Hammersmith and Fulham Group - London Cycling Campaign

We would like to see a safe passage for cyclists on the E-W / W-E corridor from the West towards Central London, and out again. Most of the planning for cyclists has been to get them into the complex. Westfield has taken the stance that the carriageway around Shepherds Bush Green is not suitable for cyclists. Indeed the area just to the west of the Central Line station / West12 Centre is particularly difficult, and has not been improved in any way.

There is a lovely new Toucan crossing across the northern arm [A3220] of the Holland Park Roundabout , but no indications on how to get to it, and one is expected to get off the carriageway of the Uxbridge rd through people who may be waiting at a crossing.

The London Cycling Design Standards at Chapter 4 states

Transition between cycle lanes and cycle tracks / 4.2.44

It will occasionally be necessary to provide a transition from on-carriageway cycle lanes to off-carriageway cycle tracks and vice versa. This transition should be clear, smooth, safe and comfortable for cyclists. Minimum speed change and vertical and/or horizontal deviation for cyclists should be the objective. Drawing CCE/C4 shows a typical detail for this situation.

The Westfield Cycling Strategy calls for cycle routes linking in with the local cycle network.

The London Cycling Design Standards at Chapter 4 states that a cycle track should have an edge strip at least 0.5m between the kerb and the track when the track faces on-coming traffic. This track on the Eastern Access rd looks particularly ridiculous and dangerous if anyone is naive enough to follow it.

Edge Strips / 4.4.37

In order to provide safe clearance between cyclists and motor traffic passing on an adjacent carriageway an edge strip at least 0.5m wide should normally be provided. This is particularly important where cyclists on the outside of the track are facing oncoming motor traffic.

Westfield are very proud of their valet parking.

And no better way of telling everyone than by slapping a post in the middle of the cycle track.

The Design Manual for Streets at s7.5 discusses Stopping Sight Distance. They would like a driver to be able to stop inside the distance corresponding to his or her reaction time should anything untoward happen. Will they do anything about this spot on Ariel Way before there is a casualty?

The authorities that look after big roads seem to be a bit more concerned about the safety of pedestrians and cyclists. This is an image of the crossing on the bridge over A3220 leading towards the Edward Woods Estate and North Kensington, taken from the top of the lifts on the Eastern Access rd, looking east.

Sight-line obstructions have been given as the reason for not opening this route. This may be the sight-line obstruction of the wall on the right, or on the other side where one suddenly emerges from behind a wall and is thrust onto the crossing. This route will not be opened for quite a while, September 2009 at the earliest.

Not only is this delay a problem in itself, but LBHF may see it as a reason to delay sorting out problems along Ariel Way and the Eastern Access road through Westfield.

Chris Bainbridge, who is head of Transport Planning for LBHF, has stated it was important to see how the area is being used before rushing into changes which may not be appropriate. And we will not know how it is being used until the route over the bridge is open.

[The following email was sent on 8 July 2009]

To Cllrs Eugenie White, Alex Chalk, Nick Botterill
cc Graeme Swinburne, Chris Bainbridge, Dion Hallett, Simon Franklin, Nick Boyle

hi

I am very pleased to hear from Dion Hallett that a ramp is about to be constructed to take cyclists off the eastbound Uxbridge road to lead them towards Westfield and the excellent Toucan on the northern arm of the Holland Park roundabout. We have been pressing for this for over a year. When this has happened it would be good to promote this new feature which would encourage people to cycle who may have been scared of tackling the Holland Park roundabout.

However there are several problems that remain with Westfield and these should be resolved as soon as possible. Some of these can be seen at http://www.hfcyclists.org.uk/SBGnow.htm .

There is also a new problem emerging, which is how the arrangement on the far side of the bridge over the A3220 leading to the Edward Woods Estate will deal with cyclists and pedestrians. It is like a hairpin alpine descent and should be looked at to see if it can be made more suitable for its intended use. The bridge may open sometime like October perhaps.

There may also be a need in the future for more cycle parking at the south east entrance to Westfield by the Central line and main line stations.

I hope this is helpful.

John Griffiths
Chair hfcyclists - local branch of the London Cycling Campaign.
122c Edith rd
london
W14 9AP
020 7371 1290 / 07789 095 748
www.hfcyclists.org.uk

A response to this dated 13 August 2009 was obtained- NickBotterill_13Aug09.pdf

Some parts of this are pleasing, some are less so. The section concerning the bridge over the A3220 is particularly alarming as it would appear to indicate that the Council is not prepared to look at the safety implications of the access on the eastern side of the bridge until after the bridge was opened and the access ramp was in use.

Bridge over A3220

As you know TfL have yet to make the necessary alterations to the crossing facilities at this junction before they will open it to the public. The Council have asked TfL to make these changes as soon as possible, however we would not want to rush the opening of this essential link before the safety needs of its users has been fully addressed.

As you will know the step/ramp structure gaining access to the Edward Woods Estate was built many years ago to an entirely different set of standards. Upon the opening of the crossing facilities, officers will make the necessary investigations into what alterations need to be carried out.

[excerpt from NickBotterill_13Aug09.pdf .

The above was written as a draft by an officer in Highways and signed by Cllr Nick Botterill. Nick later qualified this in an email dated 1 Sept 2009

John

I will discuss this with Chris Bainbridge. As you are probably aware the agreements made with Westfield some years ago were not as robust as would be desirable. However this is no excuse for any safety issues not being looked into. I would ask that you make sure Chris is aware exactly of the issues you are raising and where possible we will seek to ensure that cyclists get a fair deal.

Regards.

Nick

On 5 September we organised a site visit to look at the steps / ramp in question.

See our Report of this site visit as a Word 97 doc

See our Report of this site visit as a PDF file

To see earlier stuff about Shepherds Bush Green and Westfield go HERE