LCC / LBHF Highways meeting

LCC / hfcyclists meeting with LBHF Highways Department concerning options for safer cycling around Shepherds Bush Green area and Holland Park Roundabout.

Meeting time 10am - 11.30am on Monday 26 November 2007.
3rd floor reception, Hammersmith Town Hall Extension, King Street. W6

PRESENT: Mike Gilroy [lbhf], Nick Boyle [lbhf], Dion Hallett [lbhf], Colin Glendenning [lbhf], John Griffiths [hfcyclists/local branch of LCC], Tom Bogdanowicz [LCC].

NOTES: These notes were written by John Griffiths and sent to Mike Gilroy and Tom Bogdanowicz for approval / alteration as needed. The wording here represents the substance of what was said, not the words actually used. Comments in brackets [ ] are introduced as clarification or as afterthoughts not made at the meeting.

TLA's etc

CRISP: Cycle Route Implementation Stakeholder Plan - how cycle routes are planned.
LCN+ London Cycle Network Plus. People organising the CRISPs
SBG Shepherds Bush Green
HPR Holland Park Roundabout
Halcrow Transport consultants for Westfield
Westfield Westfield Shoppingtowns Limited, developers of WhiteCity London

INTRO

MIKE: Welcome. Thank you for coming. As you called the meeting, go ahead.

PREDICTION OF NUMBER OF CYCLISTS FOR PLANNING PURPOSES.

JOHN: Do you have any cyclist counts for the area.

NICK: Yes there was one used for the Link 73 CRISP. The count was 174 in 3 hours.
[JOHN - The Link 73 CRISP covered the Uxbridge rd from Askew rd to HPR in 2008. The count was made on the Uxbridge rd outside the Shepherds Bush Central Line station from 7am to 10am on 14 Apr 2005]

JOHN: We did one in May 2001 that showed 228 cyclists heading east along the Uxbridge rd from the Wood lane junction between 8am and 9am. The average was 4.75 cyclists per light change.

Susie Gretz did one a few days ago on a cold November morning. On Friday 23 November, between 8am and 9am on the Uxbridge rd going east as it approaches the Holland Park roundabout. The count there was 207. This represented an average of 4.6 cyclists for each 80 second light change. The peak was 9 cyclists during one light change. [In the warmer months the flow rates can be expected to be higher, and also to increase with time]

TOM: Looking at the draft Westfield Cycling Strategy, I notice that they are not using the latest predictions on future cycling numbers. The Mayor's Strategy calls for a 400% increase over year 2000 numbers by 2025. You should be planning facilities for this sort of flow rate.

CYCLE TRACK AND PARKING AROUND W12 CENTRE

NICK: I know that there are some differences of opinion between you, John Griffiths, and John Lee from the Cycling Centre of Excellence, on whether the track should be segregated or shared use. The pinch point is outside Belushi's, and a 2m wide cycle track will not leave adequate room for pedestrians. We estimate that the ratio of pedestrians to cyclists in that area is about 1000:1.

What is happening is that we are pushing out the kerbline just to the east of the W12 Centre crossing to make way for the segregated track. In essence the whole carriageway both westbound and eastbound is being shifted northwards by about 2m in that place. On the northern side the new kerbline will pass through the existing Central line station.

[JOHN - I have only just realised what is going on. I thought before that they were using out of date background maps. This plan is similar to the plan in the SBG CRISP of about 3 years ago. Then the kerbline was to be moved out and most of a lane marked buses only would have been removed. We thought that unnecessary for the sake of a few cyclists on a segregated track. Now instead of taking space from the bus lane it is being taken from the pavement on the northern side near the Central Line station.]

TOM: I hope you are aware of the advice about shared use in LTN 2/04. As examples, shared use works well in Kensington Gardens, and segregated use works well in Hyde Park.

JOHN: Will the cycle parking outside the W12 centre disappear, and the railings too.

NICK: The cycle parking will go; the guard rails are still under consideration.

DION: We could put parking on the island as you have suggested previously. It would be like Kensington High Street. I will measure it up to see how many can be fitted.

TOM: There are examples of best practice for cycle parking in a recent issue of the London Cyclist. For example in Bunhill rd there is a "tree" that holds 30 bikes. There is two tier parking as at Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge, and in Surbiton. Bikes can also be attached to the walls of buildings where space is limited as in Covent Garden outside Cannon St sports club in Earlham St.

BUS CUT-THROUGH

JOHN: It would be very desirable for pedestrians to use this cut-through to access the apex of the common from the crossing by the Central line station. It may be useful for cyclists, if it can be done without creating too much conflict. I believe the architects dealing with the Common would like access to the common at that point. This would be from the apex of the Common to the island on the crossing between the Central Line station.

