Stamford Hill

Transport for London are currently consulting on the A10 Stamford Hill junction at Clapton Common with proposals that "aim to make it safer for all road users" as it "has one of the highest collision rates in all of Hackney".

On approach to the junction from the west the left turn slip lane is to be closed and replaced by a larger pavement.

The pavement here is already very large so not sure why this isn't being replaced by safe space for people cycling instead.



 This would keep people cycling safe from left turning lorries

An example of how to provide safer conditions for people cycling at a crossroads in Rotterdam

For people turning right from Amhurst Park onto the A10 southbound you are expected to cross over several lanes of traffic and then sit in the middle of the junction waiting to cross three lanes of traffic coming towards you, a maneuver which is not for the faint-hearted.

There is also a continuous footway planned just north of the junction which isn't actually a continuous footway at all

NO! @TfL this photo is not a continuous footway, its a speed table/ entry treatment pic.twitter.com/IbIKQJVSKi

— The Ranty Highwayman (@RantyHighwayman) March 5, 2016

Approaching this junction from the north and the road stays very wide with six lanes retained, although one of these will become a bus lane, which is an improvement for bus users but provides nothing for anyone cycling along here.

A new central reservation is planned so the pedestrian crossing becomes staggered meaning people have to cross in two stages rather than the single direct crossing that is here at present, despite the consultation claiming that the changes "make it quicker and easier for pedestrians to cross the road"



There is nothing at all planned here for people cycling, except for some ASLs.

Still four lanes of traffic to navigate through on a bike

Again the left turn slip is to be replaced by a widened pavement at the point where a segregated cycle track should go

An example of how to provide safer conditions for people cycling at a crossroads in Amsterdam

Approaching from the west multiple lanes remain for traffic as well as a left turn slip road

and all people cycling get is a picture of a bike on the road showing exactly where segregated cycle tracks should go.

An example of how to provide safer conditions for people cycling at a crossroads in Utrecht

A new central island and car parking are other "improvements" planned here

You'll be expected to take the lane right in front of this lorry if you want to turn right onto the A10

Approaching from the South barely any changes planned at all, with the carriageway remaining an astonishing eight lanes wide



With the pavement also remaining very wide on approach to the junction



Whilst is it always preferable to take space form motor traffic to create cycle tracks there is no reason for the pavement to be as wide as this here, it is ridiculous. It would be very simple to create safe cycle tracks along here that would not cause much disruption to motor traffic during construction. The footway remains very wide from here all the way down to Stoke Newington train station.

A more sensible use of space; cycle track and floating bus stop, from the Cycling Embassy of Great Britain

The A10 is the worst road by far for cycling casualties within Hackney with 28% of all serious injuries sustained in a cycling collision in the last ten years occurring on it, along with 50% of all cycling fatalities also occurring on the A10 within this period. Hackney council stated in their 2014 cycling plan that they "will continue to lobby TfL and work with them to resolve the cyclist accident problems along the A10 corridor in Hackney" and that "it is inevitable that cyclists will continue to use our busy high streets and strategic roads that carry high volumes of vehicular traffic because often they are the most direct and quickest routes."

This planned scheme is totally unacceptable and it should be illegal to propose a road layout like this in somewhere like Hackney in 2016. This junction is used by tens of thousands of motor vehicles a day, including nearly a thousand lorries and nearly two thousand buses. There have been several serious collisions here since the consultation opened last month, including one pedestrian fatality with a cyclist also killed here almost exactly a decade ago. 

4 out of 4
Stamford Hill & Clapton Common
Last 4 days there has been one major accident or fatality.
Motor/cyclists dicing with death daily

— Abraham Jacobson (@abrjacobson) March 8, 2016

The proposed layout is totally unsuitable for people to cycle through here "no matter what their age, background or ethnicity". Can you seriously imagine young children using this road waiting in ASLs among multiple lanes of motor traffic? Of course not, there'll be on the pavement, where there is plenty of room for them. This is a huge junction and there is easily the space to fit well designed dedicated cycle infrastructure that would protect people cycling rather than this unambitious and disgraceful proposal which protects the prioritisation of private motor vehicle flow instead.  

An example of how to provide safer conditions for people cycling at a crossroads in Amsterdam

This consultation is only open for around another 24 hours so please respond and ask TFL not to go ahead with this dangerous plan but instead propose safe cycle tracks, just as they are on their other road junctions nearby and help reduce cycling casualties on the most dangerous road for people on bikes in Hackney.