Join our campaign for a better cycle network in the London Borough of Barnet

The Barnet Eye has long been supportive of safer cycling provision in the London Borough of Barnet. To us it seems perverse that it is now safer to cycle in central London than in our leafy suburb. The reason for this is not rocket science. It is because the Mayor of London has been proactively installing segregated cycle lanes. The Barnet Eye currently has an office near New Bridge Street. We've been based their on and off since 1986. Over the last few years, the installation of proper cycle lanes has transformed the area from a cycle free zone to a mini Tour De France on a daily basis. We shot a short film one morning to illustrate the point.

You will see a scene like this any weekday rush hour morning. In Barnet, there has been minimal commitment to make cycling safe. Sadly as we see rising teenage obesity, we see less and less children in the cuburns cycling. This is for the perfectly good reason that it is dangerous.

Installing dedicated cycle lanes is expensive and disruptive to other forms of traffic, as anyone who has seen the massive infrastructure spending on the cycle superhighway project will know. It does however pay off. Cycles use far less road space, produce no pollution and require far less space for parking. In short, you get more road for your money.

So what can be done? What practical steps could be taken in the London Borough of Barnet? We've spoken to various campaigners. At a recent council meeting, one informed us that the council hadn't even understood the meaning of key facts in its own plan!

The Barnet Eye has some suggestions. We are not experts on cycling, however expert advice is what is needed. Our first suggestion is that Barnet should appoint a cycling Tsar.This should be someone who at the very least would be able to spot the errors in the council own plans.

The second thing should be to draw up a proper Barnet plan, in conjunction with local cycling groups. One key aspect is that all large developments should have a proper cycling plan. This does not mean a few bike parking spaces. It means proper safe routes. We believe that every rail and tube station, every school, every shopping centre and every large medical facility in the Borough should have a safe dedicated cycleway. This cannot be achieved overnight, but the first step is to identify the key sites that generate journeys, then work out some sort of schedule of priorities. We need to look for a few quick wins.

My suggestion would be to transform the old, disused Mill Hill the Hale to Edgware railway into a dedicated cycleway. This would provide a safe cycling route between Edgware Station/Shopping centre and Mill Hill Broadway. We believe it should also be possible to link the route to Edgware Hospital. This would make a statement that Barnet is serious about cycling. It would link two major transport hubs, a housing estate and a hospital. We'd also like to see a Boris Bike scheme rolled out for Mill Hill Broadway, The RAF Museum, Colindale Station, Hendon Station and Middlesex University. If this could be integrated with a rollout of safe cycle lanes, then even better.

There are all sorts of other improvements that have been made in central London, with changes to traffic light configurations and timings. One of the biggest risks to cyclists are motorists opening doors in front of them. It has been suggested that part of the Highway code and driving test should be to always open the drivers door with the wrong hand (in the UK the left hand). This may sound strange but it forces you to look around.

We find it rather strange that recently we had the sad case of a cyclist hitting a pedestrian and all manner of calls for legislation. I've lost count of the number of cyclist killed or maimed by HGV's but there is never any call for changes to the law. I believe that technology is available to massively reduce the risks to cyclists of HGV's but the road transport lobby have done a wonderful job of closing down such debates.

Barnet Council launches new interactive consultation tool with cycling consulation

Barnet Council is trialling a new online tool, Geovey, to give residents, visitors and businesses the opportunity to have their say on improvements and facilities in their area.

The tool allows users to explore local areas on an online map, make comments on current suggestions and vote using a ‘thumbs up’ or ‘thumbs down’. The tool also allows users to propose new sites or facilities by dragging and dropping a pin onto a location.
As well as voting, the tool enables conversations between neighbours and communities as users are able to comment on each other’s proposals.
There are currently two topics that users can contribute to: the provision of cycle parking across the borough, and improvements to Montrose Playing Fields and Silkstream Park.
Council officers will capture the feedback from Geovey to help make decisions about the types of improvements and facilities that neighbourhoods want.

Councillor Dean Cohen, Chairman of Barnet Council’s Environment Committee, said: “We are constantly looking for new ways to improve our services and offer better ways of engaging with residents. I am looking forward to seeing the feedback we receive through Geovey, and I would really encourage those that live or work in the borough to get involved.”

The Barnet Eye is pleased that the council has opened a new channel for residents to consult with the council. There are two current topics. One is on Silkstream park and the other is on Cycling provision. My view is that cycling is a completely ignored mode of transport in the Borough and is not a safe option on many of our roads. Sadly rather than asking about how cycling can be made safer and  easier in the Borough and which road junctions etc need addressing, they are simply asking what type of cycle parking provision is most desirable. It seems to me that this is a verys adly missed opportunity to resolve a very serious issue.

To access Geovey, visit barnet.geovey.org. The tool will be trialled until autumn 2017, with further topics to be added as the trial continues.

Cycling in Barnet - The Mayors vision for cycling and Barnet

Over the last couple of days, the Barnet Eye has been investigating the role of cycling as a means of transport in the London Borough of Barnet. Over the years, I've done a fair amount of cycling around Barnet (although not much in recent years). One of my studio customers works for Boris on cycling policy and is generally quite complimentary about his attitude to cycling in London. I think she is probably spot on that he's been far and away the best ambassador for cycling in London for a very long time. Recently I was working regularly near Ludgate Circus and it is fair to say that there has been an explosion in the number of people using bikes to get around. The Boris bike initiative has certainly added impetus to this. Of all the London Boroughs, the impression I get is that Barnet has been the most resistant and at times positively hostile to cycling.


