I’ve had much involvement when I was Southwark Council – Cycling Champion as a councillor. The negotiations with Transport for London were more focused on how quickly they could install the highways than how effective they would be. They had been hoping to get them finished in time for the local election earlier this year.
A major achievement was the agreement to make Southwark Bridge Road 20mph. This should ensure the majority of the CS7 in Southwark is along street that are either 20mph or can’t be driven at greater than 20mph. The blue rinse cycle path Boris insisted on will mean something on these streets in Southwark.
Unfortunately, the new crossing over Newington Butts are virtually unusable and I’ve witnessed many who are ignoring them. I’ve asked how we can get Transport for London to install normal safe crossing lights.
My request for the route to use Oswin Street rather than Elliots Row which was ignored and no explanation given.
The new blue cycle lanes appear to be a straight paint over the previous road markings. I’ve had a couple of reports highlighting this new surfacing is much slippier than the previous surface.
Hopefully these routes will prove much safer than before but it wont be from
Hi James,
I believe that you are suggesting that TfL applied a top down approach to installing the cycle “super” highways, rather than engaging with the community and providing the routes they want to a design specification that they would use. I think you are right!
Likewise, more pedestrian lights on Newington Butts might be another top down solution, that tackles the symptoms, and not the cause of the problem resulting in the difficulties experienced in crossing the street. Often, zebra crossings are more convenient and safer (ensuring pedestrians check that vehicles will stop for them) – but cost much less so are less attractive to highway engineers and their suppliers…
Ian