The bus routes which will be using the cut-through appear to be as follows, with a bus on each route scheduled to go through the cut-through once every 8 minutes, ie one bus every 2 or three minutes. [The 207 / 607 buses will no longer use it as they will enter/ exit the Southern interchange]

72 East Acton to Roehampton. via Wood Lane - Shepherds Bush rd.
[This could go round Holland Park roundabout, or be diverted via Ariel way / Southern interchange on southbound journey.]

220 Willesden Junction to Wandsworth, via Wood Lane - Shepherds Bush rd.
[This could go round Holland Park roundabout, or be diverted via Ariel way / Southern interchange on southbound journey.]

283 East Acton to Barnes -via Uxbridge rd - Shepherds Bush rd.
[This could go round Holland Park roundabout, or be diverted via South Africa rd / Ariel way / Southern Interchange on southbound journey.]

NICK: It is very difficult to deal with TfL's concerns over delays to buses. They would do a cost / benefit analysis of the extra time taken and how much it would cost them. There is also the problem of the extra load on the roundabout.

JOHN: As these buses have to cross the flow of traffic, getting from bus stops to the cut through, and then back to bus stops on the south side, the laminar flow that comes from going around the roundabout may actually improve things.

DION: The person to speak to at TfL is Joel Adams, who has been to some of the Westfield Cycling Strategy meetings. I will send you a link to him.

MIKE: The transport aspects of the redevelopment of the Common are important and Highways will be very involved in the process.

WHO CONTROLS WHAT

TOM: Which authority controls these roads?

MIKE: The roads around SBG are borough roads. However we do not have full control over these strategic routes , as TfL controls the Network capacity. Holland Park roundabout is a part of the Trunk Road Network for London and so is fully under TfL control.

JOHN: Pedestrians and cyclists count as traffic too, when you are looking at Network capacity and throughput.

MIKE: Yes, but TfLs top priority appears to be avoiding delays to buses.

W12 CENTRE

JOHN: Outside the W12 centre there are a couple of problems for cyclists going west. One is the need to get to over to the right hand lane so that they can get on to the Common later.

TOM: We stopped and had a brief look on the way here. It would be good to watch how cyclists negotiate problems and perhaps take some video of how they do it.

JOHN: Most cyclists on the carriageway are struggling to change lane through the moving traffic. It would be good if less confident cyclists could pull over to the left just after the crossing into a cyclists refuge / lay-by. Then when the lights are red for vehicles they can pull out with no following traffic to cross over to the right.

MIKE: There is a space just after the crossing where the roadway becomes wider.

DION: There may be problems with buses coming through the cut-through. Cyclists could carry on to Rockley rd in order to cross over.

MIKE: You would have to get past the buses at the bus stops that may be pulling out. The lay-by seems a good idea. It would be safer to get them onto the Common, or at least over to the right hand lane, as soon as possible.

JOHN: That would be good for cyclists on the carriageway. The other problem is what happens to cyclists approaching on the cycle track and wishing to carry on west. They cannot get onto the carriageway when the traffic is zooming by. They are expected to wait for the red light for vehicles and then move and position themselves in the ASL before setting off on the next green light with traffic breathing down their necks.

TOM: You cannot have an ASL where there are zigzags.

JOHN: So no ASL. I would suggest widening the crossing by about a metre so that you can have a cycle lane that gets cyclists from the track past the waiting pedestrians on the green light for the carriageway. They could then hold-up in the lay-by if they wanted to cross to the Common.

NICK: That would mean having to have a longer phase for pedestrians. An extra metre in the width means that the crossing time has to be extended by 2 seconds. That would have drastic effects on the throughput from the roundabout.

JOHN: The alternative is that cyclists wanting to go west may be struggling to get through the mass of pedestrians when the pedestrian / cyclist light is green. That would hinder the crossing pedestrians.

ROCKLEY RD JUNCTION / ACCESS TO COMMON FOR CYCLISTS COMING FROM THE EAST

JOHN: As I see it there are two problems here. One is that the cycle crossing from Rockley rd is quite a way from the pedestrian crossing. They are controlled by the same lights, and it is possible that in queuing traffic a vehicle that is advanced beyond the pedestrian crossing light will think it is clear to carry on, whilst there is a green light for cyclists to cross.

I understand that the solution you are working on, with Alan Logan of LCN+, is to bring the two crossings closer together by setting the pedestrian crossing at a diagonal, pointing towards the Northwest corner of the common. The problem with that is that if there are new pedestrian flows going to the apex of the Common, a diagonal crossing is pointing away from the apex is not very appropriate. The problem of cars not knowing that they should stop for cyclists could be handled by adding a further red light.

