Tooting Labour at 6's & 7's on safer streets

To get one thing straight from the off, this isn't me 'just' having a go at the local Labour team. There are good people who support them, and campaign on their behalf, but as you'll see the lack of consistency on safer streets is glaring.

I was delighted to see that the Labour Bedford ward councillor has finally put up a post relating to the Balham High Road consultation that closes this Sunday. It's unfortunate that with only a few days to go the chance of them actually encouraging and boosting responses is limited. Still, better late than never I guess.

Yet, these views seem to contradict those of our local MP, also Labour's mayoral candidate:

Do @ZacGoldsmith @SadiqKhan want to kill London's early investments in cycle transport? https://t.co/73VUzme52K pic.twitter.com/2yjC70aJKL

— cyclistsinthecity (@citycyclists) November 10, 2015

With his office on that stretch of road, it's hard to think that he can't be aware of the danger.

So, which is it? 'Roads for cars' or 'streets for people'?

Little wonder that the Labour team, whilst having been successful in Tooting elections, have failed to deliver improvements on road safety on local streets for years in Tooting. The Conservatives can't be seen as being much better, they run the council and yet these proposals are the ones that have come to the fore.

Supported by the local Lib Dems, I've been able to run a series of campaigns and petitions. The delay in them being acted upon is illustrated by the two opposing points of view taken by the Labour team that represent the people of Tooting.

10 days to tell TfL to do better on Balham High Road

We have just 10 more days to respond to this consultation on Balham High Road. I've posted about it previously here, the key points for me to raise with TfL are:

• Where are the protected, continental style, cycle lanes? 
• Where are the bus stop cycle lane bypasses? 

I've got a bunch of flyers printed to encourage people to respond. They won't get out there by themselves. I've got just over 2500 more to get out there. 

Interested in helping?

Here's what you can do:

1. RESPOND to the consultation! (easy to forget to do!)
2. Share details with your friends (email - Facebook - Twitter)
3. Distribute some flyers (drop me a line if you'd like some - jon.irwin[at]gmail.com) I work in Balham and have them at my desk. 

The only reason that we can't have the sort of streets that are being built in central London at the moment, is if we don't ask. We don't have to wait 20 more years to get serious improvements to Balham High Road. 

@jdavie @citycyclists @london_cycling @RantyHighwayman @AsEasyAsRiding WaterloBr-B'friars not officially open but... pic.twitter.com/BsoX2f6PAn

— Dickie's Ticker (@DickiesTicker) November 4, 2015

NB - Also with a Crossrail 2 station going to be either in Balham or Tooting, there is even more reason to ensure that people are given safe space to cycle without needing to share local streets with construction vehicles. Over to you folks.

Failing to deliver for Balham Boulevard

Having seen this consultation go live (technically the bit adjacent to where the Balham Boulevard project is due to happen) it doesn't bode well.

Here are some thoughts/comments below. I'd welcome your comments before submitting my response to TfL.

Balham Boulevard:
- it isn't as it is the stretch basically from Ritherdon Road south.
- however, it doesn't bode well for Balham Boulevard as this would adjoin it, so if this isn't significantly improved then Balham Boulevard will just be the name of the current road with perhaps some more paint on it.

*It is not possible to provide a segregated cycle lane at this location due to access to residential properties being required
- Utter rubbish. The LCDS illustrate how this can be done, and Old Shoreham Road in Brighton is a UK example where this is in place. A road for motor vehicles doesn't pose a problem for access to residential properties, neither does a pavement. Consultations for the Mini-Holland projects in London also show that TfL can do this.

Floating Bus stops or lack thereof
- Again in Brighton, Lewes Road, has a series of floating bus stops that from all reports work very well.

Affecting traffic capacity:
28% drop in motor traffic volumes (2005-2013) along the A24 Clapham South to Tooting Bec (http://bettertransportmaps.org.uk/map-traffic-2005-2013.html)
Providing a real alternative to travelling short trips by building proper cycle lanes along a road this wide would not only give people real choice as to how they travel, but also make it easier for those who need to drive to get around too.

Space:
- The central reservation hasn't been touched. This is wasted space currently helping no-one.
- From Tooting Bec heading south there is effectively only a single lane for motor traffic in each direction, and the same goes northbound once you start going through Balham. Smoothing out the narrow points for motor traffic would provide a more consistent travel time for motor traffic and free up significant amount of space to improve the public realm for walking and cycling, as well as the local environment for businesses and residents.

These are some initial thoughts. Please feel free to chip in.

In case you are wondering how this can be put forward given the high quality of other schemes which have gone to consultation recently, the answer is the politics. It is self evident that TfL has the engineering capability &/or sourcing capability to brief consultants to come up with high quality schemes that will deliver significant improvements to all road users. 

In the absence of a strong political steer as to what is wanted, the engineers are being asked to please everyone which isn't possible. This is a huge opportunity to genuinely improve the local area for generations to come. What is currently on the table frankly just isn't good enough. 

Why Tooting should support TfL's proposals for new Cycle Superhighways

You may have heard the news this week that Transport for London have launched two new consultations for a North-South and East-West cycle superhighways that will run through the centre of London.

Blackfriars Road visualisation - North-South

Victoria Embankment visualisation - East-West

You can, and should respond supporting these consultations on these links:

North-South proposals

East-West

For sure there are some details which could be improved as with any major project, but the core thrust of what could be will be a game changer.

Local impact?

You may be thinking if you live in and around Tooting / Balham, this is all quite nice, but actually I don't really go into the centre of town so this doesn't really affect me.

It does for the following reasons. A few years ago I proposed radical changes to Balham High Road. The Mayor announced funding for TfL to work on it this spring. Looking at some of the details in the Blackfriars Road visualisation gives me a lot of hope that the consultation for Balham High Road next year will be of similar quality.

Tooting High Street and Upper Tooting Road are gridlocked almost every weekend. Earlier this year, with the local Lib Dem team as part of the local elections, we got over 700 signatures on a petition (including paper signatures) calling on the Mayor to make Tooting High Street safe for all.

The proposals for the centre of town show everyone that not only is TfL is capable of doing high quality street design. It also shows that campaigning does work. These proposals wouldn't exist without the efforts of campaigners across London and the London Cycling Campaign.

Will it slow down traffic?

Experience from New York suggests that it won't.

New York: bike tracks are actually speeding up average travel times http://t.co/r1wUvZBqe0 pic.twitter.com/Joofjxc8vm
— cyclistsinthecity (@citycyclists) September 5, 2014

Next steps

Please support the consultations. There are organisations and individuals who don't think that what has been proposed will work, or that it is needed or that people deserve it.

I'd like my children to be able to grow up in a London where as a family we can all ride into the centre of town and the only worries we might have would be if it's going to rain.

PS - I'd also add that the proposals to deal with rat-running on/around the Fishponds Road area, in my view are part of the wider solution to improving our streets. Current views from our elected representatives is that doing nothing is acceptable.