Agenda and minutes

The Borough Cycling Champion, Councillor Harborne will welcome those present.

The Chairman welcomed those in attendance and opened the meeting.

To receive apologies from any members of the committee unable to attend.

Apologies were received from Peter Sandwell, Tony Yerby, Anthony Paish, Robert Wesley and Frances Bennett.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 16 July 2012 attached.

The minutes of the meeting held on 16 July 2012 were agreed.

To receive a verbal update from the Principal Transport Planner, Ben Fryer regarding the new Borough cycling strategy.

Ben Fryer, Principal Transport Planner, said that the previous Cycling Strategy was out of date as a result of schemes by Central Government and the Mayor of London.  A revised strategy had been delayed by sporting events in the borough over the summer, as well as reduced staffing in the Transport Planning department, although it was hoped that a draft document would be received by the Cycling Liaison Group by the end of the year.

It was confirmed that cycling had a modal share of 5 per cent, although it currently received 15 per cent of the overall budget.

To receive a presentation from TfL or London and Partners regarding the Olympic Cycling Legacy, how the Borough will benefit, and the various events taking place.

Georgina Warren, Project Manager at London & Partners, provided a presentation to the group.  Key points included:

• The key aim of the project was to bring economic benefits to the areas which participated in the cycling events..
• Other objectives included providing a world class, televised event; a means by which to encourage cycling; and ensuring a significant legacy to the London Games.
• It was hoped that schools would have a growing role in cycling events, in order to increase the number of children who cycled.
• Registration to participate in next year’s events had already opened.
• The boroughs participating would be a priority recipient of any profits raised.
• There was the intention to introduce more diverse events in the coming years, to include relay races, etc.
• Routes were being designed to minimise disruption to residents.
• The route had yet to be finalised, although it was planned to announce it by January 2013.
• Ride London was to be a unique event as it promoted mass participation in cycling, as well as competition amongst athletes.

Councillor Harborne informed those present of the various borough based schemes that were taking place.  It was confirmed that a presentation would be sought on Ride London from Transport (TfL) for London.

To receive an interactive presentation from the Principal Transport Planner, Ben Fryer with regards to data collected by cycle counters in the Borough.

Ben Fryer, Principal Transport Planner, opened the item by informing those present what the cycle counters were.  He confirmed that they could identify cyclists above other modes of transport passing the counters.  Mr Fryer gave examples of the sorts of data the counters could produce and explained that they enabled quite detailed monitoring of cycling trends in the areas they were installed, particularly as some had been in situ for around to years. TfL also gathered its own data on cycling in the borough.This data collected in every London Borough for use in writing transport policies and to act as a benchmark as to how each Borough was performing.

Concerns were raised about the location of some counters and some additional locations for counters were suggested.  Mr Fryer agreed to take these suggestions away and establish whether there was a business case for installing additional counters at new locations; the benefit needed to be weighed against the cost of installing counters.

It was explained that although counters were not always used for the prioritisation of new projects, they were useful in identifying cycling trends and whether any specific issues were preventing cycling along given routes.  Temporary counters were often placed at locations in order to assist with new schemes and to help monitor the effectiveness of that scheme after it is finished and used.

To consult the Cycling Liaison Group on a proposed lighting and surface improvement scheme at Teddington Lock. The objective of the project is to provide improved lighting of the bridge and access ramps to provide a safe and more attractive route for non-motorised users. The removal of one/both of these handrails, or replacement with a less protruding design would reduce the potential for conflict between pedestrians and those wheeling bicycles across the Bridge.

It is intended that any proposed lighting solution would be more 'bat friendly' with less spillage of light on the adjacent river, with consideration given to solutions that would be dimmable in the absence of people crossing the Bridge, particularly during the early hours of the morning.

Ben Fryer, Principal Transport Planner, explained that Teddington lock footbridge was in need of some essential maintenance work.  Any maintenance work was further complicated by the fact that it was a listed structure and a key thoroughfare between Teddington and Ham.

A bid had been made for funds to carry out repairs to the bridge, which had garnered around £150k for the work.  It was intended to install a new low maintenance surface and improved lighting to increase energy efficiency and reduce the impact on nocturnal wildlife.

It was hoped that the work would be carried out around December 2012 and January 2013 and that a 2-3 week closure of the bridge was necessary.  Concerns were raised by those present that the closure would mean significant disruption to those who used the bridge on a daily basis.  A temporary structure, or the better timing of works, was encouraged and Mr Fryer said he would take these suggestions to the responsible officer.

Councillor Harrison, Cabinet Member for Highways and Streetscene, said that the application was likely to be considered at Planning Committee because of the bridge’s listed status.

A strict 30 minute time limit will operate for this item.

Ben Fryer, Principal Transport Planner, gave a presentation on the once in a generation £6.5million project to improve Twickenham Town centre and that the main aim was to make Twickenham town centre a more attractive place, which in turn meant more visitors to the shops in the area. 

Various traffic models had been considered, including a single traffic lane in each direction, however computer traffic modelling showed that serious congestion would result if this was implemented in King Street.

It was explained that as there was a need for two lanes of traffic in each direction, a balance needed to be struck between the demands of various users of the area including cyclists, road users, pedestrians and London Buses.  In order to increase the amount of pavement space available, some of the roadway needed to be used, meaning that there was a proposal to remove the bus lanes.  It was clarified that another purpose of removing the bus stops as well as the bus lanes in King Street was to prevent buses from stopping in the main flow of traffic; if buses did not need to stop, the lanes were not needed.

Mr Fryer stated that there was to be an extension of existing advisory cycle lanes and that as the speed limit was to be reduced to 20 mph; there would be an improvement in conditions for cyclists.  There were also plans to increase the number of advanced stop lines at traffic lights.

As the project was in its initial stages, no detailed design had taken place, so locations for additional cycle storage or taxi ranks had not been decided – a paper would be considered at Cabinet in due course.

Councillor Harrison, Cabinet Member for Highways and Streetscene, said that Twickenham town centre was part of TfL’s strategic route network, which meant that they had a veto on any proposed work.  Councillor Harrison stressed that the proposals were at a very early stage and that no detailed design had taken place; this work would take place at a later stage but he welcomed suggestions from the CLG.

Councillor Harborne invited all the attendees of the Cycle Liaison group to suggest ways the proposals could improve the safety of cyclists in Twickenham.   Comments included:

·         Cyclists should be distanced from heavy goods vehicles.

·         There should be a “freight consolidation centre” to reduce the number of heavy goods vehicles entering the area.

·         There should be a cycle lane which was separated from the main traffic flow i.e. not shared with other vehicles.

·         Increasing the levels of traffic and times it took for vehicles to pass through the town centre would encourage greater cycle use.

·         Cycle lanes could be placed closer to pedestrians, with a pavement level raised separation to define the areas that pedestrians and cyclists were expected to be.

·         Ban heavy goods vehicles from entering Twickenham town centre, unless they were engaged on a delivery to the area.

·         More emphasis should be placed on improving peak time conditions  ...  view the full minutes text for item 42.