New links to the Olympic Park have opened

In time for the beginning of May bank holiday, some new links into the Olympic Park from the River Lee navigation have opened. These links might be useful for people going to the big ride on the 17th May,  if they are unable to join our feeder ride.


At Old Ford Lock, you can now get into the South Park close to the Great British Garden by the Stadium via a gentle ramp. 

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Old Ford Olympic park access

 

 

 

 


By the Copper Box Bridge across the river/canal, There is now use a zig zag ramp, (next to stairs) from The Newham side (and towpath) to the top of the bridge by the copper box, on the other side of the bridge there is a lift.

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Copper Box access

 

 

 

 


The East Marsh at Hackney is now open too, Though Eton Manor is not yet so you still have to cross busy roads between there and the North Park.

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East Marsh, Hackney

 There are still a few access routes to open, but some others should be open shortly.

 

 

 

 

Jan 2014 meeting readout

By Arnold Ridout

The majority of the meeting was dedicated to the LCC Space for Cycling campaign with the help of Amy, the LCC Actiism Co-ordinator.

Of the other matters happening:

Newham received the largest grant from the London Boroughs, of almost £1m to promote the Mayor (of London’s) Cycle Vision. This can be used for projects such as cycle parking and training. The Council are to be congratulated for achieving this. We will ask what specific projects they have have in mind.
The Council e awaiting the outcome of its excellent Mini Holland bid following presentation made last week. Fingers are crossed, but even if not successful the bid provides a blueprint for cycle improvements some of which can be funded through other sources.
The Council has taken on board our request for cycle contraflow in Godwin and Sandringham Rds. There remains some technical issues about reconsultation which may affect implementation.
We will respond to a concultation on a 20mph area around Upper St Plaistow. We will make the point that the whole borough should be 20mph (not such a radical objective these days) and the specific point that if the area around Upper St is to be made 20mph the same should apply to Upper St itself.
There were a number of volunteers to host some Dutch students on their visit to the Bow Flyover on Thursday.
We are participating in the Friends of the Greenwich and Woolwich Foot Tunnels Group. It is making headway with improvements.
We discussed the completion of CS2 at the Stratford Broadway end. It was meant to have started by now. I will enquire. There were criticisms of the work that has been done, especially the left hooks at Warton Rd/Carpenters Road/puddling and paint deterioration. These confirm an earlier post implementation audit carried out by LCC, Tower Hamlets and ourselves. I will enquire whether TfL have this.
The website is on its way despite an unavoidable delay. A twitter feed will follow. We decided to set up a new and improved Facebook account.
There was an update on the ward by ward audit for permeability measures. This is intended to identify and prioritise minor measures such as drop kerbs, signage, cycle contraflows and vehicle barriers that would improve the permeability of urban Newham for whihc existing funding on £100,000 pa is avaialble over the next three years. The Council are aiming to complete this exercise by the end of February. Two outings have been undertaken and we have lined up a group of volunteers to continue this exercise.
The first Newham Ride will take place on 15 March. It was thought that there is too long a gap before the next one in June and that a repeat of the Councillor’s ride might be a good idea.
Space for Cycling Campaign

We considered the LCC Space for Cycling Campaign for which we have been asked to identify one “ask” per ward to improve cycling. The ask should follow one of the 6 themes of the campaign.

We progressed on a number of wards and decided to bring forward our February meeting to confirm these and to decide ward asks for other wards. This meeting will take place on Monday 10 February at CoffeE7 (our usual meeting place) at 7.00pm. In the meantime please forward to me any specific cycle projects for your area which you think are important wand which we can consider for a ward ask in the campaign, particularly if it is for a ward not so far covered (see below).

it is clear that Newham is in a special position because many of the Space for cycling themes can be linked to projects found in the miniHolland bid.

Here are the outcomes.

Stratford and New Town Removal of Stratford gyratory as per the mini Holland bid but making the access streets to Stratford town centre more cycle friendly (amongst those raised at the meeting were access fro Cam Rd to the Broadway, Warton and Carpenters Rd. Comment: This accords with the “liveable town centre” theme. If the mini Holland bid is successful, including this as part of the campaign will help ensure local political support and therefore increase the chances of implementation. If that bid is unsuccessful there are many other alternative potential ward asks.

Manor Park and Forest Gate South Completion of Cycle Superhighway 2 from Stratford to Ilford. This accords with the “Protected Space for Cycling” theme and the response to the LCC survey which gave greatest priority to this theme. Again a project which is part of the min-Holland bid but which has lacked political support in the past.

Forest Gate North Removing through traffic from Woodgrange Rd, decluttering it and a 20 mph limit for necessary traffic (for deliveries or access.) Comment: This meets the “20mph” , “liveable town centres” and “roads without through traffic” themes. It is not part of the mini Holland bid. Some funding for improvements to Forest Gate town centre are contemplated from Crossrail environmental improvement money. This will need some working up in order to identify the specific measures that would achieve access only.

East Ham Central Cycle contraflow in the restricted areas of High St North and improvement of the junction with Barking Road. Comment; Accords with the “liveable town centre” and “protected space for cycling” themes.

Wall End Improve Burgess Rd by removing the mini roundabouts, ensuring 20mph along its length and replace the existing square cushion traffic calming humps which encourage speeding traffic to swerve.Comment: This meets the “20mph” theme.

