A Dr Bike session in Kensington Gardens
Don't miss the opportunity to have your bike checked over by Dr Bike! The doctor will be able to make small adjustments and advise on any more extensive repairs that may be needed.
Following the success of the sessions during Bike Week in June, a further series of Dr Bike sessions has been arranged as follows:
| When | Where |
|---|---|
| Monday 5th October 16:00 to 19:00 |
Hyde Park Rotten Row / West Carriage Drive »Street map |
| Wednesday 7th October 16:00 to 19:00 |
Kensington Gardens The Broad Walk / Mount Walk by drinking fountain »Street map |
| Thursday 8th October 16:00 to 19:00 |
Regent's Park The Broad Walk / Ready Money drinking fountain »Street map |
| Friday 9th October 16:00 to 19:00 |
St James's Park The Mall (north side) / Marlborough Road »Street map |
A Dr Bike session in Kensington Gardens
A new cycle crossing of Bayswater Road bridges the link between two halves of a cycle route.
The crossing, just west of Marble Arch links the southern half of Route 5 (Chelsea Bridge - Hyde Park) with the northern half (Marylebone - Kilburn).
Until recently, cyclists had to dismount to use a zebra crossing at this point. The zebra has now been replaced by parallel pedestrian and cycle crossings, which provide a continuous route for cyclists.
A number of measures have been implemented in connection with the crossing, such as allowing northbound cycling in Stanhope Place. But the right turn from that street into Seymour Street has still to be allowed for cyclists. Some time ago the Royal Parks provided a connecting path from the cycle route around Hyde Park.
A cyclist using the new crossing.
Westminster Cycling Campaign does not recommend carrying bags on the handlebars,
looking in the opposite direction to approaching traffic or cycling with
flapping clothing!
A crossing at this point was first proposed in 2005 as part of the London Cycle Network Plus project. When council members rejected original proposals for a toucan crossing, engineers literally had to go back to the drawing board. Hence the long delay. This has unfortunately prevented them from making progress with other schemes.
Despite expenditure of £2.16m on London Cycle Network Plus in Westminster over the three years from 2005 to 2008, very little actually happened to improve cycling conditions on Westminster's roads. How could this come about?
Only £165,000 was actually spent on designing and implementing cycle-specific features on Westminster's roads. So where did the rest of the money go?
| £1,053,000 | was given to the Royal Parks. This paid for generally worthwhile schemes, including crossings of the North and South and West Carriage Drives of Hyde Park as well as Marlborough Road. |
| £400,000 | went towards streetscape enhancement in Whitehall and Parliament Street, the main feature of which was anti-terrorist bollards. But the wide bus lanes should make cycling easier. (See photo below.) |
| £248,000 | paid for badly-needed surface improvements in Trafalgar Square, on Waterloo Bridge and at Hyde Park Corner - work that we would normally expect authorities to do out of their annual maintenance budget. |
| £162,800 | paid for feasibility studies for schemes that have not materialised, including £57,400 to find out why cycling is not possible across the north of Kensington Gardens. |
| £87,000 | was for Cycle Route Implementation Stakeholder Plans (CRISPs). |
| £42,000 | went on reports to the Cabinet Member. |
| £2,263 | was for preliminary discussions. |
The City of Westminster and Transport for London are planning to switch off certain traffic signals on an experimental basis.
The experiment will start with the signals at the junction of Victoria Street and Strutton Ground. It will entail monitoring the junction over a six-week period with 12 closed-circuit television cameras and eight number plate recognition cameras.
For the first two weeks the signals will work normally; for the following fortnight they will be switched off, before being put back on for another two weeks. The behaviour of motorists and pedestrians will be monitored at both this junction and one about 100 yards to the west.
Martin Low, Westminster City Council's head of transportation, said: "We will be creating a bit of indecision in all road users' minds to create a safe environment, When lights are out, we have noticed that drivers are far more considerate and show more care and attention than they are when they have the reassurance of traffic lights. We think there is a huge potential to reduce delay for all road users."
The idea of removing traffic signs and signals began at Drachten in the Netherlands. Road users behaved more carefully, with a consequent reduction in accidents. The concept now appeals to the Mayor of London as part of his policy of smoothing the traffic flow.