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Camden Council cracking down on bike lane parking bike lane

Camden Council cracking down on bike lane parking

Council is also doubling capacity on one of London's busiest bike routes ...
by Laura Laker
Sun, Aug 16, 2015 14:46
12

Camden Council is stepping up enforcement on one of its busiest cycle routes to stop vehicles using it for loading during peak hours - and is due to double capacity on one of London's busiest segregated cycle routes.

The mandatory cycle lane on Tottenham Court Road, lies at the end of the council's busiest segregated cycle track on Torrington Place, which is due to be doubled in width for a trial period starting this month.

After a number of vans were spotted by Fitzrovia News using the narrow lane to unload during its hours of operation, forcing cyclists out into four lanes of traffic the council agreed to step up enforcement of the lane.

In response to concerns raised by Fitzrovia News, a Camden Council spokesperson said: “At this location in Tottenham Court Road there is a waiting and loading restriction in place that is operational between the hours of 8:30am and 6:30pm, Monday to Friday. If vehicles are seen parked here during these hours and no exemption exists, enforcement action will be taken."

The spokesperson said thanks to the Deregulation Act, 2015 -  in fact, to a clause introduced by former Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Eric Pickles - councils can no longer enforce parking contraventions using CCTV.

The spokesperson added: “Nevertheless, in light of the concerns raised our contractors have been asked to monitor the location more closely over the coming weeks”.

Tottenham Court Road is getting a £25m revamp to tie in with an anticipated influx of visitors when Crossrail opens in 2018, but a trial is now scheduled to expand the busy Torrington Place route this month.

Designs for the temporary experiment for Torrington Place and Tavistock Road show the current two-way segregated cycle track made one way, with a new bike lane protected by a temporary barrier replacing a traffic lane in the other direction. Two wat parts of this busy, at times heavily trafficked, route will be made one-way for motor vehicles. 

Cllr Phil Jones, cabinet member for transport, shared an infographic showing that although cycles are 43% of traffic on the route, they currently get just 13% of the space.

Improvements to Tottenham Court Road have been heavily criticised as, with the equivalent of five traffic lanes of space, designers claimed there was no room for a dedicated bike route, instead cyclists coming off the Torrington/Tavistock Place route will share the lane with buses, taxis and, outside of business hours (8am-7pm Monday-Saturday), private cars too.

segregated bike lanes
Camden
Laura Laker

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.

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12 comments

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Olionabike | 9 years ago
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I commute up TCR and hadn't actually noticed a cycle lane under all the vehicles.

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a1white | 9 years ago
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I cycle along that part of Tottenham court road every day, and nearly every day there are vehicles parked in it. What is the point in having parking and loading restrictions if they are just ignored? Presently that is a pointless cycle lane as it always blocked, streams of cyclists are forced out into very busy traffic. The police aren't doing anything to prevent this at the moment. This was the scene this morning. 3 vans parked in a row, all illegally.

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sean evans | 9 years ago
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That guy in his work clothes riding an sworks on zipp wheels LOLLLLL.

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hampstead_bandit | 9 years ago
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Well the interesting thing in Camden is it seems someone at the local authority is making moves to improve cycling, we've had recent rebuilding works by Kings Cross (near Somers Town) and opposite Kings Cross train station.

However, without a concrete barrier to physically prevent them, it seems certain motorists and companies could care less about the thick white line denoting a permanent cycle lane

This "Loomis" security vehicle is regularly parked on the permanent cycle lane going up Pentonville Road- also a "Red Route" (i.e. no stopping at any time) causing cyclists to swerve out into busy traffic which is usually buses and cars speeding.

//ep1.pinkbike.org/p6pb12572620/p5pb12572620.jpg)

If anyone from the local authority sees this article, please send your enforcement team down there;)

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jasecd replied to hampstead_bandit | 9 years ago
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Different authority I imagine - probably Islington Council.

Annoys the hell out of me that you never see red routes enforced and now it emerges you can't use CCTV to catch certain offences.

As for Loomis it's pretty clear their drivers value the collection of cash over the safety of cyclists.

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atgni replied to jasecd | 9 years ago
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jasecd wrote:

As for Loomis it's pretty clear their drivers value the collection of cash over the safety of cyclists.

They are trying to limit the exposure time that the guy carrying the cash box has to getting violently robbed. I think I'd rather cycle round a parked van, than walk 100 yards carrying a cash box on Pentonville Road myself. Given the relative risks I think these guys might have a vaguely reasonable reason to stop there briefly. Much in the same way that I take the lane at pinch points.

