Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Is Cycling as Mass Transport on its Way to Haringey?
Image: Courtesy of Skycyle - published under fair use
With bikes now accounting for 24 per cent of all road traffic in central London during the morning peak and 16 per cent across the whole day, TfL's new Cycling Design Standards Policy has declared that cycling is to be considered mass transport in London. How quickly will this translate into the Haringey context?
The TfL policy begins with the words “Cycling is now mass transport and must be treated as such”. The effect of the policy means that councils in London are now starting require developers to integrate this approach into their development plans. A growing number of high profile examples are regularly cited.
I wonder how this policy is being translated into the local context, across Haringey in general, but more specifically within Harringay. Is it part of the requirements being placed on the St Ann's developers or those planning the huge development by Hornsey Station? Does anyone know?
Whether Haringey is at the cutting edge or trailing behind, what seems almost certain is that we can expect some Amsterdamification over the coming years. Transport for London figures show that cyclists now make 570,000 trips in London every day compared with 290,000 trips in 2001. And, looking ahead, the mayor’s “cycle vision” aims to sustain the cycling boom by increasing cyclist numbers by 400 per cent from 2001 to 2026.
Over the coming few years, a tube network for the bike is envisaged with the development of a system of Dutch-style bike lanes and in n 2016, an east-to-west "cycling crossrail" will open.
More locally, the Cycle Enfield scheme, also known as 'mini-Holland', saw Enfield Borough Council gain £30million from London Mayor Boris Johnson to improve cycle lanes in the borough.
It may well be that we'll begin to see things changing in Haringey soon too. New Council traffic supremo Stuart MacNamara is a keen cyclist and has been spending time looking at how cycling provision can be improved in the borough. As a man with something of a reputation for putting action above political gaming, those in the know are allowing their expectations to to see change coming.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by StephenBln on
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Hi Billy,
yes, I have on a few occasions (different operators) and I found the ride quality to be very good (better than on traditional vehicles). On the other hand, the windows are small, positioned quite low and tend to make one feel like a giant. I am only about 1,73m.
Most of anything inside is plastic, so I feel on the whole that they are way overpriced. Especially expensive are the rounded glass windows. Which are not really necessary, just cost a lot. Now I would have thought that this 'extravagance' in the public sector would surely go against your political convictions.
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Now this is totally OT, but I don't where else to post it.
Electric HGVs on motorways on a test and validation motorway in Germany. https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10153096830367112&set=vb.7...
Of course, just a fiction at the moment. But it's an important development on the road to diesel free goods traffic.
I haven't been able to find it as openshare anyway - so only available for those with FB accounts.
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Permalink Reply by Robert Pike on
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But in those cities - Ferrara, Parma, Copenhagen...etc - the preference for moving short distances has led to a greater concentration of development at the heart of the city with higher density living close to brilliant amenity. Generally the urban development of British towns has been to push more and more into suburbs, favouring the car, leading to less take up of cycling.
However in London maybe the concentration is there but the streets are not as friendly for pedestrian or cycle movement over car based movement. I hope that CS mark 2 does learn and create a better space.
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Permalink Reply by LSquared on
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Even more key is the recognition that there is no such thing as a cyclist, or a pedestrian, or a driver. There are just people using a particular mode of transport at a point in time. Thinking about what cyclists might need vs drivers or drivers vs pedestrians creates false distinctions. Thinking about what people actually need creates flow.
http://www.peopleforbikes.org/blog/entry/how-smart-language-helped-...
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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No, these lanes will only be above existing railway lines. They will be 20m wide and designed to perform the same function as the trains that run underneath them, transporting people quickly to the back of a mainline railway station. This will appeal to many people who currently do not cycle and it will therefore increase the number of cyclists in central London. There will presumably be knock on effects for other parts of London touched by access to the skycycle network, just as there was with the railways.
It's not a cycle lane in the sky because cyclists have been naughty, it is a public transport solution.
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People asked the same questions about the tube with regard to how you get down there. Apparently engineers have it mostly sorted. Certainly for a few spots you'd start higher than the required height over the railway anyway.
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This was an alternative that appeared in the architectural press last week. Discussed here in the Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/feb/05/bike-paths-abandoned-...
To answer your question Hugh large scale developments in London must make allowance for cycle parking for residents and for visitors with provision set out in the London plan. Can't remember what the figure is on a project I am working on in London but significant secure stores are provided in the flats and sheds are provided in the gardens of the houses. It is important also as this gives credits towards the BREEAM rating and the Code for Sustainable Homes assessment. This would be the case for the new developments in St Ann's.
Would love to see St Ann's Road in its new 20mph guise narrowed, with pavements increased with integrated segregated cycle path, with better cycle facilities on the fringe of Chestnuts Park. It is good to see the bike hangers on the street too. Great idea.
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It's just a way to monetise those currently abandoned tunnels. SkyCycle is for people living in commuterland, not walking these distances.
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That's why very little secure bike parking has been included in the plans for the redevelopment of Tottenham Hale station NOT despite the fact that it is due to become a major interchange!!!
Furthermore, the storage facilities are severly lackiing in that they tend to be tick box add ons in insecure communal locations in the buildings. What is needed is ground floor accessible but private storage for, inter alia, prams and bikes so that families can live in the new apartment homes in a more densely built up London. But the politicians and planners are all selling out to developers profit mongering and we are building problems into London's future by not dealing with what people really need - practical solutions to denser but more apartment based but pleasant city centre living.
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Harringay is very bad for cycling. Due to the train lines you're pretty constrained on the North/South routes.
You either have the traffic choked Green Lanes, which is either full of crawling cars in peak hours or parked cars outside of those, or Wightman Road which could be held up as an illustration as to how not to design a road for cycling with its variety of pinch points. It's telling that most cyclists I speak to still opt for Green Lanes over Wightman Road.
I have no real expectation of this improving in the near future. The recent Green Lanes refurb made it clear that the car was king on Green Lanes (as did the local elections) due to the strange idea that the only way anyone visits the shops or restaurants is by car. The space is certainly there to make the area a lot more cycle friendly but it's clear that there is no will to do this.
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Permalink Reply by Alison P on
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I agree with Andrew - cycling is pretty bad in Harringay. I've not been cycling for about 6 months and have got out the habit - I will start again but for sure the worst part of the journey will be the first bit, jostling for space on Wightman Road between the speeding cars and the traffic islands. The only way to improve things would be to do something differently on either Wightman Rd or Green Lanes and I've got no sense at all of any appetite for this to happen.
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