I’m more than slightly disappointed in the Tribune this week, attempting to stir up enmity between Islington Cyclists and Islington Pedestrians.
We have reached a very useful point with British Waterways where they are now actively seeking to engage with stakeholders to mitigate the increase in use of the towpath, particularly in relation to commuting cyclists, which British Waterways themselves are now describing as “unsustainable”.
It was British Waterways that called the stakeholders meetings, and it was British Waterways that proposed publishing a joint letter of intent co-signed by representatives of all stakeholders: Living Streets, ICAG, Hanover School, Friends of Regents canal and Local Councillors. It is a significant and very encouraging achievement that we managed to reach a consensus on the text of the letter, which sets out a joint intent for a way forward. The letter was published in this weeks Gazette and Tribune, although in both instances the text was, very disappointingly, cut down from the carefully rehearsed and agreed original: http://www.islingtontribune.com/letters/2011/nov/tips-cyclists-hurry
ICAG have always stated that they only support cycle calming measures on the towpath if they are accompanied by matching improvements in the safety and usability of the ‘parallel route’. I fully support this position. And my understanding is that there is a major problem with the route at the moment where it crosses the New North Road from Poole Street into Eagle Wharf Road. This junction is lethal, and needs drastic improvement if we are to be able to ask cyclists in a hurry to divert to this route, and it is in Hackney. I plan to research the route myself over the next couple of weeks to see how easy it is to use. What this does mean is that some cross-borough working is needed to provide the carrot of a safe parallel route, and we need British Waterways to get stuck in with the stick of erecting effective cycle chicanes, and signs such as the one shown above, which makes it absolutely clear, both visually and in words, that the towpath is a pedestrian priority area at all times, and that ‘two tings’ means “excuse me please” not “get out of my way”.
