We support this scheme and hope that it will go together with a wider scheme to improve both the C-link and the Water Lane area, which is blighted by high volumes of high speed traffic despite not being a main road. We are very aware that there was recently a fatal crash here (two Fridays ago.)
We’ve asked for clearer visual priority for people walking and cycling, with a continuous surface treatment, to make more likely that drivers will give way to people crossing (as they legally should.)
You can find our response below, and use that to inform your own response to the survey.
Inspired by Camden Cyclists’ excellent series of the same name, this post is about the progress of the many cycling infras schemes with spades in the ground in Newham. We will post new ones as and when volunteer time allows and there’s something new to report.
Romford Road
As a large project which will take a number of years, the long-awaited Romford Road public realm improvement scheme is broken up into sections. Sections B eastbound (Water Lane to Radlett Close) and D eastbound (Woodgrange Road to Richmond Road) were the first to be consulted on, and are the first to have been substantively finished. Snagging work should now have been completed for both.
Work has now begun on section B westbound. We’d expect work on section D westbound to take a little longer, owing to the recent fire at Forest Gate Police Station. Work continues on sections H and I.
The open cycle track on sections B and D eastbound is already being very well used by people cycling. In particular a lot of cyclists want to turn right into Dyson Road and the West Ham Park area, and so are already cycling around the barriers to use the zebra crossing.
The massive carriageway on the Westfield Avenue bridge (2 lanes + central hatching!) has already been narrowed by the arrival of materials presumably associated with the construction work. This, combined with hatching on the opposite side, reduces the road width to its final configuration of one traffic lane in each direction. This appears to have already led to a significant reduction in vehicle speeds at what was a real danger spot for people driving, and bodes well for improved safety on the whole corridor for all road users.
West Ham Park LTN
The planters have been installed at the point closures on Ham Park Road for this LTN which is going live on Monday 4th November, although the formal “no motor vehicles” signage has yet to be installed. Signage for the other two point closures on Vicarage Road and Tavistock Road will also need to be installed soon. (UPDATE 8 November: This was an error in the traffic order, the implementation date is now 25 November.)
You don’t need to stand on Ham Park Road long to see why this LTN is desperately needed! Even at 2pm on a Saturday when this photo was taken, large bursts of traffic were forcing their way through this narrow residential street from both the east and the west. We were somewhat concerned for the safety of a cat crossing the street (alas, not visible in the photo!) We look forward to this LTN coming into effect soon, for a safer West Ham Park for all cats (and humans.)
Greenway diversion
We are still waiting for the delivery of any measures at all to make the appalling Greenway diversion via Abbey Road safer. Our latest understanding is that speed cushions are imminent (a purchase order having supposedly been raised by Thames Water) and the ETMO to close Abbey Road to motor vehicles will be coming in late November (UPDATE: now cancelled because Newham Council chickened out) followed by permanent works to build out the south pavement to become a shared cycle track. We will post when we have more confirmed details. There is still no sign of permanent signage for the diversion, with portable temporary signage still in use and still regularly going missing.
New “cyclists dismount” signage has appeared on the shared pavement under the bridge, which has been narrowed… by Thames Water’s own storage unit. “Cyclists dismount” signs are generally not helpful and should only be used as a last resort—they do little more than tell people cycling they’re unwelcome, and many people ignore them. They are also not inclusive of Disabled cyclists using cycles as mobility aids, who may not be able to easily dismount.
We feel this dismounted section can be avoided by extending the traffic light phase for the pedestrian crossing, sending cyclists on this phase through the section of carriageway under the bridge. This is eminently achievable, but requires Thames Water and Newham to collaborate on traffic light phasing, signage, and road markings that work.
Greenway users have now been exposed to over 6 weeks of unacceptable danger, all of which would have been avoided had Thames Water planned their works properly and not closed the Greenway until the diversion was kid-safe.
