Tower Hamlets Wheelers had a good night at the Campaigner Awards at the London Cycling Campaign AGM on Thursday 18 October.

The group as a whole won the Best Campaign Initiative award in relation to our campaign on the May 2018 Mayoral and local elections and subsequent engagement with councillors. This included our producing a detailed cycling manifesto setting out what we would like to see achieved in the borough by 2022, which comprised three main asks for the council: significant new cycle routes, low traffic neighbourhoods, and bicycle parking. Copies of the manifesto were distributed to all mayoral candidates and current councillors, and the content received an overwhelmingly positive response. The culmination of our local election campaign was organising the Tower Hamlets Cycling and Walking Mayoral Hustings at Limehouse Town Hall in April. Five of the six mayoral candidates, representing all the major parties, attended the event and publicly signed up to the manifesto. Since the election, our interaction with local councillors has increased markedly, and the positive response to the manifesto has increased our focus on political lobbying.

In addition to this award, Keith Jones individually won a well-deserved highly commended award in the Best Rides and Ride leader category for leading a range of well-attended rides, including a full-day ride to Thamesmead, the East End Suffragette history ride, and his revival of the summer evening Afterworker Rides.

The run-up to the local elections 2018 was a busy time for Tower Hamlets Wheelers. It included our hosting a lively and well-attended cycling and walking mayoral hustings, and we also published the Tower Hamlets Cycling Manifesto 2018–22: this set out our positive vision for cycling in the borough over the next four years, and six of the seven mayoral candidates (including the re-elected incumbent, John Biggs) committed to this.

The election on 3 May resulted in Labour doubling their council seats to 42 (reducing the opposition to just three councillors). Winning a substantial majority can give parties the confidence to implement their manifestoes vigorously, including the more controversial bits – so what pledges did the Labour manifesto contain in relation to cycling, walking and traffic management in our borough?

“We will be the best place in London to walk and cycle”

Labour’s manifesto contained this laudable statement of intent which – if achieved against a context of recent major improvements in some other London boroughs – would represent huge progress. So, more specifically, how might the new administration actually deliver this result by 2022?

One major manifesto pledge is that the five corridors identified in TfL’s Strategic Cycling Analysis as having strong potential for cycling would be implemented as high-quality routes: this would include three new north–south routes, a new east–west route to the north of CS2, and a shorter cycling link up the west side of the Isle of Dogs. If these are completed to a genuinely high standard, with fully protected space on main roads or (where no main roads are available) substantial traffic reduction on minor roads, they would represent a major advance for cycling in the borough.

Another pledge is to start bringing low-traffic neighbourhoods to half the borough by 2022. If this pledge is achieved and the quality of implementation is to a similar standard as that seen in the now-famous Waltham Forest Mini-Holland scheme, this would represent a great benefit not just to cycling but also to walking and local residents. There is, however, a caveat that such schemes will be introduced “where residents want them”: whilst public engagement is certainly important, we will be urging the new administration to proactively lead the conversation on these issues with residents rather than merely responding to campaigns; and the new administration will also need to accept the inevitability that even the best, most carefully-consulted schemes will never achieve unanimity of opinion. This issue may therefore require our borough’s politicians to lead their communities from the front and take some decisions with which not everyone will agree.

On bike parking, the Labour manifesto pledges 100 new bike hangars, each of which will house six bikes. Given the enormous latent demand for secure residents’ bike parking, this is unlikely to be enough; however, the Mayor did subsequently commit to our own Tower Hamlets Cycling Manifesto, which ups his commitment to 300 (by comparison with other boroughs, this is not an unreasonable ask: adding 300 hangars would still leave Tower Hamlets with fewer hangars in 2022 than Hackney has today, and the new administration in Islington has committed to installing 400 hangars over its term).

Other relevant manifesto commitments include the following: making it harder for commuters from elsewhere to park their cars in the borough; using the new Local Plan and Green Grid Strategy to increase the number of walking and cycling routes; continuing to invest in Quietways; supporting the northern alignment of the proposed Canary Wharf to Rotherhithe walking and cycling bridge; applying the London Cycling Design Standards to all new roadwork schemes; ensuring all cycling schemes will cater for non-standard cycles; allowing owners of non-standard cycles to rent garages in which to store them; maintaining the borough’s 20mph speed limit and taking action to ensure that it is better enforced; aiming to introduce “School Streets” (where motor vehicles are banned at drop off and pick up times) around half the borough’s primary schools; continuing to oppose new motor vehicle bridges to and from Fish Island; increasing public bike parking; and working with commercial landlords to increase visitor and resident bike parking.

