Today the first drop-ins started for the consultation of the C51 scheme, Hamilton Terrace section. Traffic engineers were present along with City of Westminster highways engineers.
A trickle of vocal residents came in. Some have legitimate concerns, some not so much. Like the idea that the majority of people who responded to a previous consultation were against. That is not how it works. All that proves is that you have social capital and are able to mobilise numbers of people motivated enough to object. Some of the reasons: like pedestrian safety, indicate that people have been reading too much right wing newspapers with talking points claiming that cyclists are dangerous.
This is not just a bike lane. It also comes with improvements to lighting. The avenue of trees makes many parts of the Hamilton Terrace area in the shadows at night time, even when there are no leaves, the branches are thick.
I believe that Hamilton Terrace is the obvious candidate for a low- traffic neighbourhood. It has a high volume of traffic particularly at peak times. Much of it is probably through-traffic that could be on the A5 (Maida Vale). This would make the street (Street) quiet, so that people can talk to each other, or hear other hazards going on around them and safely react. Quiet ways used to be designated and this would have been one.
One legitimate concern we all have is the traffic lights, which are TfL controlled. I believe a cycle phase would solve the problems of cyclists not obeying the lights. If the cycle goes green seconds before the car green light, that solves the problem of vans not obeying the advance stop line (known as bike box). This is because vans have a blind spot and might miss vulnerable road users at a junction.
Going back to the modal filters, I would like to see how this would work. Hamilton Terrace is obviously going to be an expensive scheme. Modal filters would provide a revenue stream to make it financially sustainable. After all, why should we pay for this through our taxes and fares?
Westminster has a huge amount of inequality and deprivation. I would like to see schemes like this linking food banks, canal tow paths, schools of all types, F.E. colleges, fast food outlets, and council estates. Not only the super- rich should benefit from this.
The modal filter would pay for the best scheme which I believe is option 3: a 2-way cycle lane in the centre.
I believe there also needs to be a lot more bike parking of all types dispersed along the route, particularly outside mansion blocks of flats.
