Cycling Embassy of Great Britain Supports LCC Blackfriars Plans

[img_assist|nid=2146|title=|desc=|link=none|align=center|width=240|height=191]

The Cycling Embassy of Great Britain wholeheartedly supports the London Cycling Campaign as it develops its plan for Blackfriars Bridge.

This from their website:

Today the London Cycling Campaign published a new design for the controversial Blackfriars junction that makes it significantly better for cycling and walking than Transport for London’s current plans.

LCC’s radically different road layout features protected cycle lanes and safe turns with cyclist-specific traffic lights, as well as convenient crossings for pedestrians.

750m2 of easily accessible public space would also be opened up outside the Unilever building for recreation or other purposes.

The layout is based on a double-T junction design that was rejected by TfL (apparently on non-technical grounds) early in the planning stage of the £550 million Blackfriars project.

It’s estimated that LCC’s new cycling-safe design would add only 1% to the cost of the three-year Blackfriars development, but could save lives and prevent serious injuries.

Two cyclists have been killed on the bridge in recent years, and several serious crashes have been reported already this year.

Urban planner Richard Lewis, who led LCC’s design team, said, “Our layout is based on continental principles, which eliminate junction conflicts that put cyclists at risk.”

LCC chief executive Ashok Sinha said, “Our visionary design provides larger and better spaces for people on bikes and on foot, but also retains bus and vehicle lanes.

“We hope these graphics stimulate debate among cyclists, pedestrians and city planners, so together we can come up with a solution that’s fit for all Londoners.

“Our city deserves to be a global leader in sustainable transport and liveable public spaces, not an also-ran.”

[img_assist|nid=2147|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=240|height=120]What LCC have put forward is a serving suggestion. But with just one image they have done more to demonstrate that London could be a more civilized, pleasant, World class city with better access for all, than Transport for London’s more hostile and dangerous effort. And that is a vision we feel is well worth supporting – a vision that can get even better as it develops further.

[img_assist|nid=2148|title=|desc=|link=none|align=right|width=240|height=120]LCC has organised a ‘flashride’ at Blackfriars when over 1000 cyclists and pedestrians are expected to call on Mayor Boris Johnson to intervene to make Blackfriars safe.
At 5.45pm this evening, [Wednesday 12 October], cyclists will assemble outside Doggetts Pub at the southern end of Blackfriars Bridge to protest against Transport for London’s lack of a people-friendly solution for the area. We urge everyone from London and its environs to support London Cycling Campaign and to have a pleasant bike ride across a bridge that could be so much better and safer for everyone that uses it.

Blog Posts

David Hembrow – Blackfriars New Design
Vole O’Speed – Let them hear your voice at Blackfriars this Wednesday
Cyclists in the City – London Cycling Campaign releases alternative vision for Blackfriars and for the whole London road network. This would be normal in most countries but Mayor’s TfL will call it ‘very ambitious’. Why exactly?
iBikeLondon – Be the change; why your help is needed on Blackrfriars Bridge
At War With The Motorist – We stand now where two roads diverge…

Articles

Evening Standard – Cyclists design ‘safer’ bridge
Guardian Bike Blog – Blackfriars junction: a redesign by cyclists, for cyclists