Cycle Infastructure
Dear Camden Borough Council,
I am writing to request the answers to the following questions, on the subject of cycling within your borough, under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
1. What percentage of your borough's total road kilometres consists of fully, hard segregated cycle routes?
2. How many total kilometres of fully, hard segregated cycle routes does this equate to?
3. Since the 6th of May 2010, how much money in pounds sterling has been spent from your borough's transport budget on creating further fully, hard segregated cycle routes?
4. In relation to the above question, what percentage of your total transport spend within your borough for the named period did this constitute?
5. For the period between the 1st of April 2014 and the 31st of March 2015, how much total money in pounds sterling from your borough's transport budget has been or will be allocated to creating further fully, hard segregated cycle routes?
6. For the period mentioned in question 5, what percentage of your borough's transport budget does this constitute?
7. What percentage of road kilometres under your sole control are 20mph roads?
8. Aside from the above mentioned, what other initiatives is your borough undertaking to improve the safety of cyclists on roads under your authority?
In this instance, hard segregation means where there is a kerb separating the standard road surface from the cycleway. It does not include shared footpath and cyclepath routes where this is no separation between the footway and the cycleway. Please only include cycleways that are solely under your council's control for this figure.
Total road kilometres is the distance of standard roads that are accessible to motorised vehicles, in addition to the distance of hard-segregated cycleways as described in the above paragraph. Please only include roads and cycleways that are solely under your council's control in this calculation.
Please email your responses in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet within 20 working days of this request being submitted, that is to say by the 28th of February 2014.
Yours faithfully,
Will Nickell
Dear Mr Nickell
Thank you for your recent Freedom of Information (FOI) request regarding
Camden Council’s provision of cycle segregation. In response to your
questions, we have provided the information in an Excel spreadsheet as
requested, but also in text below because some of the information requires
clarification or is not appropriate for a spreadsheet format:
1. Just under 1% of the borough’s roads includes physical segregation
for cyclists.
2. This equates to 2.2km. However, a further 2km (approx.) is planned
to be delivered by the end of the financial year, giving a total of 4.2km,
which represents 1.63% of the total road network in Camden. We have
included the latter figure figures.
3. Approximately £320,000 has been spent on creating segregated cycle
routes. We do not have a cost for the additional 2km to be delivered by
the end of the financial year.
4. This represents approximately 3.1% of the total budget for the four
financial years, April 2010 to end of March 2014, although the additional
km will increase this figure.
5. No funding has been allocated to create additional segregation for
2014-2015 at this stage. We have identified cycle routes, but until the
feasibility studies are undertaken next financial year it is not clear
where segregation will be appropriate or feasible. The Council will
deliver segregation if it is identified as the optimum design solution on
a route, if it is feasible, and subject to public consultation and
approval by the Cabinet Member for Sustainability, Transport and Planning,
and funding will be identified accordingly.
6. As above, there is no budget specifically for segregation next
financial year, therefore no %.
7. All of the borough’s roads are 20mph, ie 257km. Camden recently
introduced a borough-wide 20mph speed limit.
8. The Council prioritises walking and cycling as the preferred
transport choices. And improving safety, particularly for these modes, is
also a top priority for the Council. The majority of funding comes from
Transport for London (TfL) through the Corridors, Neighbourhoods and
Supporting measures programme. The criteria of this programme is to take
an holistic approach to transport problems through area-wide projects,
rather than a focus on individual transport modes. Cycling, and cycle
safety, are therefore integrated as essential elements in all the
Council’s area-wide transport projects. This includes for example,
reverting one-way systems to two-way working, eg at Russell Square, and
which has significantly reduced motor traffic flows to minimal levels.
Restricted vehicle entry on Malet Street has similarly resulted in an
almost traffic free street. Contra-flows and Advance Stop Lines are also
integrated into all schemes where possible. In addition, the Council has
allocated funding to a dedicated annual rolling road safety programme,
focusing on pedestrians and cyclists to ensure that those priority road
safety hot spots which fall outside the area schemes are addressed.
As a point of clarification, the Council is now implementing ‘light’
segregation rather than full kerbs to separate cyclists. This includes
for example the use of other ‘lighter’ physical measures such as
armadillos and planters such as we have used on Royal College Street.
There are numerous benefits to using light segregation: it is more
permeable for cyclists to enter and exit the lane eg, for turning at
junctions; it provides a step free environment for pedestrians crossing
informally; it is more flexible allowing the Council to widen the lane if
needed in the future without significant costs or road works, compared to
digging up a solid kerb; light segregation is also far less costly than
solid kerbs to implement and maintain, which is a consideration for the
Council in the context of decreasing funding - this also allows the
Council to implement more segregated routes. However, ‘light segregation’
still provides full separation from traffic.
If you have any further queries, please get in touch.
Regards
Jacqueline Saunders
Principal Transport Planner
Telephone: 020 7974 2765
Dear Jacqueline,
I would like to say thank you very much for an extremely informative response conducted in a very timely manner. I really appreciate your help with this enquiry.
Yours sincerely,
Will Nickell
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