Cycling Embassy response to Superhighway 5 Consultation

We support the principle of the Superhighway 5 plans - providing safe, attractive conditions for cycling through this area - and would like to see them go ahead, albeit with some reservations about the details and designs of the Superhighway in a number of locations.

A general comment is that a two-way track is less than ideal, but if it has to ahead, the kerbing on both sides of the track should be forgiving, and shallow, to ensure maximum effective width. 

In Section 1, we think that - out of the options presented - the Superhighway should run on Option 1, the most direct route of the three. However, we think the proposals could be much more ambitious - either using filtered permeability to remove through motor traffic, or restricting motor traffic on Belgrave Road to one direction in areas where space is more limited, to provide more options for attractive cycling conditions.

In Section 2, we would like to see a protected left turn through the junction at Drummond Gate, with kerbing to eliminate potential conflicts with turning vehicles.

In Section 3, we have concerns about the feasibility and intuitiveness of turns on and off the two-way track, which appear to be being achieved through convoluted movements on a shared use footway. This would be an ideal location for a 'simultaneous green', bicycle- and pedestrian-only stage, which would allow people to travel in any direction, free from interactions with motor vehicles. 

We have no comments on Section 4.

In Section 5, the cycle route through the junction appears circuitous, and confusing in places. The arrangement to access Harleyford Road, in particular, needs considerable refinement, at present amounting to a messy shared arrangement on the central island. We would prefer to see clear paths for cycle traffic, both at the signals, and across this island, to reduce conflict.

In Section 6, the pedestrian crossing could run across the carriageway only, with an informal priority crossing, across the cycle track. This would reduce delay for people cycling, and would make for shorter pedestrian crossing times.

In Section 7, again, we would like to see the pedestrian crossing running across the road only. Our main concern here is, of course, that the Superhighway abruptly comes to an end!