Boris bikers beware - cycle accidents in Kennington on 6th and 7th October

Cyclists, motorists and pedestrians, please be careful on the roads. I noted some time ago that I intend to blog about all cycle accidents, mostly because I think it's very important to offer evidence to TFL on improving road safety for all users, but particularly cyclists and pedestrians.

Yesterday on 6th October 2011, at around 10:15am, a female cyclist (possibly Boris Biker) in her 20s was taken to St Thomas' hospital with minor injuries after having been involved in an accident on Albert Embankment with an ambulance.  The ambulance was flipped on to its side, but both crew members escaped with minor injuries.  It resulted in the closure of Albert Embankment for several hours yesterday.

Today (7th October 2011), a male Boris Biker heading south on Kennington Road near Kennington Cross was involved in an accident with a car.  A witness on Cycle chat noted that the cyclist was knocked unconscious, but came to by the side of the road.

Additionally, I didn't report it at the time, but on 20th September, a male cyclist was involved in an accident with an HGV lorry in Vauxhall Cross near the tube station, in which he suffered serious injuries.

Please be careful cycling through SE11.  There are some very wide and busy A-Roads running through and around Kennington, and we have numerous cycle lanes, a Cycle Superhighway and stacks of London Cycle Scheme aka. Boris Bike docks in the area.  Vauxhall Gyratory and Elephant and Castle roundabout are particularly difficult.

Installation of Cycle Hire docks at Cleaver Square, Vauxhall Station and Kennington tube

I've been contacted by the amazing Dawn Rahman of Lambeth Council and asked to inform readers that the new Cycle Hire docks will be installed at Cleaver Square by the 31st of March, but won't be usable until two weeks after that date on account of resourcing issues at TFL.  It seems that extensive remedial works (including re-paving the area) are to be carried out by TFL, but they've not quite got the timing right, so the docking stations won't be accessible until after the paving works have finished!  I don't suppose most people will lament the additional two week wait if the area around Cleaver Street is improved as a result, but I'm grateful for the heads-up from Lambeth. 

The new Cycle Hire docking stations appear to have been started in the tunnel adjacent to the Royal Vauxhall Tavern, extending provision at Vauxhall Station (great news), but they're not yet finished.  Also, I think I spotted that new (ordinary) cycle stands had been installed nearly opposite Kennington tube station (always a good thing as there's never enough places to lock bikes), but we're still waiting for the new Cycle Hire docks to be added at that location.  Also, I noticed an article on a piece of kit, the Cyclehoop, which can be used to transform a piece of street furniture into a secure place to lock a bike.  Does anybody know whether we have any of them in SE11?

I'm certain that there's been a very definite rise in the number of cyclists using Kennington Park Road and Clapham Road and the CS7 Cycle Superhighway.  I expect numbers to rise as we enter summer and as a cyclist, pedestrian and driver, I'd call for more cautious road use from everybody to prevent further accidents.  Also, it would be very useful to have a bike shop in Kennington, as there's rather a dearth between Waterloo and Brixton...  Any entrepreneurs out there?

Pedal Power review of Cycle Hire and superhighways from London Assembly Transport Committee

The  London Assembly Transport Committee has released its report, Pedal Power and an accompanying set of survey highlights, on the topic of TFL's Cycle hire (aka Boris/Ken bikes) and the TFL superhighways.

Kennington gets a mention under the "initial issues" of the Cycle hire section on p18:Hopefully we should see improved service in Kennington if Lambeth Council are successfully granted planning permission for the new docks around Albert Embankment, Cleaver Square and Kennington and Oval tube stations etc.  Thanks to Prince's Ward Councillors, who've provided full feedback from Dawn Rahman and a comprehensive review of the suggested docks in the area, and comments upon whose suggestions were taken forward.  Unfortunately, a number of suggested docks were outside of the current zone (although it's unclear where the boundaries lie).  Considering the lack of tubes further south in London, I hope we'll see the scheme extended in the future. Oval/Vauxhall seems an arbitrary cut off and demonstrates a lack of interest by the Mayor in South London infrastructure.

