Richmond Park - changes to Roehampton Gate cycle path

smithwib

Consultation has just opened on proposed changes to the cycle lane down Priory Lane towards Richmond Park:

https://haveyoursay.citizenspace.com/wa ... iory-lane/

Proposal is to remove the cycle lane on the footpath, northbound cyclists would have a ‘painted on’ cycle path in the road, southbound cyclists have no provision and have to mingle with the traffic.

It’s a shame that the proposal is reducing cycle provision on such a popular route for cyclists, the lack of decent, segregated cycle lanes is bound to lead to more ‘road rage’ incidents such as the one with Jason Wells from a couple of years ago which happened on this stretch of road.

I encourage anyone who uses the park to give their feedback!

cgfw201

smithwib wrote:

Consultation has just opened on proposed changes to the cycle lane down Priory Lane towards Richmond Park:

https://haveyoursay.citizenspace.com/wa ... iory-lane/

Proposal is to remove the cycle lane on the footpath, northbound cyclists would have a ‘painted on’ cycle path in the road, southbound cyclists have no provision and have to mingle with the traffic.

It’s a shame that the proposal is reducing cycle provision on such a popular route for cyclists, the lack of decent, segregated cycle lanes is bound to lead to more ‘road rage’ incidents such as the one with Jason Wells from a couple of years ago which happened on this stretch of road.

I encourage anyone who uses the park to give their feedback!

That link doesn't work, this is the one I think: https://haveyoursay.citizenspace.com/wa ... iory-lane/

The current paint on the pavement lane is barely used and poorly thought through, but removing it altogether seems stupid as the small number of people who do use it (families with small kids) rely on it to keep off the road.

Don't fully understand the 'speed tables' solution, are these the bumps with gaps between? Banning cars from using the park as a cut through is the best solution.

kingstongraham

Ironically, the Jason Wells one would be less likely to happen if there were no segregated cycle lane there.

They need to enforce the 20mph if they intend this to be a cycle friendly route.

buckmulligan

I don't really see a good solution for this stretch of road; it's never going to be able to cope with the volume of bicycle traffic that Richmond Park sees in the summer. Even making it one-way for vehicles and having a dual direction bike lane wouldn't be adequate.

Having said that, the current "bike lane" (aka bit of paint on the pavement that just disappears halfway along) is so woefully inadequate that almost anything would be an improvement. I think removing the bike lane altogether and encouraging drivers to accept cyclists in the road would be a better solution, seeing as families with children would probably use the pavement or side-streets anyway; however, removing cycling facilities (as useless as they are) would been seen as quite a regressive move by the local council, so I doubt we'll see that.

The "easy" option would be to squeeze in a narrow, dual-direction, segregated bike lane on the east-side of the road, similar to the new Superhighways in Central London, but I think that would be a complete disaster come the summer months.

I'll be interested to see what they come up with...

kingstongraham

The current segregated (narrow) bike lane only disappears at the point that the cycle route sign takes you down the parallel residential street (going south). Before then, there is no side street you can go down to get there by bike.

kingpinsam

The current lane is there for when the traffic is queued up along the road heading North during rush hour, as it's a bit tight to filter against oncoming traffic, so being able to jump on the pavement allows the bikes to keep moving freely, for which it does actually do the intended job, although still far from ideal if you're heading South.

A couple of average speed cameras at either end would go a long way to making it feel safer along there; I've been buzzed by so many speeding cars and scooters along there and while they're at it, put some average speed cameras in on each of the gates for the park too

kingpinsam

The speed bump / table things are probably the same as the ones currently in the park, again quite effective at slowing down cars without being uncomfortable, just need to make sure they're regular enough to stop people accelerating up to 50mph in between.