It is worth looking at the document if you are interested in the subject.

   Gla Mayors Cycle Vision 2013

It is telling that there is plenty of mention of the East - West cycle highway, however not a single mention of the North-South route. One suspects that this is a legacy of times gone by when Barnet had a completely car obsessed approach to transport. It seems there may be some green shoots of recognition that cycling has the potential to help us deal with our transport problems.

I decided to analyse some of my most regular cycle journeys in Barnet.

1. My house in Mill Hill to my Finchley Catholic High School. I used to do this regularly in my last two years at the school. I tried a variety of routes, but the quickest (and hardest) was via the Ridgway and Partingdale Lane. At the time, Partingdale Lane could be dangerous as the traffic calming measures were not in place. Cars would speed around blind bends at well in excess fo the 30 Mph limit. In the morning the hack up Wills Grove was physically tiring, but as I enjoyed building my fitness, I used to enjoy it, although as Wills Grove has an appalling road surface, this was not always fun. The traffic calming has presumably made this route slightly safer. Rating as a good method 5/5 - excellent route for cycling. Safe, no trunk routes.

2. My House to Orange Hill Senior High School, Abbots Road, Burnt Oak. This was a five minute hop and an ideal route for a cycle to school. The school closed and now forms part of Mill Hill County High. Although no further, there is not a reasonable road route to the school (as you have to dice with Mill Hill Circus or Apex Corner). I would use the pedestrian crossings and urge my children to.  Rating as a good method 5/5 (assuming you cross via pedestrian crossings).

3. My house to De Havailland Road Burnt Oak. I used to work in De Havilland Road, Burnt Oak. This is a very reasonable cycle to work, taking 5-10 mins. Sadly the firm I worked for then have long gone. 5/5

4. My house to Temple Fortune. I spent three months cycling to a painting and decorating job in Temple Fortune, for Chief Abiola, the former president of Nigeria (deposed and assassinated). I initially started riding via the A1/North Circular. After the fourth time I nearly died, I took a backroute via Barnet Copthall. Sadly there was no way to avoid Henlys Corner. This was a complete nightmare- Rating 0/5 - scary.

5. My house to Aldgate. I worked in Aldgate for several years. I decided to try the route by bike. This is a hack straight down the A1 and then the ring road. I did it once and vowed that I would never be so stupid again. 0/5 - scary.

Now of course everyone has a different journey, and so we all could do this. Cycling is good for short hops around Barnet, but as soon as you collide with a TFL trunk route on a bike, you are dealing with a bit of a monster. When I was a teenager, I cycled everywhere. I never wore a helmet, and usually wore black clothes. In short I was an idiot. Luckily for me I was fit, astute and able to anticipate other road users extremely well. I learned to never trust lorries and never let them overtake me at speed, as they invariably cut in on you. If they did, I would slam on the brakes and let them pass. Even so on several occasions, they nearly killed me. Lorry drivers claim that cyclists slow them down and get in there way. In my case this was a deliberate ploy to make sure they clocked me. On at least 2-3 occasions, I believe they deliberately drove dangerously close to me as they were irritated by being slowed down.

I am not anti cycling, but as I've pointed out in my previous blogs, in Barnet we are a long way from having a safe cycle network. In his vision Boris explodes some myths about the safety of cycling. I believe that this is because many cyclists simply avoid dangerous road junctions. I suspect that many fatalities are inexperienced cyclists or ones caught out by unfamiliarity with the road design and layout. I would develop strategies for dealing with dangerous junctions, which generally worked. The times these broke down was when motorists did not act in a sane and rational manner.

Boris needs to consider the North/South axis. When I was doing my cycle to Aldgate, a friend of mine (Kate Nash's Dad ) was regularly cycling from Harrow to Aldgate. He did much of the journey on canal footpaths. Sadly this wasn't an option from Mill Hill. I believe there is much infrastructure we could re-use. There are several disused rail lines in Barnet and surrounding areas which could be converted into cycleways. There is also space besides several rail lines which could be made into cycleways with a bit of investment. I believe it would be relatively easy to have a safe route from Mill Hill to Brent Cross using land besides the Thameslink line. Of course this would cost money, but huge amounts are spent on cars and roads. If we got more people onto bikes, then this would reduce congestion and make everyones life better. As bikes are reasonably light, I'd be interested in using space above rail lines for "skyways" for bikes. There are many routes where this would work extremely well. I'd like to see a similar approach for the junctions such as Henlys corner etc. If we could get cycle traffic off the roads at dangerous junctions, it would make a massive difference to the safety of all concerned.

Anyway, have a look at the Boris vision. All politicians hope to leave a positive legacy. It would be good if the one Boris leaves is a cleaner, greener, safer London where people are fitter because they have put the car keys away and jumped on a bike where there is a sensible and safe route. What is encouraging in the Boris plan is that there is hard cash to recognise his vision. Lets put a bit of pressure on the local politicians to ensure Barnet gets its bit of the pie.