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jasecd replied to atgni | 9 years ago
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@atgni

I completely disagree - they shouldn't be allowed to deliberately and repeatedly disregard the law like this. From the picture the van has crossed a solid white line, is parking in a cycle lane and is stopped on a red route - three separate offences.

If the risk of being violently robbed is so significant why is there no legal exception that allows them to park like this?

I don't buy the argument that the supposed increased risk of being robbed should take precedence over the actual risk of making cyclists move out in to two lanes of fast flowing and often aggressive traffic. Their behaviour makes a mockery of what little protection exists for us and undoubtedly adds to congestion for other vehicles. If businesses need to move large amounts of cash around then they should do it within the law.

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atgni replied to jasecd | 9 years ago
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jasecd wrote:

@atgni

I completely disagree - they shouldn't be allowed to deliberately and repeatedly disregard the law like this. From the picture the van has crossed a solid white line, is parking in a cycle lane and is stopped on a red route - three separate offences.

If the risk of being violently robbed is so significant why is there no legal exception that allows them to park like this?

I don't buy the argument that the supposed increased risk of being robbed should take precedence over the actual risk of making cyclists move out in to two lanes of fast flowing and often aggressive traffic. Their behaviour makes a mockery of what little protection exists for us and undoubtedly adds to congestion for other vehicles. If businesses need to move large amounts of cash around then they should do it within the law.

I agree they should do it within the law, there needs to be enforcement. My point was that in this case they are not just being inconsiderate as most obstructions are but that they do have a personal safety reason for doing this action. We do need to share the road sensibly without yet more them and us and belligerent percieved entitlement.

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VeloPeo | 9 years ago
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This is the most concerning thing. You wonder who in their right mind would introduce legislation like this until you see the phrase Eric fecking Pickles.

Quote:

The spokesperson said thanks to the Deregulation Act, 2015 - in fact, to a clause introduced by former Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Eric Pickles - councils can no longer enforce parking contraventions using CCTV

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muppetkeeper | 9 years ago
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So, to be clear, is it illegal to park in a cycle lane or not?

I don't live in Camden, but in Leeds cycle lanes are seen as off street parking.

Is it a council area by council area thing?

Confused of Yorkshire

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Cantab replied to muppetkeeper | 9 years ago
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muppetkeeper wrote:

So, to be clear, is it illegal to park in a cycle lane or not?

I don't live in Camden, but in Leeds cycle lanes are seen as off street parking.

Is it a council area by council area thing?

Confused of Yorkshire

Highway Code Rule 140 wrote:

Cycle lanes. These are shown by road markings and signs. You MUST NOT drive or park in a cycle lane marked by a solid white line during its times of operation. Do not drive or park in a cycle lane marked by a broken white line unless it is unavoidable. You MUST NOT park in any cycle lane whilst waiting restrictions apply.
Law RTRA sects 5 & 8

But as ever rules are only as good as the enforcement and as you say that, like for many traffic safety rules, is by and large non-existent. Somewhat disappointing that doing their statutory duty is a cause for celebration, but nonetheless, bravo Camden Council!

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bikebot replied to Cantab | 9 years ago
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Cantab wrote:
muppetkeeper wrote:

So, to be clear, is it illegal to park in a cycle lane or not?

I don't live in Camden, but in Leeds cycle lanes are seen as off street parking.

Is it a council area by council area thing?

Confused of Yorkshire

Highway Code Rule 140 wrote:

Cycle lanes. These are shown by road markings and signs. You MUST NOT drive or park in a cycle lane marked by a solid white line during its times of operation. Do not drive or park in a cycle lane marked by a broken white line unless it is unavoidable. You MUST NOT park in any cycle lane whilst waiting restrictions apply.
Law RTRA sects 5 & 8

But as ever rules are only as good as the enforcement and as you say that, like for many traffic safety rules, is by and large non-existent. Somewhat disappointing that doing their statutory duty is a cause for celebration, but nonetheless, bravo Camden Council!

I've long wished that there was someway of enforcing all of rule 140, not just the limited enforcement of mandatory lanes.

As it is, the definition of "unavoidable" seems to be any walking at all. We're surrounded by main roads that have bicycles lanes with cars parked in them, most of which could have been parked in side roads less than 50m away.

As a piece of guidance, it's completely and near universally ignored.

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