Would you support "Active Wandsworth Sunday Streets"? Post Reply

[jon_events]

The Wandsworth Guardian has picked up on my proposal to the council regarding "Active Wandsworth Sunday Streets".

The full article is here: http://www.wandsworthguardian.co.uk/arc ... oposes_...

Would you support this being trialled for 6 months? If there is enough support then hopefully we may be able to give it a go. If you do support the idea and would like to see this actually happen you can help.

Write to your local councillors (if you don't know who they are http://www.writetothem.com is a great site which will tell you who your local elected representatives are) and copy in Cllr John Locker (he's the Council's Active Travel Champion - jlocker@wandsworth.gov.uk)

I'm co-chair of Wandsworth Environment Forum - feel free to copy me in on the email jon.irwin [at] gmail.com

[AbbevilleMummy]

Good God NO!!

The days where south London roads were closed during the Olympics for cycling were truly horrendous!!

It's fine if you're just at home doing nothing but many of us actually have a lot to do on the weeks and errands to run etc.

And what if you've gone out of London for the weekend and are trying to get home on the said Sunday when the roads are closed? This happened to us on the cycling weekend and we were stuck on the outskirts trying to get home for 8hours!!

If this goes ahead, I'm moving north!!

[livegreen]

Sounds like a great idea, especially if only one Sunday a month.
Well done on route as unlikely to cause any real congestion or disruption.
Teaching children to cycle needs to include road time and this would offer a great introduction especially to younger ones.

the Olympic Cycle events were fantastic and a great success and I believe there is a plan to repeat this next summer.

I will be writing to my councillor.

[jon_events]

I'm not proposing that all the streets are closed, or indeed that there should be no vehicular access.

A bit like a street party which just continues around the borough. People can still access their streets in their cars, perhaps just accompanied by someone to ensure that it's safe for those people who are enjoy the street without worrying about motor traffic.

[Goldhawk]

I think it's a duff idea, it is hard enough getting anywhere in SW London on the weekend without additional road closures

[pam11]

NO!

I fully agree with AbbevilleMummy.

A bit like a street party? What planet are you on? If people want to cycle on the streets of a capital city then you just have to accept that there will be cars/buses etc and deal with it.

Sundays in SW London are not as idyllic as you seem to think - the roads are very busy as already pointed out. I am counting the days until I move my family out of London precisely because of idiotic schemes like this.

"enjoy the street without worrying about motor traffic" are you kiding me? The street is made to be driven on and by God it is hard enough (and expendive enough) to drive/park on the damn street as it is! Who is there to make sure I as a motorist enjoy the street my taxes are paying for?

[BatterSeed]

Frankly Pam, many people want to cycle on the streets of the capital but are put off by car drivers who have a misplaced sense of entitlement to the road. Having one day a month where they could cycle free from the fear of being knocked off their bike by a motorist not paying enough attention sounds great to me.

Speaking of that misplaced sense of entitlement, the street is not 'made to be driven on' I'm afraid: roads were built to walk along, then used for horses and carriages, then the bicycle came along, then finally cars.

All of our taxes pay for the roads, not just the taxes of motorists. I'm not sure why you find it hard to drive down the roads (perhaps it's all the other motorists?) but I'm sure it isn't a tiny concession such as this.

[Spanish Pirate]

I can only think the negative replies are from Chelsea tractor drivers who clog up the roads driving Samantha and Timmy 100 mtrs to school. Who are also the ones that push their prams / strollers out into the road while texting on their Iphones and blaming everyone else for their ineptitude. Bring it on i say. Would be great to have some traffic free zones occasionally. p.s I am one of those noisy, air polluting cyclists.

[Spanish Pirate]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/b ... -for-roads
If it wasn't for cyclists you wouldn't have got your tarmac roads.

@Pam11

[Spanish Pirate]

@Pam11
Which taxes are you referring to.
Roads are paid for out of all our council tax not that little paper sticker on the bottom left of your windscreen.
That charge is over the amount of pollution you cause.
Car tax was abolished in 1937.


"enjoy the street without worrying about motor traffic" are you kiding me? The street is made to be driven on and by God it is hard enough (and expendive enough) to drive/park on the damn street as it is! Who is there to make sure I as a motorist enjoy the street my taxes are paying for?

[pam11]

Cycling to commute is one thing but you are talking about closing roads just so a few precious families can take their kids cycling. they wont learn anything eccept be given a false sense of security. heres an idea just accept we live somewhere incompatable to kiddie bike rides in the street. that will never change. take them to richmond park or out of london.

i agree many are put off cycling etc by cars and london really should improve cycle networks and driver attitudes etc but my point is we need to get real and understand this is london and you have to accept the risks and that actually shock horror sometimes, somethings accidents are the cyclists fault!

[Camille]

Nice thought but imagine how it would work - Wandsworth is log jammed with traffic at weekends which would just be forced onto fewer roads and travel even slower therefore creating even MORE POLLUTION which rather contradicts the whole idea...

I think there are enough pathways already to cycle on as a family...you just have to search them out.

[Spanish Pirate]

Dear Pam11 while you are in the comfort of you 1 ton box of steel have a read of this.
Being a cyclist should not be a risk, I sincerely hope you do not have young children and never let them out of your site near a road.
There is also the issue of drivers being aware that cyclists have a right to be on the road,” he said, “and there is a concern about society’s lack of acceptance that the roads are a two-way street for both drivers and cyclists.”

Jenny Jones, London Assembly Green Party member, said: “The Met has made a lot of progress in tackling the problem of hit-and-run drivers in recent years by removing thousands of uninsured and unlicensed drivers from our streets.

“But the number of hit-and-runs in London remains at a high level which is incredibly concerning.”

According to Critical Mass: "Nearly 1 in every 6 pedal cyclist casualties (16 per cent) in the UK occurs in a ‘hit and run’ accident – a total of 2,665 in 2007 of which 337 were seriously injured and 16 killed. Pedal cyclists are over-represented in these accidents, representing 11 per cent of hit and run casualties (compared with 7 per cent of all casualties)."

[mummySW18]

This idea does not get my vote. I've lost count of the hours lost on a weekend stuck in traffic trying to do relatively simple journeys like going to the tip. Closing certain roads once a month surely will only be popular with a very small minority of people. I know plenty of cycling mad families who seem to manage to take their children cycling without any roads needing to be closed.

I can understand the desire to get people more active and out of their cars, but why not organise events on the commons etc rather than closing roads and impacting on those not interested in taking part?

[jon_events]

I think the thread is starting to focus explicitly on cycling, which is not the aim of the proposals. If the proposals are taken ahead the streets in question would allow local residents and their families to be able to walk, jog, run, roller-blade or cycle around the borough without the problems associated with people sharing the streets with motor vehicles.

The concerns raised are valid. However, when we had the street parties earlier this year, and last year, I don't recall there being gridlock, do you? The number of streets put forward for street parties I think probably exceeds the number of streets involved in the proposed trial. Not everyone enjoyed the street parties, but I thought that a majority of people did.

Regarding congestion, it may well be that on the day in question, some families may take advantage of the "Sunday Streets" and plan their day around activities which don't need use of their car. This could in turn, result in lower levels of congestion on the rest of the road network in the borough. Of course, if we don't try then we'll never know.

On another forum where I've been able to put a poll online, to date 83% of people who have voted are supportive and over 50 people have voted so far.