Walking and cycling in outer London

I live in outer London and am a cyclist. However I am cycling less as there are many road changes taking place that narrow the roads (I am told by my local council to improve things for pedestrians) and make it more dangerous for cyclists. It also makes the areas more polluted by causing congestion.

I am shocked that London is spending lots of money on road changes whilst completely ignoring the needs of cyclists.

There are no problems in my area for pedestrians

Palmers Green North Circulars 'Main Crossing' needs upgrading urgently, diverting cycle lanes in residential roads instead is irresponsible and a huge worry.

Yes there is. The Palmers Green North Circular Crossing.

This enormous roads is scary to look at and even more scary to cross and that is why the majority in the area prefer to drive pass this crossing with their cars, which is the safety option.

This crossing discriminates against every single potential pedestrian, particularly the Elderly, Disabled, Parents/Guardians doing the school runs for schools nearby.

Essentially, it has divorced our shopping areas on the South and North of Palmers Green and this detrimental to the shop keepers.

In stead of making sure it is upgraded with Cycle Lanes and Countdown Lights, Left and Right Arrows and far better Pedestrian Bays along with Evergreen Trees and Plants such as ornamental grasses to combat the heavy Air and Noise Pollution, the Mayor of London has chosen for Enfield Council to disregard with crossing completely and arrange for Cycle Lanes to divert into residential roads instead.

Cycle Lanes in Residential Roads where most people have a car on their drive way is just clearly a thoughtless and extremely dangerous decision. Can you just imagine what it will be like if cycling became really popular and diverted all in a residential road where residents will be manoeuvring their cars off their driveways or trying to cross their road just as bikes are going pass.

Also, I thought The London Mayor was encouraging people to be pedestrians for much of their journey so why would people and cyclist wish to take the longest way to their destination which is just passed the North Circular main crossing.

I am getting rather fed up with those that supposed to be responsible for our public areas making obviously wrong decisions that will have profound and detrimental affect on the public and then utter the empty words ' We have learn from our mistakes'.

Making mistakes cost lives and is also costly in the long run.

Please Upgrade the Palmers Green North Circular Crossing and arrange for a Cycle Lane to be applied.

I don't think the problem is in difficulty of walking or cycle. For me it's simple. In Inner London you have everything very close: restaurants of all kinds, shops, tube which has service every 3 minutes. In Outer London you need 20 minutes to get to the tube station or take two buses to reach a supermarket. Another reason is a convenience of a car. In suburbs you get into your car from your doorsteps and drive faster than you'd walk. In the city you'd be at your destination by the time you go out of a multi storey car park, not to mention the traffic moves slower than you can walk.

I cycle in and around Croydon, on a variety of busy, main and residential roads. I seem to be in a minority as I don't seem to experience many of the issues that others do when cycling on our roads. The vast majority of vans, cars, buses, lorries etc. that have passed me have done so in a considerate manner. I always thank the drivers who don't zoom past at narrow places with a little wave - it seems to work. The bigger roundabouts can be daunting though. I try to avoid rush hour if possible and when I do use them, it works well to pretend I'm the size of a car and take a line in the middle of the lane (it has taken me about a year to work up to this though, it must be said).
However, what about taking on board some innovative ideas like the roundabout in Eindhoven called Hovenring? It is built specially for cyclists and 'hovers' above the traffic roundabout. I'm sure that something like this be useful at our busy junctions. Why not try one?
 
Cheerio
Grace

Barriers to cycling: lack of safe cycle routes/protected infrastructure. Where infrastructure is provided, it generally isn't of a high standard or only runs for a small part of a journey, ending at busy junctions.

Barriers to walking: traffic dominated environment, difficult to cross roads with long waits as traffic usually prioritised.

Remember that you do NOT improve the lot of cyclists simply by making local motor-journeys very unpleasant.
All you do is increase the pollution.
LBWF STILL have not got this message with their insane min-holland scheme.
Real, actual improvements for cyclists would be welcome, but the local supposed improvements for cyclists in LBWF have, if anything, made me cycle less .....
For instance, the agonising road-humps on bus routes, that are so bad for disabled people on buses ( Back & neck injuries, particularly ) can also be painful for cyclists - there are several near me, that a cyclist can only go over at less than 5 mph, or MUST "stand" on the pedals to get over in comfort!

I think the main reason why people don't walk so much in Outer London is because
- People are far more likely to own a car
- Places are much further away

I have seen current attempts by TFL to increase walking and cycling and many have been very poor.
A good example is Archway - this was pushed through despite heavy local opposition and has made matters worse. It is harder to get on and off the bus now and cycle lanes cut straight through pavements - worse for pedestrians and cyclists, the latter who need to now be very cautious of whenever a pedestrian accidentally steps in to cycle lanes that run right through the middle of the pavement.
Of course since formal completion of this a few weeks ago, TFL has made NO attempt whatsoever to consult with commuters locally as to how they actually find the new gyratory or what they can do to mend any teething problems.

