The Day We Tackled Climate Change

I have just read on Freewheeler's blog  that today was The Climate Change Day Of Action. No, I didn't know either. Apparently Waltham Forest's newsletter ran an article on this.


The article is reprinted in Freewheeler's article, and I must say it contains some superb advice.


Firstly, that the easiest way to participate is to have a low carbon Sunday lunch - which sounds like they are asking you not to burn it. But apparently it is asking us to source locally grown food, use the leftovers and so-on.  Now, call me cynical, but the easiest thing to do may not be the most effective thing to help combat climate change. If climate change could be reversed by everyone making bubble-and-squeak on the Monday from Sunday's leftovers, I doubt Sir David King would have had cause to say that "climate change is the most severe problem we are facing today".


But anyhow, what did climate change action day look like in my corner of the world as I cycled from Walthamstow to Stamford Hill?

Tottenham Hale Gyratory

A503, Seven Sisters

Hoe Street, Walthamstow

Maybe they were all out sourcing local produce for their Sunday lunch?

Haringey - making Waltham Forest look good

World Class Cycling Farcilty - Tottenham Hale

Just to prove that Waltham Forest doesn't have a monopoly on poor cycling facilities, neighbouring Haringey has this around Tottenham Hale. Now as previously mentioned, the fact that something is provided is better than taking your chances around the lunacy that is the gyratory, but the best word one could use about the facilities, if one was in a really,really good mood, would be mediocre.


The above demonstrates why many UK cycling facilities are derided by cyclists. Firstly, the cycle path has been formed by removing space from pedestrians. So the design is giving space to a vulnerable road user by taking it away from the most vulnerable road user. The effect? Pedestrians use the cycle lane as the path is narrow, and feel marginalised by cycling. Meanwhile two lanes of stationary traffic add to the general ambiance of the whole scene.

Then, because the pavement is so narrow, look at how the pedestrian crossing is implemented. The crossing wait area is slap bang in the middle of the cycle-lane putting cyclists in direct conflict with pedestrians.

What should happen is that part of the car road-space is given over to a 2-way cycle path. The existing cycle path is converted to pavement again. The crossing could then has the waiting area in a safe place for pedestrians, and the 2-way cycle path could be light controlled to allow pedestrians to cross without conflict from cyclists.

But this would take away road space from cars! And look at the congestion anyway! Well, the sad fact is that no matter how much space is given over to cars and no matter how much this is prioritised to vehicles, it will always get queued. Too many people decided to make their journey by car. Simply adding more capacity would increase the number of people deciding to take the car, not ease the journey for existing users. The M25, if nothing else, has taught us this.

The Tottenham Hale Gyratory is being re-designed. Since this is being done by TfL, I cannot say my hopes are high for an improvement. But maybe having two way traffic may humanise these roads a bit. I hope so, since, based on past experience, I doubt the off-road cycling provision is going to be up to much.

Sign Moved

The sign has been finally moved out of the cycle lane in Selborne Road. Whether this is because of the complaints, or because the contractors are packing up the signs after finishing the work, we will never know. Maybe a more pro-active cyclist than myself got fed up with it and relocated it.

The sign was obstructing the narrow cycle filter lane since at least 29th September. I never saw the sign with any message on it, it appears during this time that it was actually blank.

Sustrans Route 1

I am sure that Sustrans do sterling work in the effort to get people to use more sustainable transport. I would be really quite certain that if left just to the great and the good in the councils of Haringey, Waltham Forest and Hackney that the cycle route 1 which is a great off-road route through these boroughs would still be at "discussion stage". No actual route, but plenty of glossy brochures indicating intention.

So this isn't really criticism of Sustrans, who try and make the best of  trying to get local and national government turn rhetoric into action. Not easy unless one measures action as the number of celebrity promotional videos created or the thickness of each sustainable transport policy document generated.

But I cycle this route 1 frequently, and some parts neatly sum up the issues that face utility cycling.

Firstly, I believe that this route is maintained by Sustrans, which is in itself telling. Surely national and local governments should be using transport funds to maintain key cycle routes? I wonder whether we could have all transport infrastructure maintained by charity? But whether Sustrans or not, the fact is that this route through Walthamstow and Hackney marsh is very popular with commuters and leisure cyclists alike, but the conditions can be sometimes atrocious.

Yesterday for instance.

This the path to the underpass for Lea-bridge Road. The alternative is to take ones chances crossing two lanes of heavy traffic. It is widely used by cyclists and pedestrians.