The other problem that needs to be handled is how to get cyclists from the east onto the Common. That needs to be integrated with what is happening at Southern Interchange and the bus cut through, the design of the Common and which lane cyclists will be in.

HOLLAND PARK ROUNDABOUT

JOHN: At the last meeting of the Westfield Cycling Strategy Tony Westbrook of Westfield said that some items around the roundabout will no longer be dealt with by Westfield, or not by the opening date. Perhaps the cycle tracks and the entries to them.

NICK: Yes I did not quite understand that. If they do back out of it then there is money from the Link 73 CRISP to do it. They have to build the Toucan across the West Cross route as that is in the s106 agreement.

TOM: Have you considered a cycle route straight across the Holland Park roundabout. This would be similar to the facility at Hyde Park Corner. Especially for going into Central London where the cycle route via a Toucan presents quite a detour.

NICK: It was not brought up in the link 73 CRISP, it is a new idea.

MIKE: The land belongs to Thames Water and there are some buildings on it. They may have concerns about cyclists crossing their private land. We would not be able to do anything in the present phase, but it could be looked at in the future.

TOM: The Holland Park roundabout is considered one of the "barriers" to cycling, and is meant to be dealt with by 2010.

EASTBOUND UXBRIDGE RD

JOHN: You also need to consider how cyclists will get through on the Uxbridge rd, from where they leave the Common to the roundabout. The path of cyclists is complicated by buses turning across cyclists to reach the cut-through. Further on there are buses moving every which way. On the plan it looks simple, but the space is so large that paths for turning buses are likely to be blocked by queuing vehicles. As you approach the roundabout buses will be moving out of the bus stands to get to lane 2 of 3 on the carriageway.

The alternative via the toucan on the A3220 is such a diversion that few are likely to take it,

MORE SPACE / MODELLING

JOHN: Should there ever be gridlock, I would like to see space so that cyclists can get through. I believe it may be possible to get a bit more space from the islands where the buses are turning.

The divider separating the bus lane and other traffic outside the Central line station may not be needed. There is a dead space just beyond it where signals could be placed.

NICK: That divider is also needed for a signal half way along it for the general traffic that is has a stop line at that place.

JOHN: Why is the traffic stopped there, when it could move up to the same stop line as the buses. You are leaving a lot of empty space there.

MIKE:. We will ask Halcrow to confirm the logic of this. In relation to the modelling

JOHN: And on this first splitter island next to the HPR, if the buses coming off the roundabout could stop a little further back down this channel, then a lot of space could be taken from the width of the island.

MIKE: You need the width at the head of the island to house signals. And you cannot move the stop line back without affecting the approved modelling.. In this case the buses might queue back to block the roundabout.

You may be able make changes that improve traffic flow, like make lanes wider, or move stop lines forward but we would need to check the effect on the modelling You would like a wider kerb lane so that cyclists could get through?

JOHN: In this case buses turn out of the bus station and move into lane 2 of 3. Cyclists would not want to be in lane 1 as traffic from lane 2 would cut across them to go up the big road. Cyclists going straight ahead to Central London are likely to be in lane 2 or 3.

COLIN: If you did take space from that island, you have to worry about the angle and the curvature where the road joins the roundabout.

[JOHN - See note at end about viewing plan of these islands, and changes to road layout]

TRAFFIC MODELLING

MIKE: The traffic modelling is done using the VISSIM system, which is more advanced than the TRANSYT system. It looks at the behaviour of the various road users. Halcrow the Council and TfL have spent a very long time working out a model that finally works and it is not really practicable to change things at this late juncture.

JOHN: Is it possible to see it working?

DION: I could give you a copy of the model. But, it needs Microstation. The best thing is if you go and see Nick Bernard at Halcrow, and he will be able to show it to you, and talk you through it.

THE POSSIBILITY OF A 20 MPH SPEED LIMIT AROUND SBG

JOHN: As this is an LCN+ route and cycling should be encouraged, and it would calm the area and make it more pleasant, it may be sensible to have a 20mph limit around the green. This is unlikely to affect throughput of traffic much, yet make it much safer for cyclists on the occasions when the traffic is not congested.

There are new guidelines on where a 20 mph limit can be used and there is no need for physical measures. The new guidance allows 20mph "limits", not "zones". Where the mean speed on the existing road is less than 24mph then there is no requirement to do any more than put up speed limit signs. The Department for Transport Circular 01/2006 "New guidance on setting local speed limits" sets out how to establish new 20mph limits. [http://tinyurl.com/2m2j4p]

NICK: I looked at the link that you sent through. I noticed that it stated that it was not suitable for roads on the Strategic Road Network, which Shepherds Bush Green is, so we would not be able to do it.

TOM: But that statement is only guidance. Tower Bridge is a part of the SRN, and has been made 20mph. So are many of the roads in Portsmouth, where most of the City centre has been made 20mph.

