The Return Of The King

My post this week comes from Hammersmith in London. I was actually on my way to an event for something which I'll cover another time, but as I was in the area, I took a look at how some Pandemic cycle lanes were being consolidated.

First, I'll mention Chiswick High Road, where I visited back in September last year. The London Borough of Hounslow, helped by Transport for London, has taken the pop-up cycle track which created Cycleway 9 and converted it into a permanent scheme - well, nearly, it was still being worked on during my visit!

I'll go back later in the year to ride along the updated scheme, but as you can see in the photograph above, a pretty familiar type of layout is being constructed which is following the trend set by the earlier Transport for London schemes on Cycleways 3 and 6. This particular photograph shows the cycle track at footway level and this will because the space is being taken from the footway. If you look at this Google Streetview link, you'll see the pop-up cycleway on the other side of the green utility cabinet. 

This change is to allow car parking spaces to be reinstated just before Netheravon Road (behind me where I took the photograph looking west) and the reinstatement of a section of eastbound bus lane (above). The cycle track will have been designed at footway level to avoid having to divert buried utilities.

Elsewhere the cycle track is at carriageway level with it being lifted at junctions onto speed tables within the junctions (see below at the junction with Homefield Road).

These treatments maintain the cycle track priority over the side streets, but unfortunately, pedestrians aren't afforded similar priority with continuous treatments. This would have been a great scheme to use entrance kerbs with to reinforce the "people moving ahead get priority" clarification in the recent Highway Code changes. One other thing which grates is the kerbs forming the junction sweep into the bellmouth which hints at driver priority. Still, a retrofit to all of this would be pretty simple.

Anyway, things on Cycleway 9 are moving forward nicely and it's fantastic to see the start of a serious attempt to give people another travel choice and one which directly serves shops and services as well as providing easy access to Tube stations and the residential areas either side. At the eastern end of this scheme, Chiswick High Road becomes King Street on entering the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham at the junction with Goldhawk Road.

Hammersmith & Fulham also had a bits and pieces of pop-up cycle lane, but it was not particularly coherent. However, the council is currently upgrading it to a new semi-permanent scheme which will essentially extend the C9 work east towards Hammersmith gyratory which itself is going to have decent cycleways pushed through it.

The eastern end of King Street is one-way west, but there used to be a contraflow cycle track. This has been subsumed into the current project which protects cycling in both directions with a lightly protected 2-way cycle track. The photograph below was taken at Holcombe Road looking east. General traffic is one-way towards the photographer and the old contraflow cycle track used to be on the left hand side.

A general view along the eastern end of the street.

Oddly called the "Safer Cycle Pathway", the scheme creates a two-way cycle track which includes bolt-down kerb/ wand units (below), floating buses stops and cycle signals. It seems the council will then look at further tweaks and upgrades later based on feedback. The cycleway runs on the north side of King Street from the gyratory and then swaps to the south near Macbeth Street where it continues west to meet Cycleway 9 at Goldhawk Road. Just call it Cycleway 9 and be done with it folks!

Bolt-down kerbs with wands.

The scheme is tidily constructed and claims a decent width for cycling. The crossover point (below) seems a little odd, but because of the one-way section for general traffic at the eastern end, it makes sense to have general traffic on the correct side of the street leaving rather than having to swing left.

One thing which could be done a little better is the junctions. Two-way cycle tracks in environments like this are always a compromise and and in some cases I felt a bit exposed at side roads with drivers not looking properly and the protection ended too far either side of the junction. As an immediate response, some additional wands could make the turns tighter and may some coloured surfacing could assist with conspicuity.

Gripes to one side, Hammersmith & Fulham is doing a good job and seeing a mobility scooter parked at the side of the cycle track (above) gave a hint that this might be infrastructure that is going to help more people than you might otherwise think. 

At the eastern end, the cycleway will pass Bridge Avenue which provides a link via a crossing of the nearby A4 to Hammersmith Bridge which is currently being stabilised and will soon allow cycle traffic to cross it in the interim while a decision is made on the future strengthening scheme. For my mind, keeping it closed to general traffic gives a great route south to Barnes. That of course is another story.

I'll leave you this week with a video of King Street. It's a little shaky as I had to use my phone because I ran out of battery on my video camera!