Work around Beckton station is continuing. The priority pedestrian and cycling crossing on the Frobisher Road arm of the roundabout (into the Asda car park) is now available for use. Drivers leaving the roundabout are generally respecting the priority of people walking and cycling here. It remains to be seen how this develops with time as the scheme nears completion and the volume of cyclists increases.
The connection with the Beckton Corridor route is closed for resurfacing. The traffic lights across the bus station are largely complete, although they’re not turned on yet. There’s an unusual detail of the cycle part of this crossing being separately marked as if it were a parallel crossing, although the traffic lights suggest a shared toucan crossing. The cycle part also uses non standard pedestrian “stud” markings, rather than the “elephants’ footprints” that are generally used in this country to mark a cycle crossing.
Royal Docks Corridor
This scheme is now well underway with work visible on site throughout the entire corridor from Canning Town to Connaught Roundabout. Kerblines have begun to appear on North Woolwich Road near Pontoon Dock, and the junctions are progressing nicely.
Extra work is now happening on the previously-opened eastbound cycle track near the Oasis Academy and petrol station at West Silvertown. The planting is generally in, although not looking as verdant as Romford Road just yet. Junctions south of the viaduct are still largely on temporary traffic lights.
Some value engineering is evident on the Silvertown Way viaduct, where the original plans for a fully stepped cycle track have been replaced by a semi-protected painted cycle lane with kerbs at intervals. The kerbed dividers seem sufficiently bulky that it seems unlikely people will be tempted to speed and risk crashing into them, but it remains to be seen whether drivers end up invading these lanes and parking in them.
Work on the northern end near Canning Town station and the connection with Cycleway 3 seems largely complete, albeit not including the more direct crossing of Cycleway 3 across Canning Town Roundabout which we suspect may come as part of a later scheme.
Tidal Basin Roundabout
Work appears largely complete at the new Tidal Basin Roundabout, although the new shared pedestrian and cycle crossings are still mostly closed off.
This scheme is primarily to accommodate the enormous volumes of traffic which are likely to use the new Silvertown Tunnel, an urban motorway project which wehaveconsistentlyopposed. Even with the new greenery, you only need to look at the wide, sweeping traffic lanes to see who the roundabout and tunnel are really designed for: heavy lorries, and large volumes of private cars. People walking and cycling will be expected to wait up to 5 times to cross this massive new incarnation of the roundabout, adding further delay and encouraging risk-taking on journeys to City Hall, Dock Road, and the proposed new housing at Thames Wharf.
It remains to be seen how this operates in practice. We remain deeply sceptical that the Silvertown Tunnel project will achieve its stated aims, and think it will be seen as an historic planning failure like the vestiges of the Ringway scheme from the 1960s. This roundabout, which expects those without a car to dance between traffic islands, is only part of that legacy.
Bow Roundabout
Work on this scheme has begun and will continue for some months. The usual “cycle gate” arrangement for Cycleway 2 at Bow Roundabout continues on temporary traffic lights.
The effect will be to add an additional traffic lane on one side of the roundabout, create an additional eastbound lane for traffic leaving the roundabout onto Stratford High Street, create an additional westbound lane for traffic entering the roundabout from High Street, reverse the direction of the connecting lane under the flyover, and cut back the contraflow lane so that uses this connection to join the main westbound carriageway to go around the roundabout.
TfL declined to assess the new layout under their Cycling Level of Service or Judgment Assessment tools, because (cf. the FOI response) “the decision to separate cyclists from traffic at this location has already been established here and the route is a Cycleway.” We find this logic questionable:
The creation of additional lanes (and indeed this scheme being hurried through using the DCO before the Tunnel opens) suggests TfL believes traffic volumes will increase here.
CS2 eastbound is not physically separated from general traffic here. There is an existing issue where the painted lane is blocked by parked cars, forcing cyclists to merge into motor traffic that’s accelerating off the roundabout.
