Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

FINSBURY PARK | Festival of cycling | Sunday 15th

Haringey Council, in partnership with Hackney and Islington, are holding a festival of cycling in our park.

Bike Week 14-22 June

Fun bikes
Cycle races
BMX displays
Scooter training
Organised cycle ride
Bike security marking
Cycle your own smoothie
Free giveaways for cyclists
Dr Bike maintenance checks on your bike
All-ability cycling with Pedal Power Cycling Club

SUNDAY 15th June | 12 noon to 6 PM

To find out more about cycling in Haringey, call

020 8489 5351

or visit:

www.haringey.gov.uk/cycling

Clive Carter
Cllr., Highgate Ward

Tags for Forum Posts: Finsbury, Park, cycling, festival

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Grant on June 6, 2014 at 17:11

Clive, this isn't the first Festival of Cycling the council have been involved in. My impression of the council is that they are looking for something (anything!) to spend the last of the 'Biking Borough' money on. I'd be quite happy for the promotional feelgood campaigns to occur, if the council were also doing the things that are actually proven to enable more people to cycle. It is a token gesture, so they can claim to be 'doing something' without actually doing anything at all.

Congratulations on your new role, I hope you'll take every opportunity to remind Labour of their manifesto commitment to make Haringey the most walking and cycling friendly borough in London. All but one of our neighbouring boroughs either has higher cycle use already or is making ambitious plans to catch up, so there is a lot of work to do.

Perhaps the council are wedded to income from motor vehicles, but such economics does not, I suspect, include the many negative externalities of motor vehicle use. The economic case for active travel is pretty robust (£2.2bn in London, according to this report), the longer the council continue to avoid making the changes necessary to make streets people friendly, the longer we all miss out on these savings.

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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on June 6, 2014 at 18:57

What is needed is joined-up thinking: including joined up cycle lanes.

Cycle Lanes: Cnr. Stroud Green & Woodstock Roads.

ONE of the best examples of the appearance of spending up a small (cycling) budget for the sake of it can be seen at the corner of Stroud Green Road and Woodstock Roads. Here an elaborate two-lane cycle route wraps around a corner in short, tortuous 'S' shape – all to little purpose.

I have no idea how much it cost, but this exercise probably allowed a tick box alongside monies recorded as having been spent on cycling initiatives.

Although some cyclists use the lanes on either side of the road under the railway bridge, I've yet to see a cyclist using the "lanes" on this corner.

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Permalink Reply by tigha on June 6, 2014 at 20:21

talking about cycle lanes, the only ones i have seen in the last 20y, I have lived and cycled in the borough, are these useless ones you see at the end of endmiyion road, or as you show in the above photo

the only decent nearby cycle lane is on green lanes up towards manor house and that was thanks to hackney council

Rubbish - green lanes has been made narrower, with the pavement wider, how can that help us poor already crushed cyclists-so so dangerous

and yes as far as I remember there was a cycling festival last year in finsbury park- great I love therm, but dont any part of the council think they are doing good for cycling- its just fun

making the roads safer is what helps us

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Permalink Reply by Grant on June 6, 2014 at 21:01

'Alibi facilities', I believe they are called ( http://www.madegood.org/bikes/magazine/alibi-facilities/)

Haringey needs a joined-up network of routes of a consistent quality, going places where people want to go. And it's not all about cycle lanes - measures such as through traffic removal from residential areas can make places better for everyone (especially children), as well as people on bikes

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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on June 6, 2014 at 22:05

Grant, thanks for the link. I hadn't heard before of the term Alibi Facility, but it seems to fit those lanes on the corner.

An additional factor there may be that the corner lanes are on a Borough border – typically Councils are reluctant to spend money close to borders where benefit may leach out into Foreign Territory.

My impression is that there are broadly three classes of road user:

First Class: full-fare, taxed vehicles that enjoy full-service from the authorities; even in Haringey, in some places, motorway size/style interchanges are provided;
Business: pedestrians and the disabled. Footpaths are normally provided alongside most roads. Pedestrian crossings are often provided where needed, sometimes with button controls;
Economy: low-rent cyclists; not taken seriously enough. These folk seem to get the scraps of what is left after accommodating the first two groups, that between them, tend to squeeze out Space for Cycling.

Even between the first two groups, there can be tension for width of space. We need dedicated cycle lanes, but where are they to go?

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Permalink Reply by 26mhcx4vtb0rb on June 6, 2014 at 22:53

You don't necessarily need dedicated lanes to make roads safer for cycling (I'm broadly against segregation in any case). Taking Wrightman Rd as an example, what's needed there is 1.5m wide cycle lanes on either side of the road. This would make it completely obvious to motorists that anyone is absolutely entitled to ride at a reasonable distance from parked cars and not be overtaken when it isn't safe.

Those that cycle on the previously mentioned routes through Islington know how much Drayton Park benefits from this. I'd post a streetview link but the images aren't up to date.

I'd also rip out all the central reservations which cause dangerous pinch points and replace them with frequent zebra crossings.

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Permalink Reply by Grant on June 6, 2014 at 23:46

Surprised you think Drayton Park is a good example. I think it's absolute rubbish, and a classic example of a council (via Sustrans) spending over half a million quid to no discernable benefit. Kids cycling to Drayton Park school continue to use the pavement - an obvious sign that the cycle infrastructure is substandard.

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Permalink Reply by Grant on June 6, 2014 at 23:38

Space for cycling isn't all about cycle lanes. Separated space is only necessary where speed/volume of other vehicles cannot be reduced, which would be a handful of main roads in this borough. On most of those roads there is ample space for cycle lanes, it just has cars parked on it at the moment!

There's a country just across the north sea where car ownership and use is higher than here, but where anyone, including primary school age children, can cycle literally anywhere in safety. It's not a question of pitting one mode of transport against another. The roads can work better for everyone, if the political will is there to make it happen.