The Pedal Power report, also reviewed the Cycle Superhighways (CS7 runs through Kennington/Oval), and rather alarmingly states:

"Although the cycle superhighways are designed to provide safer cycling routes, it is not clear the pilot routes are achieving this." p27

and

"Whilst in some places there are full advance stop lines of 5 metres depth and mandatory cycle lanes of 2 metres width, elsewhere there are just narrow ‘ghost’ lanes (sections of blue paint without any legal status). However, it is most concerned that there are virtually no measures to reduce motor traffic volumes or speeds." p27

I was very excited about the announcement of the Cycle Superhighways, but despite my initial enthusiasm, back in May 2010, I noted that "the Superhighways are rather rash ideas when they do not give cyclists the room they need to co-exist with buses and cars on trunk routes".

And indeed, on p28, Sustran conclude of the two initial pilot superhighways (CS7 and CS3), "the greatest barrier to Londoners cycling, or cycling more, is fear of traffic yet the cycle superhighways generally follow busy arterial roads and provide no or minimal segregation from traffic. It therefore concludes that in their current form the cycle superhighways have limited scope to facilitate an uptake in cycling, particularly by new cyclists."

"There has been a lack of bikes and available docking points in certain areas, particularly at peak periods. The Committee’s survey revealed [ac lack of bikes and was a particular problem in Covent Garden, Holborn, Kennington, Westminster and Waterloo. One respondent commented: "There is a shocking lack of available docking points in Vauxhall and Kennington. Twice I had to cycle further than I had to travel from where I picked the bike up. Once I was told to take the bike home. Not fun to carry up 4 flights of stairs. I was charged £50…and told to wait 5 days for a refund.""

Unconfirmed cycle and motorcycle accidents today in Kennington

The stats. and Twitter are indicating that there have been one or maybe two traffic accidents in Kennington today after 9am.

It seems that there was one accident involving a cyclist at the junction of Kennington Park Road and Kennington Lane on Newington Butts.

It now looks as though there might have been a different accident involving a motorcycle near the junction at Kennington tube station.

These two separate reports might of course have been conflated.  I hope that nobody is badly hurt.  Does anybody have any more info?  I'm very concerned, with the imminent implementation of the CS7 cycle superhighway, that TFL examine the incidence of traffic/cycle accidents around rush hour, and maybe consider some traffic calming measures.

I didn't report it, but there was also a cyclist death (Everton Smith, 48) on Vauxhall Bridge Road (the north side) on 22nd May.  If you were unfortunate enough to be passing through the area (a 436 bus was nearby), please contact the police as they're looking for witnesses.

Battersea tube, Vauxhall Waitrose and the CS7 superhighway

There is lots of road digging underway around the junction of Kennington Park Road and Kennington Road.  Indeed, a new sign has appeared on Kennington Park Road, alerting us to the fact that the CS7 cycle superhighway (err, paint splodge) is imminent.  Also, there are lots of strange containers on the island outside Oval tube station.  However, it's not clear whether the digging and containers relates to the cycle superhighway or the ongoing Victorian water mains replacements, or just the eternal road digging that TFL, BT, Thames Water and British Gas (or whoever) like to inflict upon us.  The CS7 start has been "imminent" for some time but it seems that perhaps the CS7 TFL schedule is running slightly late (do take a look at the start dates for some idea of when your section was meant to be begin).  I'm expecting to exit Kennington tube any day now and see the CS7 in its full glory and blueness.  Of course, it's not in the slightest bit safe.  Stockwell News reported (and has videos) of a barely avoided collision on a "test" part of the route, and it will only be time before a cyclist assumes they're safer on the blue road, and is involved in a fatal accident.  I don't write those words lightly, but I think the creation of the Superhighways are rather rash ideas when they do not give cyclists the room they need to co-exist with buses and cars on trunk routes.