This issue will be compounded in the new layout by increased traffic volumes, the overwhelming majority of which will be through traffic, whose drivers may see the motorway-type design as an invitation to speed…
and by the new merge movement just west of Cooks Road, which runs the risk of drivers in the left-hand lane swerving into the cycle lane to avoid a collision with another vehicle merging from the right. While curtailing the contraflow lane is very welcome and will reduce the risk of motorists colliding head-on, we question why a new eastbound lane on High Street for the approx 60 yards before it merges into the first lane was considered necessary.
We will be monitoring this new layout very closely when it goes live, and won’t hesitate to hold TfL to account for any necessary mitigations to ensure the safety of people walking and cycling.
This is where 2 general traffic lanes off the roundabout will become 1—which may make the painted lane feel even more vulnerable than it currently is.
The new series of BBC1’s Ambulance was partly filmed at London Ambulance Service’s control room at Dockside earlier this year, and features locations and events many will recognise (including the fire at Forest Gate police station.)
The Romford Road cycle track’s new planting helped inspire a firefighter to rejuvenate Stratford Fire Station’s own garden space.He was interviewed recently on Gardeners’ Question Time on BBC Radio 4. We think the rain garden past the fire station makes it one of the loveliest cycle lanes in Newham.
Other news across London…
While Newham Cyclists focuses on Newham, your cycle knows no bounds and many of our journeys start and finish outside our borough. Here’s some news from our neighbours that may be of interest…
Hackney Cycling Campaign have done an extraordinary job pressuring Hackney Council over their unsafe Pembury Circus design (largely consisting of magic painted rectangles & early release traffic lights.) The decision has now been called in for review, and they are hoping to involve Active Travel England as the project uses Levelling Up Fund money. If you walk or cycle through Pembury or Hackney Central, get in touch with HCC to see how you can help them demand better from their council.
Redbridge Council have launched a draft of their Sustainable Transport Strategy.Contact our friends at Redbridge Cycling Campaign if you’re interested in helping them. Of particular interest to us is Ilford Garden junction, which will connect to the end of the Romford Road cycleway. Deadline 5th January.
Keeping track of the many ongoing projects in Newham is a lot of work for our committee and volunteers. If you live or work near one of these sites, we’d really appreciate it if you would volunteer to tell us when things make progress. Email newham@lcc.org.uk or join our discussion group if you can help us, or want to get involved in our campaigning.
Finally there is some movement on the ETO, which will reduce traffic on Abbey Road. But the process will take some weeks. In the meantime we must keep the pressure on in order to achieve safety for all Greenway users.
Many thanks to all those who attend our meeting on Monday 30th September, where we presented the latest plans for Abbey Road from Newham Council. We shared your feedback and questions about the Greenway Diversion with Newham Council and Thames Water.
We were able to meet with Newham Council on Friday 4th October, and we received another update. We present the latest information below.
Update from Newham Council on Abbey Road
In order to make Abbey Road safe for cyclists and pedestrians, Newham Council are progressing 4 projects in parallel:
Traffic calming – signs and speed cushions will be added to Abbey Road ‘in the next 5 days’. Cycle-friendly sinusoidal humps were investigated, but found not to be feasible on the bridge for engineering reasons.
Experimental traffic order(ETO)– this will prohibit motor vehicles from using Abbey Road for the extent of the weight limit. This process takes time—emergency services need to be consulted and any concerns they have need to be addressed. The initial letter was issued on 2nd October, with responses required by 9th October. The earliest possible date that the ETO could be implemented and Abbey Road closed to general traffic is 31st October.
Engineering works to provide cycling infrastructure – whilst the ETO is in place, the southern pavement on Abbey Road would be extended to 4m to provide a two way cycle route, with the northern pavement reserved for pedestrians. A single lane would be available for motor traffic, which would be one-way or two-way with a signalised shuttle. The likely timescale for this work is 3-6 months.
Investigating an alternative diversion via Crows Road – there are discussions taking place, but no firm proposals as yet.
