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Portsmouth Road cycle lane - Kingston Mini HollandKingston's Portsmouth Road cycle tracks finally complete
A new cycle route, two years in the making, finally opened this week.
The final touches were added to the 1400m fully segregated riverside route, on Portsmouth Road in Kingston upon Thames on Tuesday, one of six routes planned as part of the borough’s £30m “Mini Holland” programme.
Although there is a “shared space” section beside a zebra crossing, and the junctions are slow to navigate, campaigners say designs are the best option for the route and have been improved almost beyond recognition from their early incarnations.
Kingston overhauls Mini Holland plans after criticism
Kingston Cycling Campaign Co-ordinator, Jon Fray, told road.cc: “Kingston Cycling Campaign is pleased we have got proper segregation pretty much all the way along”.
“I think [the council] have done just about the best they can do.”
Kingston council faced backlash after its original designs were little more than advisory bike lanes - as Fray puts it “white lines separating bikes from traffic”. After more than 700 people responded to a consultation on the scheme, many calling for better protection for people on bikes, the council increased the segregated portion of the route from 20 per cent to 85 per cent.
Fray said pedestrian crossings and narrow road width limited the council’s options for the route, other than a small amount of “shared space” with pedestrians. He said once the adjacent riverside path is reopened, many people will use that.
He said most of the route is not shared space, though that isn’t always clear from designs. “The design changes along the length. At the narrowest point the track is not a thing carriageway height, it is at footway height. This may cause some confusion because people may think it's footway but it is actually intended to be 'cycles only' and is signed as that, not as shared.
“By the junction with Woodbines Ave there is a bit of shared use, but with the crossing there and access to the riverside that doesn't seem unreasonable.”
“Part of it was opened in the summer and there was some aggro between drivers being aggressive for cyclists not using the very short bit of cycle track, but it wasn’t continuous and you had to cross traffic to get to it, so we are hoping people will make use of it. It’s certainly better than what we had before.”
Kingston cyclists unimpressed with Mini Holland plans
The previous advisory cycle lane was less than half a metre wide and disappeared at the narrowest parts of the road.
A council spokesperson told road.cc: “The developments are aimed at relieving the pressure of a growing population on the borough’s transport network by providing new facilities for cycling and walking, while improving road safety and public spaces.”
“The two-way segregated cycle lane on Portsmouth Road is nearly 1.4 km long. It follows the recommended minimum width set out in TfL’s London Cycle Design Standards, which is three meters wide, allowing for comfortable use by all types of bicycles, less confident riders, and the increasing number of bicycle users that will come with population growth.”
One local cyclist has filmed the entire route, and has highlighted some issues with the designs.
David Williams says in one direction, travelling on the same side of the road as the cycle route, is simple. However, he says, the opposite direction is less straight forward because cyclists need to cross the road twice, to enter and exit the cycle lane.
He says: “This hasn't been thought through as well as it could have. Riders are expected to mount the pavement with a sharp left and use the tiger crossing. You could just signal right and cross the traffic if you felt confident.
“Coming off the other end is more complicated. There are toucan crossing and you are expected to mount the pavement, in practical terms most cyclists will leave the cross and join the carriageway. I am told there is a full red phase where cyclists could cross in any direction. It would be nice to have some green cycle lights to show when this is.”
Consultations on schemes covering Kingston Station, Wheatfield Way, Surbiton to Kingston and Fountain Roundabout took place in the summer.
Now, consultations on three further cycling routes are open, and end on 17 November - from Kingston to Kingston Vale, New Malden and Tolworth.
The Kingston Vale route is 2.5 miles long, linking a local hospital, a university and Richmond Park. A mixture of kerb protection, “quietways” on low traffic streets, and shared space with pedestrians will be used.
Money was awarded three Mini Holland schemes in outer London in March 2014, intended to become a showcase of town centre streets, which prioritised people moving by bike and on foot over motor traffic.
Laura Laker is a freelance journalist with more than a decade’s experience covering cycling, walking and wheeling (and other means of transport). Beginning her career with road.cc, Laura has also written for national and specialist titles of all stripes. One part of the popular Streets Ahead podcast, she sometimes appears as a talking head on TV and radio, and in real life at conferences and festivals. She is also the author of Potholes and Pavements: a Bumpy Ride on Britain’s National Cycle Network.
Latest Comments
- Homebaker 3 min 33 sec ago
Oh you can't block roads, what if I need to drive my elderly aunt to the emergency hospital, and even though there are better routes, I want to go...
- chrisonabike 8 min 27 sec ago
Surely that's "these drivers pulling out of driveways over a footway or cycle path (who just won't look - or not in both directions) - are a...
- chrisonabike 1 hour 30 min ago
Tier scooters - When visiting Keynsham I found several apparently dumped (not all at once - could have been the same ones? )...
- mdavidford 1 hour 35 min ago
The answer to this is to have no friends.
- Backladder 3 hours 28 min ago
While original sash windows are nice they make it very hard to keep the house warm, we eventually went for upvc double glazed sash window...
- Andrewbanshee 4 hours 51 min ago
As you said the pedals will be hidden anyway. My shoes, 3 pairs of them, have reflective strips on the heel and my winter trousers do too on the...
- Steve K 4 hours 52 min ago
Other drivers only care about disabled people when it gives them a way to object to cycling infrastructure.
- mark1a 12 hours 56 min ago
I'll put you down as a no then.