Speaking of the tube, there are rather a number of different stories flying around at the moment.  Whilst I was away, one Tweeter asked whether the proposed Northern line closures had disappeared on account of Boris' dissolution of the Private Finance Initiative with Tubelines.  It's really quite an astonishing story, and will result in TfL basically buying out Tubelines.  Apparently, London Assembly member Caroline Pidegon thinks it's good news and Boriswatch hasn't said anything about it, being more concerned with the vanity factor of Boris' new routemaster so I'm concluding that perhaps users won't suffer the closures after all.  On that note, I've been wondering when the 453 bendy bus to Lewisham is due to be de-commissioned and replaced with something less bendy, but I don't really want to draw attention to it. Its replacement (unless it were replaced with something uber-frequent) would never have the capacity.  It's currently a seriously stuffed bus, and it would be bad for passengers were it replaced with something smaller.  (So cyclists on this South London route must suffer).  Also, I suspect the fact remains that Boris has no love for South London so he's not particularly interested in transport down here.  Don't move to Peckham or Camberwell if you can help it, since the tube isn't coming any time soon.

But, some remedial measures will need to be introduced due to solve over-crowding.  In an under-reported article, I note that Boris has approved the suggestion that the Northern line be split at Kennington to impreove service on the Charing Cross branch.  It will mean that all South bound Charing Cross trains terminte at Kennington (although a lot of them currently seem to do so).  London Travelwatch have said "It's not the perfect solution".  Oh dear.  And that of course begs the question about whether the station will need to be closed to enable those works to be carried out!  Inevitably, the answer is "yes", so if we don't lose out on account of Tubelines closing the station, we risk losing out through the increased line capacity.  Perhaps it won't need to be closed to make the amendments, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

If Kennington travellers avoid disruption for the above reasons, it will be a miracle. I hardly think, however, that they can avoid future closure were the Battersea section of the Northern line to be built!  And, apparently, consultation from Treasury Holdings about the Battersea tube extension began yesterday.   Check out the full Battersea tube consultation leaflet here.  Don't get too excited.  It seems that they're consulting on a number of routes, route 1 looks as though it's a direct route to Battersea Power Station (possibly via Oval).  This involves less hassle, and is most likely to be the cheapest.  But, oh dear...  What about the proposed stop at Nine Elms?  That's Route 2.  It might cost a bit more to build a new tube station, but if we don't petition hard, Vauxhall is going to be packed (see below).  However, do look carefully, route 2 involves a South Nine Elms stop (on top of Sainsburys car park), which doesn't look to be so near the embassy.  Can't see it getting off the ground.  Route 3 is interesting, and one I hadn't considered.  It would connect Kennington to Vauxhall and then send Vauxhall on to Battersea, and Vauxhall would act as a hub.  But think of the congestion already at Vauxhall.  Wouldn't it make things worse?  And finally, there's route 4, which might be known as the US Embassy Express, which would link Kennington to Nine Elms North and then to Battersea.  This will probably be favoured by the Embassy themselves, who will have to cough up some of the cash.  Anyhow, this is just the consultation stage.  Remember what happened to the Cross River Tram, despite all of the consultation...

On a related note, Lambeth Council seem to have finally produced a document which concludes by stating what we all knew...  The Victoria line is at capacity.  Well, duh! But it's still ok to build the Nine Elms development (which will have the same population as Welwyn Garden City) on account of the fact that we could extend the concourse at Vauxhall. The document actually says, "The proposed works to Vauxhall Station, seek to reduce station congestion and improve public realm around the station by bringing the arch to the south of the station (former car rental office) into use as an extension to the existing concourse."  There are two slight problems.  The building that might be intended for the concourse extension is currently mooted to be the site of a new supermarket.  Perhaps it could be both.  But if the Waitrose rumours are true, I can't see the Waitrose shoppers loving to share their shop with the over-spill from Vauxhall tube station.  And, secondly, note that extending the capacity at Vauxhall Station doesn't actually increase the capacity of the Victoria line.  So there's not really any net gain, other than creating a holding pen for travellers.

