of the few London boroughs to sign up to help improve lorry drivers' awareness of cyclists.
Camden are certainly aware of the massive rise of the numbers of cyclists on our roads - see the extract below of a recent note I received from an officer in Camden's streets team.
The Fortune Green Safer Neighbourhood Team are also regularly reminded of how many cyclists are using the pavements - causing considerable nuisance to pedestrians.
As a cyclist myself (who sticks to the roads!), I'm keen to make sure there are plenty of secure cycle racks available - especially near shopping areas.
After years of installing ugly metal fencing to keep pedestrians caged on the pavements, Camden is slowly taking this sort of stuff out where it is unnecessary. This is a good thing - but the consequence is that there are fewer study bits of metal to lock your bike to!
You can see this happening outside the West Hamsptead Thameslink and Jubilee Line stations at the moment.
If anyone has any suggestions of places they would like to see one or two cycle hoops installed, do get in touch. We're very keen to hear any ideas you may have. You comment here or email the three of us in one go by sending a message to fortunegreen@hampsteadandkilburn.org.uk
You may be interested to know that each year, Camden undertakes a comprehensive survey to examine trends in traffic flows including cycling. Compared to 2009, cycle flows in 2010, have continued to increase dramatically in the borough. The average increase in cycling in 2010 compared with 2008 was 39%. Between 2001 and 2010, the overall increase in cycling is now 230%. To put this in context, the percentage of cycle trips in 2010 as a proportion of all trips rose to 15%.
I have just had confirmation that Camden will be putting proper cycle racks on West End Lane at the end of March - and network rail will be including secure cycle parking as part of their new station. This will be available for when the station opens at the end of the year.
ReplyDeleteRussell