The rest of the council chamber

The one remaining People’s Alliance councillor, Rabina Khan, was also a mayoral candidate and she committed to the Tower Hamlets Cycling Manifesto. The other two councillors are Conservatives; their mayoral candidate, Anwara Ali, also committed to our Manifesto. We hope that these campaigning commitments will lead to an opposition which supports the governing party where it proposes high-quality cycling schemes, and pushes it to do better if it does not.

In conclusion

These manifesto commitments sit on top of existing positive commitments in the borough’s 2016 cycling strategy and, if achieved, they will represent a further major advance. However, the proof will be seen with the quality of what the new administration actually delivers and the enthusiasm with which it does so.

Tower Hamlets Wheelers, the borough group of the London Cycling Campaign, has today launched the Tower Hamlets Cycling Manifesto. The Manifesto sets out our positive vision for cycling – and, more broadly, a better quality of life – in the borough over the course of the 2018-22 administration. It contains 12 principles and three deliverables to which we are asking all mayoral candidates to agree.

Tower Hamlets Wheelers is also announcing two campaigning events in the run-up to election. On the evening of Thursday 5 April, we will be hosting the Tower Hamlets Cycling and Walking Mayoral Hustings at Limehouse Town Hall. We warmly invite all to attend. And on Saturday 14 April, we will be at the Farmers’ Market at Stepney City Farm, talking to people about what they think would help cycling in the borough.

Tower Hamlets Wheelers committee member Julie Plichon said:

"We are publishing the Tower Hamlets Cycling Manifesto to set out a positive vision of what we would like to see the 2018-22 borough administration achieve.

"We are asking all mayoral candidates to agree to the 12 principles contained in the Manifesto and, crucially, to commit to delivering our three specific asks by 2022.

"Our first ask is that the five routes in Tower Hamlets identified by Transport for London in its Strategic Cycling Analysis as having particularly high cycling potential are planned and completed by 2022.
"Our second ask is for low-traffic neighbourhoods: we would like the 2018-22 administration to apply for Transport for London Liveable Neighbourhoods funding. This should be used to bring forward ambitious area-wide traffic management schemes which would keep through traffic on main roads and make residential streets safe and pleasant places to live, play, walk and cycle.

"Finally, we are asking the incoming administration to significantly increase secure residents’ bicycle parking, by installing 75 on-street Bike Hangars a year and working with social landlords to increase secure bicycle parking on estates".

Tower Hamlets Wheelers committee member Alex Jenkins said:

"What we are asking for isn’t really for the benefit of the one-in-ten of Tower Hamlets residents who are already regular cyclists. Instead, we are trying to create the conditions whereby the other 90% of the borough’s population have cycling made available to them as a comfortable, convenient and safe transport option.
"We should be ambitious about the cycling rate which can be achieved: around 41% of trips across Greater London could be cycled, and Transport for London analysis showing that Tower Hamlets may have the highest potential for cycling of any London borough – which means our potential is even higher. However, current cycling rates barely scratch the surface of this.

"To unlock this suppressed demand, new cycling infrastructure in Tower Hamlets should be so attractive, safe and inclusive that it entices those who do not yet cycle, rather than simply making the roads safer for existing cyclists."

Tower Hamlets Wheelers committee member Owen Pearson said:

"Radically increasing the number of journeys made by bicycle should be a major part of the solution for many of the challenges our borough faces. Cycling can help deal with all sorts of challenges such as inactivity, obesity, pollution, inequality, poor access to transport, a rapidly-increasing population, and congestion.

"Tower Hamlets is the fifth-worst local authority area for particulate pollution the UK, with over 8% of deaths in the borough attributable to long-term exposure. Shifting journeys from polluting modes to cycling and walking could be a major part of improving our air quality.

"The population of Tower Hamlets is growing rapidly, with an 86% increase projected between 2000 and 2026. Cycling is one of the most space-efficient uses of the road, and therefore an ideal way of getting around an increasingly densely-populated borough."

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

1. Tower Hamlets Wheelers is the borough group of the London Cycling Campaign with 430 paid-­up members and a further 864 registered supporters living in Tower Hamlets. We have been active in the borough for over 30 years.
2. Our main objectives are to encourage more people to cycle, improve conditions for cyclists and to raise the profile of cycling in our borough. We liaise with and bring issues to the attention of the local council and other authorities. We run cycling community projects and organise social rides and events to bring cyclists in the area together.
3. We are hosting the Tower Hamlets Cycling and Walking Mayoral Hustings on Thursday 5 April at Limehouse Town Hall, 646 Commercial Road, E14 7HA starting at 6:45 p.m.
4. We will be at the Farmers’ Market at Stepney City Farm to talk to visitors about our asks between 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. on Saturday 14 April. Details of both events can be found at wheelers.org.uk/diary
5. The manifesto can be found online at wheelers.org.uk/manifesto2018

A new consultation is out on changes to Cable St, including some improvements to Cycle Superhighway 3. Whilst we would like to see the scheme go further, there are some good proposals here, in particular a major improvement to the confusing junction with Sutton St and a new parallel pedestrian/cyclist zebra crossing and contraflow cycle lane at King David Lane.