Our thoughts on the above:
We feel that traffic calming on its own is an ineffective solution, but we understand that this is a temporary measure until the ETO is introduced, and many people have asked about ‘do not overtake cyclists’ signs as an interim measure. We raised the issue that speed cushions often nudge cyclists into riding too close to the kerb while encouraging drivers to straddle the cushions, making close passes more likely. We suggested an alternative implementation with half-cushions on the sides and full size cushions in the centre, inspired by the cycle street treatment on Vauxhall Street. We suspect it may be too late for our alternative to be considered, but we shall see.
We have been campaigning for traffic reduction on Abbey Road whilst the Greenway diversion is in place, and we are delighted that the first steps have been taken. The ETO should be introduced as soon as legally possible in order to protect cyclists and pedestrians on Abbey Road.
The proposed widened shared footway would be a safe and acceptable solution, but we are concerned about the optics of installing an expensive cycling scheme that is ripped out again in 18 months. We asked if it would be cheaper to extend the ETO for the full time that the Greenway diversion is in place.
The alternative diversion via Crows Road has potential to be a great – and permanent? – cycle route, but we have no firm proposals to comment on yet.
Communication from Thames Water
Thames Water (TW) have issued a statement about the diversion, which we received on 4th October. This is summarised below.
TW will be advising cyclists to use the Channelsea ramp and toucan crossing to avoid the right turn out of Canning Road.
TW are sharing an alternative diversion route via Bridge Road.
TW are committing to funding traffic calming measures suggested by Newham
TW will change the existing diversion signage to signage attached to existing site furniture.
Our thoughts on the above:
We previously advised TW that we have seen people crossing Abbey Road at the Channelsea ramp crossing. Whilst this avoids the blind corner at Canning Road, it means spending longer on Abbey Road, amongst fast moving traffic. We have also observed that some cyclists who join using the crossing then receive a punishment pass for their trouble, as some drivers perceive them as having ‘jumped the queue’. In addition, several people have raised concerns with us about drivers jumping the red lights at this crossing.
We previously advised TW that the Bridge Road route is a good option for people going to Stratford, Leyton and other destinations to the east, and many people are already using this. However it adds considerable extra journey time (in the order of 10 mins) for those joining Cycleway 2 towards central London, and can almost double journey times for people accessing Pudding Mill Lane, the Olympic Park and Victoria Park. This includes the families with children who have contacted us. We also note that the Bridge Road route has a number of obstructions that make it unfit for large volumes of cyclists (the traffic on the Greenway was last measured as 3,200 cyclists per day prior to the closure, according to Newham Council). We feel that Thames Water should be funding improvements such as widening and barrier removal to the Bridge Road route if they are recommending it as a diversion.
We note that on 20th September, TW wrote to Sir Stephen Timms MP as follows: “In the meantime, we are taking some short-term actions to alleviate the problem:
Additional time added on traffic lights under the bridge
Additional signage making it clear there should be no overtaking cyclists and the road is joint use (the Manor Road signs are in place and Abbey road will be added next week as specialist signs to fit the lampposts were needed)
Signage will be added on Canning Road and the give way line will be reinstated as it is currently faded
Improving the lighting under the bridge
Next week we will be upgrading the crossing points to include tactile paving and wider ramps.” As of 4th October, none of this work has been completed and we asked TW about this on 26th September and 1st October. They responded with the communication above.
Again, Thames Water said they would add semi-permanently attached signage w/c 23rd September, but there has been no movement on this to date (supposedly due to issues sourcing ‘specialist signage.’)
Our position remains that Thames Water should not have closed the Greenway until the ETO was in place.
All the measures that Thames Water say they are taking now are things that should have been organised and ready before the Greenway was closed to walking and cycling—particularly for an 18-month diversion where the closure was supposedly months in the planning. Even so, they are nowhere near sufficient to make the diversion safe for people walking and cycling, particularly during the school year.
This lack of forward planning by Thames Water has created considerable danger to which users of the Greenway have now been exposed for over 3 weeks, and will continue to experience for at least another 3 weeks due to the nature of the ETO process. We find this wholly unacceptable, and believe it was avoidable.
