Brent Cyclists response 28 November 2016

This is the response from Brent Cyclists, the local group in Brent of the London cycling Campaign. We represent approximately 200 LCC members who live in Brent, and we also aim to represent the interests of all who cycle, or wish to, in Brent. We have discussed details of this scheme at our meetings and on electronic and social media.

We welcome this scheme; however, we wish to point out two areas where the design may be problematic.

Firstly, on the south side of Carlton Vale, east of Fernhead Road, we have doubts that the painted mandatory cycle lane with parking outside it will be respected. We think parking may occur in the lane, or overlap into it without some physical separation. We would suggest either more orcas, or this lane raised to half pavement height.

Secondly, the design of the junction with Fernhead Road is not quite satisfactory, as cars stopped at the stop line would obstruct the passage of westbound cyclists into the section of stepped cycle track. We suggest the stop line needs to be further south, and we would like a clearly marked cycle lane here, clearly continuous with the stepped track. A speed table on the end of Fernhead Road could be considered to re-enforce cycle priority.

We would prefer a 20mph limit everywhere in this scheme, in accordance with our usual policies, and we would prefer the semi-segregation to be as continuous as possible, considering that Carlton Vale is quite a busy road, and the aim is a scheme that makes it suitable for schoolchildren cycling. It is not clear that there is not the capacity for a slightly wider, eastbound, orca-separated cycle lane on the part of Carlton Vale adjacent to the roundabout, if there were not an attempt to fit in three south and west-bound general lanes, plus hatching, for a short stretch. We suggest there is not that much southbound traffic heading for Kilburn Lane and Fernhead Road that their lanes could not be combined up to the point at which they are split by an island, thus liberating width.

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on this scheme.

Background

The result of a long-term campaign by Brent Cyclists, we believe this scheme will be a big change for the better on this road.

The consultation is here (closed 28 November 2016). The main elements are cycle tracks protected by Orcas on both the north and south sides of the part of the road in Brent. These feature bypasses of the bus-stops, and there are also new parallel cycle and pedestrian crossings to enable easy two-way cycling between Salusbury Road and Carlton Vale, without having to negotiate the Premier Corner gyratory (by Queens park Station).

Here is the road at present compared to what it should look like after the changes.

A part of the road on the south side is in Westminster, and the parts of the scheme in Westminster are less satisfactory than those in Brent.

We  asked people to respond to the consultation , and to ‘agree’ to the proposals and suggest additionally the following improvements:

1.  Orcas to be used on the south side of Carlton Vale in the Westminster section where there is only a painted mandatory cycle lane shown, to prevent cars parking on the cycle lane, or a raised cycle track there instead
2. The stop line in Fernhead Road to be moved back so that cars stopped there do not obstruct access to the stepped cycle track, and possibly also a table to be installed over the end of Fernhead Road before that stop line to re-enforce the cycle priority
3. The Orcas on the north side to start further west