We would like to see as many users of CS3 as possible reply to this, supporting the good stuff but asking the borough to go further in creating a low-traffic neighbourhood around Cable St. We have put together a suggested response below. Your response is likely to have the most impact you go to the consultation page and scroll down to the bottom to fill in the webform (and it’ll have even more impact if you put the text sections into your own words), but if you are in a hurry you could just email the suggested response to towerhamlets.consultation@projectcentre.co.uk as that should still count (just make sure you include your name and address).

The consultation closes this Sunday (21 January).

SUGGESTED RESPONSE:

Question 1
Not sure.

Question 2
It is not clear that banning vehicles from entering Martha St from Watney St will necessarily reduce traffic in this area, as under these plans Tarling St will remain open for eastbound vehicles. Watney St has very high pedestrian flows and would benefit enormously from a significant decrease in motor vehicle movements. I therefore ask for a more ambitious approach here to reduce traffic on Watney St: the streets around Watney St could be made no-through roads to motor vehicles with the aim of keeping through traffic on Commercial Rd, and Watney St itself could be made walking and cycling only (with out-of-hours access for deliveries).

If this banned turn does go ahead, I ask that there is an exemption for cyclists.

Question 3
Agree.

Question 4
I broadly support the pedestrian improvements here. However, I ask that the pedestrian-only zebra crossing outside Shadwell station is changed to a parallel pedestrian/cyclist zebra crossing to allow convenient cycling access between CS3 and Dellow St. I am also concerned that, assuming the newly one-way Dellow St permits contraflow cycling, the widened footway at the junction with Cable St will increase the risk of head on cyclist/motor vehicle conflict. A pedestrian refuge set into Dellow St with a contraflow cycle lane running behind it would offer similar benefits to pedestrians whilst avoiding this problem.

Question 5
Not sure.

Question 6
Agree.

Question 7
Given that the Dellow St – Lowood St – Bewley St loop is already access-only, it is not clear how making these streets one-way would necessarily achieve the objective of reducing traffic. If this one-way scheme is to go ahead, these streets should permit contraflow cycling.

I strongly support the replacement of gates with bollards at the end of Dellow St to improve walking and cycling permeability. This also underlines the need for Dellow St in particular to permit two-way cycling, in order that the full benefits of this improved cycling link are realised. I ask that other similar gates on estate roads in the vicinity are considered for replacement by bollards, to improve cycling permeability across the area. I also ask that the link from the end of Dellow St to Wapping is considered for improvement for cycling, including the possible conversion of the crossing on The Highway to a toucan crossing.

Question 8
Not sure.

Question 9
It is not clear how this proposal will necessarily reduce motor traffic in the area, as Martha St will remain open for westbound vehicles. Similarly to question 2, I ask for more ambitious measures to reduce traffic in and around Watney St.

If this banned turn does go ahead, I ask that there is an exemption for cyclists.

Question 10
Agree.

Question 11
–

Question 12
Agree.

Question 13
Agree.

Question 14
I strongly support the proposed pedestrian and cyclist priority over Sutton St, as the priorities at this junction are currently confusing and counter-intuitive.

I strongly support the proposed parallel zebra crossing of Cable St and a contraflow cycle lane on King David Lane. I suggest that to minimise cyclist/pedestrian conflict on King David Lane, demarcation blocks should be installed to separate the contraflow cycle lane from pedestrian space, and the cycle lane should be painted a different colour from the pavement. I also suggest that King David Lane should be subject to some form of traffic management scheme (perhaps a bus gate, or a banned turn from The Highway) to reduce motor vehicle movements in King David Lane itself and also on Cable St.

Question 15
Cable St and its environs are currently dominated by motor vehicles, with a great deal of antisocial and dangerous driving. Given that only 38% of households in the local area have a car, it seems likely that many of these vehicles constitute through traffic. To build on these proposals, I would support the introduction of a more extensive traffic management scheme in order to make the entire area between The Highway and Commercial Rd access-only to motor vehicles. This approach would be hugely beneficial to local residents, pedestrians, and cyclists using CS3.

Several of the proposed interventions would increase car parking spaces. This would make it easier to drive to and from the area and thus contradicts the overall aim of reducing motor traffic. I ask that, where proposed changes lead to additional kerbside space being made available, this space should be used to install bike hangars, as there is currently very little secure residents’ bike parking in the area.