Not only are there puddles, but there is obviously the remnants of a now long deceased concrete path which is really slippy if your cycle wheels go over it. But this isn't the real problem. The real issue is the fence that has been erected in the last couple of days. Without that in place the cyclists could swing left slowly to avoid pedestrians and cyclists coming the other way around the blind 90 degree corner. Now cyclists and pedestrians are forced into each others paths as the fence has narrowed the path.

A neat and simple solution would be to install a convex (Trixi) mirror attached to the fence or railings so that you could see down the underpass as you rode down the path. Or, of course, not put up a fence in the first place, the purpose of which is, and probably always will, remain a mystery.

A little further down at Hackney Marshes one comes across this cycling facility

Now, clearly some contractor is doing something in the corner of the playing fields (what they are doing is again left as a tantalising mystery) and has blocked Sustrans 1. This is the diversion for cyclists and pedestrians.

On the Sustrans website, this diversion is noted with a little exclamation mark and the text "Cycling diversion onto grass". Now that isn't really true is it? A more accurate description would be "Cycling diversion onto terrain that bears some resemblance to a WW1 battlefield".

 I cannot really believe that city workers would use this route to commute home on a Brompton whilst dressed in a suit. Well, not unless they were really keen on dry cleaning.

And this is one of the many problems. A route such as this that links inner and outer London to the centre without having to use roads would be cherished in other countries and may look like this.

Netherlands - courtesy of David Hembrow's blog

In the UK we have some kind of mud covered obstacle course.

The War On The Motorist

Apparently there has been a pernicious war on the motorist conducted by the last government. But it is all OK now as Philip Hammond is here to rescue us.

I am not so sure there has ever been a war on the motorist. I am a motorist, doing more miles than the average. If the government had been waging war on me, I am sure I would have noticed.

When I drive, the people "waging war" on my progress appears to be .... other motorists. It isn't government vehicles blocking up the motorways and ring-roads. I can only see a couple of solutions to this issue

1) The government bans everyone from driving apart from myself and a small group of carefully selected friends. Although, I think this is a good idea, I can accept that other people may not see it quite in the same way.
2) Us motorists decide to use our cars sensibly, and for short journeys accept that other modes of transport are more efficient - we also decide to use trains instead of cars for longer journeys and accept that, by driving the car, one cannot expect congestion free, cheap travel.

Philip Hammond is spouting populist nonsense. This is no better evidenced by his comments that once the "War on the Motorist" has been stopped he can look at important things such as congestion. How is he going to resolve congestion without people using their cars less? How can the congestion in London be resolved without a change in vehicle usage? It can't.

Cars are wonderful things, but they need to be viewed as simply a transport option that has certain benefits but also comes with consequences and therefore costs. There has been no "War on the Motorist". What is actually happening is that the total hegemony that motorists have enjoyed for years is being challenged on a very small scale, and the powerful motoring lobby is determined to strangle any such notion before it gains any ground.

I see glimmers of hope. Cycling isn't considered a weird minority hobby by many people now living in cities, especially London. People are realising that city facilities designed solely for cars destroy the local urban areas they supposedly service. Now we need local and national government to do everything to try to make these other transport choices as equitable, safe and convenient as possible. Since this will require motorists to cede some of the priority they have, I cannot see it happening any time soon.

Just as I publish the round of applause...

... a driver pulls out the stops and surpasses all before him today.


On Selborne Road (the one festooned with diverse road-working signs in the cycle lanes) near Sainsburys a Mercedes S class pulls alongside me and then indicates left to go into the Sainsburys car park, whilst still alongside.


He does stop to allow me to continue without suffering any physical injury, which is quite lucky as his concentration was almost all taken up by the call he was conducting on the mobile phone clamped to his ear.


I should have known - he managed to block the whole ASL and a good portion of the pedestrian crossing whilst waiting at the junction previously.


I do vaguely remember my driving test, and I am sure I had to do things in it to prove that I could be trusted in charge of a car. Has this now been abandoned these days in the effort to end the "War on the Motorist"?

Waltham Forest spawns a verb

Through the efforts of Crap Cycling & Walking in Waltham Forest, the borough is becoming famous. Although not, perhaps, in the way that our elected "representatives" would like.


In tribute to the cycling conditions, Bristol Traffic has introduced a new verb into our great language - to Walthamize.


As explained in the blog:


"This means to turn any european city into a little piece of Waltham Forest"


Walthamizing. Coming to a street near you.