Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

Back to news
news
Urban
Richmond roundabout redesign has 'no significant safety benefit' for cyclists, campaigners sayManor Circus Junction Map

Richmond roundabout redesign has 'no significant safety benefit' for cyclists, campaigners say

Transport for London could do more to improve junction where cyclists was killed this year, says councillor and campaign group
by Sarah Barth
Sun, Oct 19, 2014 19:55
10

A dangerous junction in Richmond will not be improved enough in proposed Transport for London (TfL) works, campaigners and a local councillor have claimed.

In the 36 month period to October 2013 there were three pedestrian collisions at the Manor Circus roundabout, three incidents - one fatal - involving cyclists and three involving motorcycles.

In total 15 collisions occurred at or on the approach to the roundabout during this period - leading TfL to consult on plans to improve safety there.

Earlier this year we reported how a cyclist died from injuries sustained when he was hit by a refuse lorry at the roundabout.

The victim, 40-year-old Henry Lang from Twickenham, was taken by air ambulance to the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel but died there of head injuries.

All the road crossings at the roundabout are zebra crossings, meaning cyclists are supposed to dismount to use them.

TfL wants to replace these with toucan crossings which can be used by both cyclists and pedestrians - and some would have a wider central island.

Richmond Cycling Campaign told This is Local London that although they welcomed improvements, the plans introduced "severe disutility for pedestrians", and did not go far enough to create a safe cycling environment

An RCC spokesman said: "The introduction of on/off slips for cycling is going to be confusing for everyone involved.

"By providing the markings, it isn’t really clear where people should expect to be cycling or indeed where other road users might expect to see someone cycling."

Councillor Jean Loveland said: "The Manor Circus junction is not going to be the best for cyclists unfortunately, but we need to try to find ways to get their routes made continuous and as safe as possible."

A TfL spokesman said: "There is a growing demand to improve cycling crossing facilities across all arms of the roundabout. This can only be done through the introduction of toucan crossing facilities which link up the cycle lanes on the approaches to the roundabout.

"Our proposed changes are part of our plans to make facilities more consistent and improve continuity for cyclists along the A316.

"As part of the Mayor’s vision for cycling we want to encourage more people to cycle by making it as accessible as possible."

Make your own views known here.

Richmond
London
Roundabout
consultation
TFL
transport for london

Add new comment

10 comments

Avatar
jacknorell | 10 years ago
0 likes

The whole debate about cyclists and zebra crossings is a bit bizarre.

Get off the bike and walk it, you're now a pedestrian...

Given that I don't trust drivers to stop when I'm walking, I certainly don't when I'm cycling regardless of my speed.

Yes, I do get off the bike! On Toucan crossings as well, though I don't actually have to.

Avatar
thereverent replied to jacknorell | 10 years ago
0 likes
jacknorell wrote:

The whole debate about cyclists and zebra crossings is a bit bizarre.

Get off the bike and walk it, you're now a pedestrian...

Given that I don't trust drivers to stop when I'm walking, I certainly don't when I'm cycling regardless of my speed.

Yes, I do get off the bike! On Toucan crossings as well, though I don't actually have to.

This cycle path is meant to be an alternative to cyling in the heavy traffic on the A316. If you have to get off your bike to use the crossings it makes it useless as an alternative.

Avatar
Mystery Machine | 10 years ago
0 likes

I totally agree with thereverent's point about the crossing on Manor Road being too far south, and with timlennon's point that this will affect crossing times in a very negative way (which seemed to be one of the City's main moans about the central London cycle superhighways), and have provided this feedback in my response to the consultation.

I still don't understand what is so difficult about allowing cyclists to use zebra crossings. 'Because it's illegal' is a rubbish argument. Just change the law, FFS. Are there any good reasons why cyclists shouldn't use zebra crossings (and have priority over motor traffic) while on their bikes, as opposed to pushing them?

Avatar
bikebot | 10 years ago
0 likes

The use of the phrase Dutch "style" infrastructure, is probably the trend that's causing me the most concern. It mean compromise, and not in a the good sense of pragmatism, but in the bad sense of needing to bodge a design to fit UK traffic laws and national policies.

The particular piece of infrastructure where the word "style" keeps appearing seems to be roundabouts. Lots of boroughs are producing their own experimental designs. One will be near to me as part of the winning Kingston mini-holland bid, and I'm very curious to see what the final design for that will be. I suspect I will be complaining!

Avatar
thereverent | 10 years ago
0 likes

I live near this roundabout and pass through it on a regular basis.
The good things about this design are:
1. The replacement of the zebra crossings with toucan crossing (as at the moment it's a gamble whether cars will stop when you are on the crossing).
2. The removal of the third lane from the west approach.

The bad things are:
1. The crossing on Manor road is too far south making pedestrians and cyclists detour off a direct route.
2. The narrowing of the footpath and the turning of the cycle path into rubbish shared space on the south west side (Lower Mortlake Road).
3. Cycle path turned into rubbish shared space on the south east side (Lower Richmond Road).

The A316 is pretty unplesant to cycle along and so having a decent cycle path is important. This proposal has far too much shared space instead of proper provision.

Avatar
timlennon replied to thereverent | 10 years ago
0 likes

Replacing a zebra crossing with traffic lights is terribly retrograde: you just need to do the maths for crossing the A316 now, versus in the future: now, you might have to wait for 15 seconds to be sure the cars have stopped, in future you'll normally wait (TfL figures) from 30-60 seconds **for each light**, so on a bad day it'll take you a minute just to cross the A316.

It's hard to see how that's going to make things better for pedestrians, really.

Richmond Cycling response is Here - http://www.richmondlcc.co.uk/2014/10/16/manor-circus-a316-consultation/ - by the way.

Avatar
thereverent replied to timlennon | 10 years ago
0 likes
timlennon wrote:

Replacing a zebra crossing with traffic lights is terribly retrograde: you just need to do the maths for crossing the A316 now, versus in the future: now, you might have to wait for 15 seconds to be sure the cars have stopped, in future you'll normally wait (TfL figures) from 30-60 seconds **for each light**, so on a bad day it'll take you a minute just to cross the A316.

It's hard to see how that's going to make things better for pedestrians, really.

Richmond Cycling response is Here - http://www.richmondlcc.co.uk/2014/10/16/manor-circus-a316-consultation/ - by the way.

A straight acrossing toucan crossing would be better as I've put in my feedback to the consultation, the problem with the zebra crossing now is far to often cars won't stop (mostly on the exit from the roundabout).

Avatar
truffy | 10 years ago
0 likes

So many circuses in London, no wonder the road system's run by clowns.

Avatar
rogermerriman replied to truffy | 10 years ago
0 likes

Ooh well played!

Avatar
rogermerriman | 10 years ago
0 likes

Henry Lang died at Richmond Circus, these proposals are for Manor Circus which is the next roundabout along.

Latest Comments