Agenda item

Will Umney, Career Grade Planner, presented the report which provided an overview of Grid and Quietways cycling improvements proposals and a summary of the Council’s wider cycling programme in Islington.

In the presentation and discussion which followed, the following points were made:

·         The key policy direction for the programme came from Islington’s Transport Strategy and from the Mayors Vision for Cycling.

• Islington’s Strategy recognised that Cycling was popular and affordable. It reduced air pollution and made better use of a constrained road network. Encouraging more cycling helped to free-up space on public transport. In addition to the transport and environmental benefits, there were significant health benefits to be gained from a more active population.

·         Islington had a target that 8% of all journeys would be made by bicycle by 2026. The London-wide target was 5% by 2026.

·         Whilst the number of road casualties had reduced, cyclists were disproportionately represented. Cyclists made up 22% of casualties but only 3.4% of trips. For this reason road safety was a key feature of the improvements being delivered.

·         The Mayor of London’s Vision for Cycling had four outcomes. These were 1) to provide a tube network for the bicycle, 2) safer streets for the bicycle, 3) more people travelling by bicycle and 4) better places for everyone. £913m would be spent over 10 years to deliver the programme.

·         The London-wide strategic programme for cycling included a better junctions programme to address the major junctions with the most problems and a programme of additional improvements for junctions on the TLRN, particularly where cycle routes met these busy road (e.g. City Road, Farringdon Road).

·         The programme for cycle routes included Cycle Superhighways, the Central London Cycling Grid which had a budget of £54m to 2015/16 and the Quietways programme which had a budget of £120m over 10 years.

• There was also a London Wayfinding Strategy that would increase visibility of the network and to help people find their way around. TfL was leading on the project. There would be an overall map plus street signs which were intended to complement the networks and allow people to navigate as they cycled. Cyclists had not been able to do this  on the London Cycle Network.

·         There was a separate Borough Cycle Programme with £2.1m to 2016/17. This programme included cycle training, Safer Urban Driving and the provision of cycle parking.

·         Better Junctions was a London-wide programme which covered all major junctions on the Transport for London road network. The intention of this programme was for junctions to be made safer and more attractive for cyclists and other vulnerable road users. 5 of the 33 Better Junction projects were in Islington - Archway, Old Street, King’s Cross, Highbury Corner, and the Nags Head. 

·         The proposal at Old Street was to remove the north-west arm of the gyratory, remove the roundabout and provide two-way operation. This would create a new public space with Dutch-style segregated cycle facilities. The consultation closed in January 2015 and construction could start later this year.

·         Consultation had been carried out at Archway and Old Street and construction could commence in 2015/2016.

• The Archway proposals were for a change to two-way operation and a road closure outside the station to create a new public space in the heart of the town. 

·         Consultations for the Nags Head and Highbury Corner were scheduled to take place in 2015.

·         The King’s Cross gyratory was subject to considerable feasibility work, with scheme development and modelling continuing through 2015-2017.

·         At Highbury Corner, bridge work had commenced in October 2014 and would be completed in spring 2017.

·         Proposals for town centre improvements for Nag’s Head and Seven Sisters Road including cycle improvements.

·         King’s Cross design and modelling work would continue up until 2017.

·         Cycle Superhighways were usually on the Transport For London Road Network. They tended to involve segregation for safety and to provide for less confident cyclists. Segregation, however, often led to a loss of parking.

·         The North South Cycle Superhighway and Cycle Superhighway 1 (CS1) were the two schemes which impacted on Islington.

·         The North South Superhighway was a route between Elephant and Castle and Kings Cross. The proposal included long sections of bi-directional segregated cycle lanes. It met the borough boundary at Farringdon Road north of Charterhouse Street. The council continued to lobby for TfL to extend the route to King’s Cross. Construction was due to start at the south of the route in March (2015) and work north of the river would commence in the summer. The changes would have an impact on loading and parking and could result in increased journey times for motorised traffic of up to four minutes.

• CS1 would run from Liverpool Street to Tottenham and would largely be in Hackney, Haringey and Waltham Forest. This route did not follow the A10 TfL road but proposed a parallel route using borough roads as this offered significant time savings for cyclists. The average journey would be 30 minutes rather than 42 minutes on the A10. The proposed route involved eight sets of signals as opposed to 54 sets on the A10.By keeping this route off the main roads, there was minimal impact on public transport or traffic.
• CS1 was out to consultation until 29 March 2015. Construction could begin later in 2015 and be completed in 2016.
• A number of Central London Cycle Grid routes were proposed in the south of Islington and these were subject to consultation.Islington was helping deliver part of the Bloomsbury to Walthamstow route which was one of two pilot routes.
• TfL had a series of specific initiatives to tackle cycle safety around large vehicles.From September 2015 there would be a ban on vehicles over 3.5 tonnes that were not fitted with side guards and safety mirrors.
• The Council worked with Islington Cyclists Action Group.
• The planned cycling programmes were being funded by TfL.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.