Here in Bromley or in neighbouring boroughs schemes like this will be very unpopular and poorly used.

However I can easily identify numerous areas in the borough of Bromley where improved pedestrian facilities would be very welcome.
The best approach however is for TFL to allocate funds to the boroughs and for the boroughs to then fund projects. This is best as boroughs will understand the concerns of locals and would be easily able to implement these with additional cash.

Hullo there: my older friend from Malaysia is arriving on Friday and wants to visit his sister in Watford. He says he's read stories in the Guardian newspaper that the local council hates gays (he's 72 and is gay) and he's quite scared that "THEY" will attack him if he sees his sister.

She's older and quite ill, which is why he's visiting.

What official advice is there about council- sponsored gay bashing in Watford, please?

All local authorities should stop giving permissions for dropped kerbs.
I have an aunt in Manor Park whose street has been given over entirely to cars, each neighbour having installed their drop kerb as access for their cars. This has made the whole street seem like it has been given over to parking, and all the pavement has now become somewhere for cars to park, and not for people to walk.
My aunt has lots her mobility in recent years and this is in part to the pavement now given over to cars.
Another friend lives in Loughton, again every resident on her street has dropped kerbs and now the street has just become a great big car park - and yet with still no more room to park than before. This is despite being only 5 mins walk from the tube.
How can you walk safely about if the pavement is no longer safe refuge for pedestrians?

I live very close to a 'difficult junction' on a major road and therefore I can pass on my experience of what makes it difficult to walk and cycle.

The pavement is so narrow that two people can barely pass, and this is but a few hundred yards away from a major park. It doesn't feel safe to walk on with my children. I feel they could be clipped by a car at any time and we often bump into other people on this narrow path while we all avoid the traffic.

Busy junctions with lots of cars feel unsafe. If pavements are narrow then it feels like the environment is for cars, not for people.

Segregated bike lanes would make me feel separated from the traffic while I walked. If the lanes look safe enough then I may feel brave enough to cycle.
Don't forget many parents are with their children a lot of the time - if you cycle with a 10 year old then you want the whole route to be safe and segregated all the way along - not just short sections. So if you want more parents cycling their children to school - they will need safe segregated bike lanes please.

I would ask you to do some work timing older or less able people crossing the road - I would assume they would need more time.
It would be good if cameras were fitted on every junction to catch people jumping lights.
Ban noisy motorbikes in urban areas - many drive around making a lot of noise- this is threatening and unpleasant.

If you want more journeys made on foot, make pavements wider, give us lots of trees and green flower beds. Make pedestrians and cycling the priority at junctions and make us feel safe.
Finally - introduce electric tram routes on major roads e.g. Lea Bridge Rd / Forest Rd. Public transport can be poor in outer boroughs and regular efficient transport would encourage more people to walk and use public transport.

I have sight loss and find cyclists particularly difficult to see. I deeply resent them taking over the pavements where I feel pedestrians have right of way. Under 10yrs old is acceptable on safety grounds but older cyclists are hazardous to the less able.
I can be a hazard to a cyclist because they are not visible. I would like all cycles to be fitted with sparkling lights such as children have in their shoes. I'd like these to be used to highlight the shape of the cycle as viewed from the front. This illustrates my problem. I wait for a bus at the bus stop and I see a large reddish blur approaching but I don't see the thin grey line of the cycle which blends into the road colour but is too narrow a line for me to see anyway. By sticking my hand out to stop the bus an approaching cyclist swerves quickly and may hit a bump or hole in the road. Bets if the roads were well maintained but heh that's a whole other subject!

The two flyovers in East Greenwich under the A102 at Blackwall Lane and Woolwich Road are both dangerous and unpleasant for cyclists and pedestrians. The Woolwuch Road flyover was on the previous Mayor’s list of dangerous junctions to be redesigned, but this seems to have been forgotten about.

If a nicer, safer pedestrian and cycle route could be put in at the Blackwall Lane flyover, this would increase the numbers of people walking/cycling to North Greenwich station, which would relieve the overcrowding on the buses along this route.

I can't believe how confident I was to cycle several miles to school in the late 70s, that too without a helmet.
Now as an adult who normally walks to work and only cycles recreationally with a group, I cannot see myself ever feeling safe on London's roads. The only places where I feel a bit confident is where there is complete segregation from cars.
As a driver also I feel safer when cyclists and drivers are separated.