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48 comments
I'm happy with the term pragmatic, because as a political position it is the opposite of dogma which is one that refuses to accept any compromise, even when most aims would still be met.
The kingston proposals looks pretty decent, but I'm worried about the parking bays that are placed alongside the one-way segregated tracks - door zone issues.
It looks mostly very good, and a great step forward for Kingston.
However it's already full of leaves, how often are these segragated lanes maintained, swept and kept clean? My experience in Cambridge is that they're simply not, and once they're full of debris will be just as unpleasant as the roads.
Echoing the pleas to fill in the consultations, ideally with strong support for the schemes but specific comments around shared space.
There are two secondary schools at the Kingston end of two of the routes. The schemes need to be good enough to ensure all pupils can ride to school.
It should be added that the new schemes are a massive improvement over earlier designs. Seems that they are learning and listening to feedback.
All fair points well made. We'll continue to ride down Maple Road and other parallel side roads when en route to Thames Ditton as it's clearly not for us of a weekend.
Mostly brilliant. I rode the segregated section before it opened and it was a wonderful experience being separate from the cars, just as the lady in the picture is clearly demonstrating.
The northern section where the route approaches the town was always going to be a compromise but at least they haven't given up entirely and thrown you back into the motor traffic.
Despite some of the less then perfect details this is nonetheless a huge step-change for a UK cycle route and we need to get across the message that that we need more of this (only better).
Minor point, but do they really need bollards in the middle of the bi-directional path? Someone is bound to ride into them.
Genuine question: what's wrong with a nice wide road with nice smooth tarmac and proper parking regulations? Sorry to be negative, but this looks dreadful. I grew up around KoT and know this area well. It was wide enough to not need any pedestrian/cyclist shared space bullshit and the both-bike-lanes-on-the-same-side-of-the-road cack.
Horrid and bound to antagonise pedestrians, cyclists and motorists alike.
Road.cc get it, they left a subtle hint. I'll just put this down here.
There's nothing wrong with a "nice wide road with smooth tarmac and proper parking regulations". The problem is with inconsiderate and dangerous drivers who pass cyclists too closely, pull out of side roads in front of cyclists, and those who use inappropriate speed. Before this scheme the narrow advisory cycle lanes were not even the whole length of the road and just disappeared at the narrowest section by St Raphael's church. The speed camera is there because of the speeding problem. Narrowing the carriageway, installing speed tables and more pedestrian crossings will have reduced vehicle speed.
The problems posed by bad drivers haven't put some people off cycling - sports/ leisure cycling seems to be booming - but still not enough people cycle for transport. People drive short distances in Kingston and Surbiton with the resulting traffic congestion and air pollution. To date not enough people have considered that it is safe enough for them to consider cycling as a viable option. The Portsmouth Road cycle track is a start in addressing that problem.
It is planned to have a Thames-side cycle route from the northern end of this cycle track towards Kingston bridge. That provides some context for having a bi-directional track on the river-side of the road. Also, by having the track on the opposite side from the side road junctions there is reduced likelihood of cyclist-vehicle collisions.
The photo shows the result of a collision last year before the scheme was built.
IMG_1582.JPG
Thanks for explaining that. It will be wonderful to be have a riverside cycle path (provided it's done well...).
This gives some ideas about how it should be done:
https://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/2013/09/19/submerged-bicycle-bridge-in-haarlem/
is proving massively popular in central London.
I just looks like a pavement.
Shouldn't that be, "I just look like a pavement"?
I've strongly supported all three, I am not suggesting you don't but if no one tells them they're ballsing it up again how else will they know.
Interesting to see James Berry's waffle through the doors on the Fountain Roundabout reads as 'we coudn't divert the mini holland cash to stuff more motor capacity in so we need give up'
Some of the routes have bidirectional cycle paths in the plans. There is space to make them one directional particularly as they are removing bus lanes and/or narrowing pavements.
If you are local to the area and know which sections they are it is worth commenting about why those bits are not acceptable especially if you are aware of how you or other people in the area use them.
And don't forget to tell the council that their three new sets of plans have tons of shared space tripe, no floating bus stops and need to be delivered in more timely fashion.
In addition, also highlight their dogs dinner of the Fountain Roundabout design which has been canned and probably abandonned as the council were kowtowing to motorists. Finally, worth mentioning whether the council blocking fillthathole or fixmystreet submissions and then dodging giving ansers about it is a deliberate move to curtail their liability for causing injuries to road users, especially given they are the lowest rated london borough for fixing street faults.
Nothing wrong with criticising the issues, but don't just criticise. All the council will do first of all is look at the numbers. If it isn't supported, a scheme either gets scrapped or most attention will be given to the anti-cycling comments. If you want your criticisms listened to, you have to support the overall scheme (see http://road.cc/content/news/146624-kingston-overhauls-mini-holland-plans...)
And no need to revisit the Fountain Roundabout. It's as dead as the Norwegian Blue.
Just to repeat something from the article, next consultations end in one week November 17th
There's more good than bad in these three schemes (you won't be the first person to comment on the roundabout...).
http://consult.kingston.gov.uk/portal/planning/go/go_cycle_october_2016/gckv
http://consult.kingston.gov.uk/portal/planning/go/go_cycle_october_2016/gcnm
http://consult.kingston.gov.uk/portal/planning/go/go_cycle_october_2016/gct
If you're local, fill them in, you don't need to answer every question to support them. The greater the level of support, the stronger case there is to argue for improvements, and there is local opposition arguing for them to be watered down or scraped.
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