Cyclists’ safety sacrificed for an increase in speed

Published: 13 October, 2011

• THANK you for the front page coverage (New Journal, October 6) of the issues relating to the tragic death of a young woman at the junction of Gray’s In Road, Euston Road and York Way.

I would like to make five points:

1. The gyratory system at this junction (in which all vehicles move in a clockwise direction, mostly in one-way streets with multiple lanes) needs to revert to its original arrangement with two-way streets and crossroads junctions. One-way streets are dangerous for cyclists because they encourage higher speeds and involve lane-changing at speeds that make it hard for cyclists to manage.
The Shoreditch gyratory has already been taken out; Russell Square is currently being altered to two-way working. Why not King’s Cross?

2. At a junction of this type, cyclists need cycle lanes to enable them to use it safely.
The number of cyclists in central London has more than doubled since 2001, but no extra road space has been made available to them at this junction or on many other dangerous junctions.

3. Transport for London carried out a safety consultation for this junction in May this year.
Camden Cycling Campaign included the following in their reply: “At this junction York Way is only just wide enough for two vehicles, which means that most of the time vehicles go through in single file, slowing the traffic across the junction and leaving gaps for cyclists to fit in. Transport for London’s proposals show the road slightly wider which means vehicles will go through two at a time, faster, and leave no room for cyclists.
“There should be a bike lane starting south of this junction in Gray’s Inn Road and carrying across into York Way. Thus the traffic would be narrowed down to one lane earlier and the extra road space would be used to make cyclists safer.”

4. Transport for London’s reply included the following: “As part of the detailed design phase, we will review these junctions to determine whether there is sufficient room and it is safe to introduce new lanes and [Advanced Stop Lines] ASLs for cyclists.
“Extending the pavement at the entry to York Way would cut the capacity of this junction by half from two down to one lane. This would add pressure on this already busy junction and cause delays for road users”.
That is, Transport for London sound unlikely to provide dedicated space for cyclists because they think that increasing the traffic speed is more important than cyclist safety.

5. We fully support the proposal made in your Comment (Another cyclist dies – heavy vehicles should be banned) for an experimental ban on HGV traffic during the day (as has been done successfully in many European cities) or, at the very least, much more effective enforcement of the existing system requiring permits for vehicles over 18 tons. Had the carnage detailed in your article occurred in any other transport network, a public enquiry and effective action would have ensued long before this.

JEAN DOLLIMORE
Joint Co-ordinator,
Camden Cycling Campaign, NW5