The Borough is currently consulting on a “Neighbourhood Refresh” for the Weavers ward (the north-west corner of Tower Hamlets, around Columbia Road). A major aim of the Neighbourhood Refresh programme is to make roads safer, particularly for people cycling and walking. We think these proposals could be made a lot better, so we urge you to respond to the consultation by its closing date of 30 September. A suggested text is provided below.

The Weavers area is of particular importance to people who cycle in the area, as it includes part of the Quietway 13 route, which will eventually run from London Fields to Farringdon. Although there are some good bits and pieces proposed, overall the proposals do not go nearly far enough. We think that this would be an ideal area for the installation an ambitious series of modal filters similar to the example pictured above, making the streets local-access only for motor vehicles and much more hospitable places for both local residents and people cycling or walking through the area. We urge you to ask for modal filtering in your response.

How to respond

There are several ways to respond: the consultation website includes a map where you can drop a pin to request an intervention in a particular spot, and a webform right at the bottom of the page where you can respond section-by-section. Alternatively, you can email your responses to towerhamlets.consultation@projectcentre.co.uk. A suggested text which you can email in is provided below, but don’t forget to sign off with your name and address! If you put these thoughts into your own words – and add some colour about your personal experience of the area – they may have more impact, but if you don’t have time don’t worry: the most important thing is that a decent number of people reply.

If you live within the Weavers ward, for additional impact you might want to email the ward councillors explaining why you would like a more ambitious scheme.

Suggested response

Email to: towerhamlets.consultation@projectcentre.co.uk

Dear Consultation team

I am writing in response to the Weavers Area Traffic Improvements consultation.

Overall comment:
I welcome the scheme’s objectives of improving the streets for people who walk and cycle. It is particularly important to get such improvements right in this area as it will form part of the Quietway 13 cycle route, and as none of the local main roads currently have any protected space for cycling it is essential that this area provides safe and comfortable alternative routes for all-age, all-experience cycling. However, this area is blighted by rat running, anti-social driving, and vehicle-borne criminality (in particular, drug dealing), and whilst the planned improvements are a step in the right direction it is my view that they should go much further.

This area is bound by several A-roads (Hackney Rd, Shoreditch High St, and Bethnal Green Rd). These roads are much more suitable for carrying large amounts of motor traffic than the backstreets through which it is currently allowed to permeate. I therefore urge the Borough to build on these proposals to create a much more ambitious scheme, centred on extensive area-wide modal filtering, with the aim of making the whole area accessible to local traffic only. This would have huge benefits both to local residents and to people walking or cycling through. In addition, the two B-roads in the area both run on residential streets unsuitable for through motor traffic, and essentially duplicate routes provided by local A-roads. I ask that the Borough investigate the possibility of declassifying these B-roads, which would then allow them to be filtered too.

Section 1:
I ask that the yorkstone paving and raised sections are executed with a bicycle-friendly smooth surface and gentle inclines.

Section 2:
I strongly support the principle of narrowing the entrance to Boundary St to discourage fast driving. I strongly support the principle of providing a contra-flow cycle lane here, but ask that the parking spaces proposed for the west side of Boundary St are moved or removed to avoid dangerous vehicle movements across the cycle lane, and that the cycle lane be made wider and benefit from some form of protection.

Section 3:
I strongly support an additional modal filter here, and hope that it will represent a first step in a much more ambitious area-wide modal filtering scheme. I prefer Option A, as the existing Elwin St/Quilter St filter would then continue to prevent antisocial drivers doing laps of Jesus Green. I ask that the existing filter be modified to make it permeable to cyclists.

Section 4:
I strongly support making the southern end of Durant St walking and cycling only. I ask it is designed such that the usable width meets the relevant London Cycling Design Standards for a shared use path and I suggest that bike hangars for residents’ bike parking could be included in the design.

Section 5:
I do not believe that making Ropley St one-way will have a significant impact in reducing traffic in this area. It will clearly not have any effect in limiting southbound traffic, and may even induce some additional traffic in this direction as it will become easier to drive down. For northbound traffic, other options (e.g. Ravenscroft St and Horatio St) will remain open.

I urge the Borough instead to install a modal filter on Ropley St, as this would be a much more effective way of reducing traffic in this area, and to bring forward proposals for filtering other nearby streets as part of an area-wide scheme.

Section 6:
I strongly support the principle of introducing design features to help embed the 20mph speed limit, but oppose the retention of speed cushions as these dangerously narrow the usable road width for people cycling; they should be replaced with sinusoidal humps. I note, however, that a more effective way of embedding a 20mph speed limit would be to introduce an area-wide filtering scheme.