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news
Manor Circus Junction MapRichmond roundabout redesign has 'no significant safety benefit' for cyclists, campaigners say
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.
Latest Comments
- Bungle_52 22 min 53 sec ago
I think the petition is about building the cycle path on the other side of the hedge to the road. This of course would take away some of the...
- quiff 45 min 28 sec ago
Nope, it's really just F1. And to really get their attention, they're selling it in colours called Formula Red and Formula Blue...
- quiff 1 hour 30 sec ago
Definitely recognise this! I'm 41 with a 5 year old and am now starting to see the possibility of riding more again, but Strava tells me I have...
- brooksby 1 hour 34 min ago
"No, it's OK, really", replies cycling.
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For the purposes of investment then cycling for transport, that also keeps/get you fit should be prioritised. However, there's an argument that if...
- KDee 3 hours 5 min ago
Yeah, that fits. Already seen the helmets, shoes etc. rebrand as Trek. Scott are pretty similar with their Scott and Syncros branding.
- eburtthebike 3 hours 22 min ago
Yes, where are the same figures for drivers, Telegraph?
- Rendel Harris 4 hours 4 min ago
Well with wand protection they don't even need tools, as various idiots rapidly discovered during the pandemic in London, the wands can just be...
- Pub bike 4 hours 11 min ago
It doesn't. Here are a few more helpful suggestions to make society just work better:...
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10 comments
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.
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?
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!
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.
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).
So many circuses in London, no wonder the road system's run by clowns.
Ooh well played!
Henry Lang died at Richmond Circus, these proposals are for Manor Circus which is the next roundabout along.