SUGGESTIONS FROM LCC

TOM: I would like to suggest that you seek the advice of Cycling England. It is a branch of the Department of Transport. This is a free service to Boroughs, and imaginative design solutions may come from it. The person to contact is Tony Russell.

Also I know Nick Morris, who is the Network Management manager for London. Perhaps it would be helpful if he could look at how cyclists will be able to get through.

ARE THE PREDICTED TRAFFIC LEVELS RELIABLE

JOHN: I have been studying the Westfield Transport Assessment 2006, which was produced for the planning application for the mezzanine extension. I am not sure that it accurately predicts the traffic levels.

MIKE: It is too late now to bring up any questions about it, as far as the planning process goes. We have employed specialist consultants to examine it and they have verified it with TfL. The modelling was done by Halcrow and TfL have been examining it and have perfected the modelling in an iterative process. It has all been shown to work.

JOHN: It is not so much the planning process that I am worried about, it is whether there will actually be gridlock much of the time, and if so how you will get cyclists through the mess.

For example on p39 the Westfield TA 2006 gives the visitors expected to come by car on Saturday as 33220, and on a Friday as 27980. The ratio of these numbers is 1.19.

However the Department for Transport publication - Personal Travel Factsheet 6 "Travel to the shops in GB - January 2003" presents the weekly breakdown of shopping trips.
[www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/statistics/datatablespublications/personal/factsheets/19992001/]

For Friday it gives 15% and for Saturday 23% [25% for non-food buying]

The ratio of trips made on Saturday compared to Friday is 23/15 = 1.53
or for non-food shopping the ratio is 25 /15 =1.66

This is vastly different from the ratio of 1.19 that comes out of the Westfield assessment.

NICK: That is for all of GB, and London will be different.

JOHN: Another thing I have noticed is that the Westfield TA 2006 makes no allowance for seasonal variations.

The "Business Monitor SDM28" is produced by the Stationery Office, London, and is part of the National Statistics. This publication comes out monthly and gives the indices for quarterly and monthly variations of sales by sector and store type.
[http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=1478]

So as an example on page 41 of the May 07 edition

Other specialized non-food stores, large businesses, 2006, it gives indices

Sept 144
Oct 153
Nov 181
Dec 270

This shows that the value of goods sold in this sector has increased from September to December to 187% of the September value. Perhaps the number of trips to Westfield will also increase markedly with seasonal variations and sales.

Furthermore I believe that there may be some inconsistencies of a more technical nature.

The traffic modelling is only going to be as reliable as the information fed into it.

DION: You should discuss your doubts with Nick Bernard at Halcrow.

BIKE BOMBS

NICK: The police, SO 10 the anti-terrorist branch, have advised us and Westfield that because the area is so sensitive to terrorism, there should be no cycle parking outside stations or at entrances where there would be many people. This rules out the cycle parking scheduled to be outside the Central line station, outside the Wood lane station, and at the sites previously earmarked near the entrances along Wood Lane. This is because of the threat of bombs being constructed inside the tubing of the bike frame.

TOM: Although this has been brought up before, there have been no instances of it in the UK. There is cycle parking outside City Hall, and Jenny Jones has pointed out that there is cycle parking outside Scotland Yard. Panniers may be a problem though.

JOHN: Does the advice have to be followed.

MIKE: If a bike bomb does explode and it is shown that we had not followed that advice, we would have to account for that decision. We would have to show that we had a good reason not to follow the advice.

NICK: If we follow that advice then that removes need for cyclists to be able to get off the carriageway along Wood lane to get to the cycle parking, something which you wanted to bring up, John.

[JOHN - A bike bomb would only be a probable threat if there was no simpler way to conceal explosives and get a bomb into the area. But there are simpler ways. A bomber could enter the station booking hall with a large suitcase and just walk away when a crowd passed. A timed delay or a call from a mobile could set it off. There is no check on cars before they enter the massive underground car park that the centre is built over.]

ALL: Thank you for a most useful meeting. Goodbye.

[To see plans of Westfield's application for the Southern Interchange, Go to www.apps.lbhf.gov.uk/PublicAccess/tdc/DcApplication/application_searchform.aspx
Put 2007/02266/FUL into the Application No box, and click SEARCH at the bottom,
CLICK "Click to view"
CLICK "Associated Documents" Tab
CLICK "View associated documents
Go to TRANSPORT STATEMENT - MAIN REPORT
CLICK "whole document"
go to page 17 of 18]

John Griffiths [chair / co-ordinator hfcyclists - local branch of London Cycling Campaign]
122c Edith Rd, W14 9AP
020 7371 1290 / 07789 095 748
john[at]truefeelings.com
www.hfcyclists.org.uk