Beckton Improve the Greenway link where it crosses the A13 and the section from that crossing to Gallions Reach. Comment This accords with the “quietways theme”. it could also provide a link to a prospective cycle route up the Roding Valley. Whilst part of the mini Holland bid there is also potential funding for this though a separate Quietways fund. Political support makes implementation more likely.

Canning Town North Complete the Lea Valley Path from Three Mills to the Thames in accordance with the plans originally drawn up by the late Thames Gateway Development Corporation and adopted in the mini Holland bid. This includes at least two crossings of the River Lea. Plus improve access via the Crows Rd bridge (currently closed) Comment Whilst part of the mini Holland bid there is also potential funding for this though a separate Quietways fund. Political support makes implementation more likely.
Arnold

November News Headlines

It has been an eventful time.

On 22 October a group from Hackney , Newham, Tower Hamlets and LCC headquarters carried out a ride around the Olympic Park and Westfield. A depressing exercise which confirmed the points we have been making throughout the planning process: the cycle provision could be much better; it rarely improves on the minimum laid down in planning guidance; and at times fails even to meet even these standards. Unfortunately the obduracy or Westfield and the complacency of the Olympic Delivery Authority (now transformed into the London Legacy Development Corporation) will result unnecessary expenditure of further public money bringing these brand new area up to standard. it should not have happened.

On 27 October we ran our last ride before the winter sets in – a leisurely and mostly off road ride to the RSPB site at Rainham Marsh and then up the Ingrebourne Valley to Upminister. The weather was pleasant and even the stiff breeze seemed to give us a helping hand whatever direction we cycled. We are now planning our rides for 2014.

The CS2 extension along Stratford High Street has opened (although has not yet been completed). Not perfect but one of the better cycle provisions in London. This progress was sadly marred by the tragic death of another cyclist at TfL’s ill thought through scheme at the Bow Flyover. On 15 November a group from LCC headquarters and ourselves made a post implementation study. The results will feed into our ongoing discussions with Newham Council on its excellent mini-Holland bid (for TFL funding to transform cycling in pilot areas of outer London) and no doubt into the wider Cycle Superhighway upgrading proposals.

In connection with mini-Holland bid we carried out a ride with the Council to study possible routes between Canning Town and Stratford. Whilst the crossing the District and C2C railway lines represents a real problem, the exercise demonstrated the huge potential for permeability in urban Newham – which is a key element of the bid.

We have further provided input into cycle schemes provided for Henniker Rd and Oxford Rd, Stratford; these received a sympathetic reception. We also opposed extending parking on the pavement in Katherine Road, East Ham and have been told this scheme has been abandoned.

It is evident that Newham Council, with its new approach to cycling, is working hard on the details of its mini-Holland bid. We wait in hope as success carries the prospect of transforming cycling in Newham.

28 Oct 2013 Evening Meeting

Location and time
View on Yahoo Groups
Author: Arnold, Co-ordinator.
The Rainham ride on Sunday saw a party of 6 enjoy excellent weather before the storm. In fact the blustery wind was behind us most of the way, which was just as well for the two of us who had only limited use of their gears. Large off road tracks along the Greenway, CS3, the old A13 and Rainham marshes saw us get to the RSPB cafe. After refreshment back up the Ingrebourne Valley (again off road) to Upminister to catch the train back to West Ham to batten the hatches.

Richard updated on the mini-Holland bid. The deadline for the full bid is 13 December. The Council have set up a proper governance arrangement (including political input). We have started a “snagging list” of any possible cycle improvements, particularly those that would increase permeability in “urban Newham” – however large or small, from wrong signage to the possibilities of new cycle paths. This will complement the “snagging list” for the Olympic Park and Westfield which is being started with assistance from LCC HQ, Hackney and Tower Hamlets, all of whom participated in a ride around the area last week. If you have a suggestion on how the cycle provision can be improved please let me know and I will add it to the list. A photograph would help. A list will be going to the Council by mid-November at the latest as part of our input to the mini-Holland bid, and thereafter we will keep the list updated as a point of reference. There appears a real opportunity to translate good ideas into practice.

Rob demonstrated the pilot edition of our new website, which looked very attractive and user friendly. We will play about with this and upload some content between now and Christmas. It is, of course, absolutely essential that we keep this up to date when it goes live after this. To this end we have started a rota of volunteers who will look each month and update the news page If you would like to be on that rota (which would involve updating the news page not more than three times per year) or if you have any articles that you would like to see published on the website please contact me in the first instance.

We confirmed that our ride programme for next year would comprise about 4 “Newham Rides” linked as far as possible to cycling events and starting at the View Tube, plus one per month more extensive weekend rid, plus contributing to rides organised by Tower Hamlets Wheelers, e.g. by organising a pick up point or feeder ride. For the moment we need to fix the dates for the “Newham Rides” so we can maximise the publicity. There will of course be a rides section on our website.

Good news on the Greenwich and Woolwich Foot Tunnels, on whose “Friends Group” (FOGWOFT) Mike has been representing us. It looks like Greenwich Council will now put lifts into the Woolwich Tunnel and they are prepared to deep clean both.

We have been consulted by the Council

on early consideration of a good cycle route from Canning Town to Stratford. If you would like to participate in this or have any good ideas let me know.
on changes to Katherine Rd which involve more parking on the pavement. In view of the opposition of Members to this I will be submitting an objection (again) unless I hear otherwise.

The LCC campaign focus next year is on the Local Elections. I have already circulated their call for local ward champions. If you would like to do this please let them (and me) know. I can provide further info if needed.