How do we know about the supermarket? Mr OBB and his new posh neighbourhood watch club, were visited by the unassuming Clive Fraser of Lambeth Planning.  I'm not sure what Clive did in a previous life, but it must have been something really bad, since he's the chap that Lambeth Council send out to be their "public face of planning".  He's terribly nice.  But being terribly nice does not prevent more tall buildings appearing at Vauxhall when the transport infrastructure is currently at capacity.  I hope we'll see an improved  Vauxhall planning strategy that does more than just endorse the previous Mayor's contention that Vauxhall is a place for tall buildings (not that Boris has objected) from Lambeth Council.  We really need a sensible town plan for Vauxhall (rather than just a Supplementary Planning Document) so that we can review the developers' applications all at once, rather than one at a time.  How many more tall buildings are to be permitted before Vauxhall tube has to be made entry only in the morning, at peak periods?

Cycling in Kennington and people on bikes

I can't believe I didn't spot this before, but somebody has started a new local cycling blog, Kennington People On Bikes. It details a recently won bid to set up a cycle hub project for Lilian Baylis (and other local) schools.  I note with interest the fact that the bike project was initially unable (see entry on 1st March) to obtain meeting space in the Sports Action Zone on the former Lilian Baylis site.  However, it appears that a meeting with the Director of SAZ resolved that... 

More recently, KPOB have turned their attention to corresponding with Princes ward councillors and candidates re. their views on cycling in the area.  If you are passionate about being on two wheels (or three!), it's a good time to be quzzing candidates on their cycle-friendly policies.  I note with interest the suggestion of bringing down speed limits to 20mph, in some areas. That would be one consideration re. reducing casualities on some of our trunk routes, and would be good for pedestrians too (although I can't see drivers being keen).  I'm often struck by the fact that Kennington (and undeniably, Vauxhall) can feel rather like a "through-route" for heavy goods vehicles accessing the rest of London.  Since we're soon to have our "bike hire" scheme bikes installed all over SE11, now is probably the time to increase the focus on road safety.  (Visions of untrained tourists hopping on to hired cycles and heading down Kennington Park Road to the Elephant roundabout fill me with dread).

The Cycling hub project may well be looking for volunteers, or have meeting times to publicise in the near future.  I'll post it as soon as I've obtained further info.

In the meantime, I telephoned TFL (8th April) to see when our new CS7 route cycle "superhighway" would be completed in SE11.  The person I contacted said it would be finished in "the next month or so".  I've no details on whether TFL have started painting the roads blue (is that the opposite of painting the town red?) and moving street furniture in deepest south London (other than a short trial stretch), so would be grateful for more info.

Cycle Superhighway CS7 - blue paint oil slick to hit SE11

I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but can't find it in my archives. Part of Boris' masterplan for London is to build a bright blue cycle lane around central London (rather like a sort of environementally friendly version of the M25), with arterial roads leading in from far flung places (such as Balham). Each of the routes is to be called a Cycle Superhighway, but in reality, it will just be lots of (hopefully) well-maintained streaks of blue paint across certain London roads! (I am quite excited, really! I might even start cycling to work!)

The best news is that the first one to be built is going to arrive from far flung Merton, Balham, Clapham etc. and zoom into SE11 past the Oval, up Kennington Park Road, past Kennington tube and provide (at last), a safe route around the Elephant and Castle roundabout. It will go over Southwark Bridge and take you safely to the City. Check out the exact route here.

The piece of paper in my letterbox informs me that the work is due to begin "early in 2010" and that it will be launched in Summer 2010! When it starts, we'll be able to see construction works here, but in the meantime, there's just a Boris video about how much fun it will all be!