Manor Road
We have contacted Thames Water and Newham Council about your feedback on Manor Road. In particular you raised the issue of Manor Road pavements, which cyclists are directed onto, but these are not marked as shared use and pedestrians are understandably frustrated when they encounter cyclists. We have asked for this to be remodelled. Also you commented that the spadefuls of tarmac used to provide access to the pavements for cyclists are very narrow. We asked for these to be replaced with standard dropped kerbs.
The pedestrians/cyclists conflict has also worsened because Thames Water have narrowed the shared use pavement on Manor Road by constructing a storage unit on the pavement:
On 3rd October, Thames water told us that “The Manor Road crossing positioning will be altered following feedback from Newham – this has led to a slight delay as new traffic management plans are drawn up.” We look forward to a resolution of this issue.
Further feedback from Greenway users
This is another selection of some of the feedback we have received. We have tried to credit the people who provided it where we can—please let us know if this is your feedback and you would like your name added (or removed.)
We have also been contacted by Joyriders, who run weekly cycle sessions for teenagers who are inpatients at the mental health unit at Newham University Hospital. Their sessions are now “severely impacted” as going to the Olympic Park was one of their main routes, and Abbey Road “isn’t even an option at all!”.
Rode on the pavement as after a car overtook me at speed I decided it wasn’t worth my life to be on the road. — easthammerithome, via Instagram
I’m not able to use the greenway currently while diversion is so bad, & it’s my route to work. Come on @NewhamLondon when will there be some action on the ETO? —@helencbaron via Twitter
Thank you for your work on this. It’s so dangerous. Everytime I’ve used it I’ve been overtaken by a car on the blind hill. —@cattleprod via Twitter
The diversion onto Abbey Road is a death trap. I fear for my life everyday and have been trying hard to find another diversion that is safer. There is nothing. Abbey Road MUST be closed to cars or the Greenway is opened again. Sadly, it will only be a matter of time before there is a serious accident 🙁 —@NewMobile-p1q via Youtube
Was almost hit twice just cycling over the bridge in the rain! This really needs to be addressed urgently before someone is killed. —sophieabreu via Instagram
There’s inconvenience, and there’s real risk of injury or death. Cars get one, bikes get the other. —@Moondoox_ via Youtube
What you can do
We encourage you to complain to Thames Water quoting ref BB00472913, and copy your local councillors in too (find out who they are here.) They finally appear to be waking up to the risk of reputational damage to themselves and their contractors from the poorly-managed closure of the Greenway. We need to keep the pressure on, because we think they can and should be doing more than they are. The more people tell Thames Water how this is affecting their day-to-day lives, the stronger our voice is.
Thank you for raising your concerns with elected representatives. Two elected representatives were present at our meeting with Newham Council, and they spoke about the very powerful stories that they had received from local residents. Sir Stephen Timms MP and Uma Kumaran MP have also emailed Newham Council about the correspondence that they had received from constituents.
What needs to happen now
Newham Council needs to complete the delivery of the ETO to close the Abbey Road bridge to motor traffic. We expect them to make sure this happens as soon as is legally possible, i.e. by 31st October.
Thames Water needs to pay Newham Council’s expenses in making the Abbey Road diversion safe for walking and cycling. Agreeing to fund traffic calming on Abbey Road is better than nothing, but it’s nowhere near enough to make the diversion safe. TW should also contribute to the capital cost of advertising the ETO, installing enforcement cameras, and any longer-term solution such as cycling infrastructure on the bridge or a diversion via Crows Road.
Going forward, Thames Water needs to recognise the importance of the Greenway to the community and change their processes so that nothing like this happens in future years. We have been frustrated that Thames Water appears to treat the Greenway as an amenity, i.e. a “nice to have,” rather than as public infrastructure that is as important to people’s daily business as the sewer pipes running underneath it.
