Current Issues
Loughborough Station Redevelopment
First the good news, the new cycle parking is excellent, with most under shelter and proper spacing that both allows access and maximises capacity.
However there is some bad news as you will see from the photos on the right.
Dave Holladay, a long term campaigner for integrating trains and cycles, called it "dire and dangerous" after seeing the photos. I quote below some of his other comments:
"Am I to believe what I see? How on earth did this pass any safety audit?
Either everyone will cycle to & from the station safely by ignoring this daft and dangerous arrangement, or someone will get hurt badly in the first months of operation.
From Roger Hill's pictures it would appear that inbound cyclists are directed to ride head on towards the traffic coming out of the station and directly into the path of those vehicles turning left to head east over the railway bridge. Presumably the 'reversed' orientation of inbound and outbound traffic flows (passing left to left either side of the island) will mean that a complex traffic signal sequence is required to work this layout. Given the traffic levels I've noted there in the past, the solution might have been better delivered by a mini roundabout with queue detection on the car park exit from the station to interrupt the traffic coming from the town centre (Toucan?), to get buses and other traffic out when flows are high. A zebra crossing for the car park exit would then suffice Tight radii would keep motor vehicle speeds down, and experienced rider would have no problems in using the junction in either direction.
At least when Glasgow butted a cycle lane onto the end of a traffic island they made the connection directly square on to the end with a dropped kerb.
I also notice that the white lining contractor is going for the prize in the largest and worst non compliant Diagram 1057 symbol in the rather odd ASL box (the one entered by dropping off a 5" kerb)
Someone might also realise that cycles are vehicles with wheels that cannot turn through 90 degrees on the spot when being ridden.
A picture which shows the stop line and inbound cycle lane might well be a candidate for the Warrington 'gallery'
The placing of the cycle route signage is also a bit incongruous - someone has obviously felt it necessary to stick with the 2.3 metre standard for the minimum clearance between the underside of any sign and the footway which has placed these direction signs with small print, designed to be read at eye level atop an huge pole."
Local Sustainable Travel Fund Bid
Leicestershire County Council are in the process of launching their Local Sustainable Travel Fund bid and needs the backing of local businesses/ residents, particularly those who live or work in Loughborough and Coalville. The areas of focus if the bid is successful will be in and around the two towns.
The final bid, ‘Choose how you move – smarter travel for business’, must be submitted by 24th February 2012, with the successful bids announced in May 2012, and is likely to include measures such as:
- Offering grants to businesses to help increase sustainable travel;
- Cycle and walking network development e.g. cycle ways & improved signage;
- General marketing and promotion of sustainable forms of transport e.g. car sharing, travel phone apps, smarter ticketing;
- Adult cycling courses.
Details of the bid and how to back it can be found here: http://www.leics.gov.uk/local_sustainable_transport_fund
20mph speed limits for EU residential streets
20mph speed limits for residential areas has come out as the key recommendation of the EU Transport and Tourism Committee on improving road safety in Europe.
The Committee comprises MEPs from a wide range of political parties and countries and is seeking to halve EU road deaths and injuries by 2020. The Committee sets out specific measures to reach this goal and identifies 20mph limits as key for protecting children. They are calling for a 30km/h speed limit in all residential roads and on single-lane roads without cycle tracks, to help cut the number of children under 14 years old killed by 60% and those seriously injured by 40%.
This came just days after the UK's Transport Minister, Norman Baker, announced changes in signage requirements which make it far easier and cheaper for local authorities to implement wide area 20mph limits for cities, towns and villages.
Rod King, Founder and Campaign Director for 20's Plenty for Us commented:-
"We have been working with MEP's for some time to show how the 20's Plenty for Us campaign in the UK is attracting wide political and community support as an effective initiative to reduce danger on our roads and develop the right conditions to make our streets better places to be.
This recommendation is recognition of not only the success of lower speeds in the countries already adopting wide area 30km/h limits and that, as evidenced in the UK, it is possible to "retro-fit" our streets with lower speeds that are accepted by communities and result in reduced casualties.
We now have over 5m people living in towns, villages and counties where the local authority has adopted a Total 20 policy.
20 really is Plenty where people live and this new recommendation of best practice from a European perspective reflects the importance of this move towards a safer and more pleasant street environment for us all"
Perhaps we should be applying more pressure on our local government to implement area wide 20mph speed limits? More information on the campaign can be found at www.20splentyforus.org.uk
As an experiment into ways of obtaining feedback we have set up a survey using the free (but limited) option from SurveyMonky. Click here to take survey
New National Forest Cycle Centre opens
The new £1.5 million Hicks Lodge National Forest Cycle Centre, near Ashby de la Zouch in Leicestershire, is now open. The centre, at the heart of The National Forest, features a stunning eco-friendly visitor centre with café, bike hire and repair shop, showers, a wood-burning stove for chilly days, and eight miles of graded off-road trails.
www.cyclebeast.com