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To: Wandsworth Council

Keep the cycle lanes in Wandsworth Common and Tooting Bec Common

Wandsworth Council plans to waste £83,000 of taxpayers' money (£85,000 inc consultation fees) to remove the white, raised painted lines from the shared use cycle/foot paths from Wandsworth and Tooting Bec Commons (and associated works).

Unsegregated paths should only be used in quiet rural areas. Guide Dogs, RNIB and other groups representing disabled people say clearly that cycle lanes that are not properly separated from footpaths are dangerous. The roads surrounding both Commons have seen cyclists and pedestrians be injured and killed by motor vehicles. Scarce transport funds should be spent where it can save lives.

Wandsworth Council's own policy states that cycle lanes should be segregated where possible. Segregated lanes are safer and more convenient for everyone who uses them. The London Mayor's Cycling Vision and Department for Transport's 'Inclusive Mobility' guidance also state clearly that segregated cycle lanes are preferable.

Even people who support changing the lanes are unhappy about the cost of doing this. Those who claim that removing the white lines will make the paths safer have produced no substantive evidence to support their claims.

The council should leave the painted lines and instead improve the signage on the paths to make it clearer which side is for cyclists and which side is for pedestrians.

Why is this important?

Even the analysis used by the Council to justify the change suggests that cycling speeds will only be reduced by 1 or 2 mph.

In the space of a couple of hours, over 120 users of Wandsworth Common signed a petition to oppose the change. The Council chose to ignore them, to ignore their own policy, to ignore the needs of disabled people and ignore common sense. The Council used money from Transport for London to put the lines in. They now plan to use more money from TfL to take them out!

Doing nothing would be infinitely preferable to this crazy scheme. By spending a fraction of £85,000 on simply improving the existing lanes and signage, the safety of all users could be improved. (NB funding amount was originally stated in this petition to be £82K).

How it will be delivered

It will be delivered on Friday 2 August at around 3 pm in person at Wandsworth Town Hall.

London Borough of Wandsworth, United Kingdom

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Categories

Updates

2014-06-18 20:39:00 +0100

GREAT NEWS: The Transport Secretary did not approve the Traffic Order that Wandsworth Council applied for to permit them to proceed. A public local enquiry will be held in the autumn - deadline for submissions is September. Further details to follow. Keep the signatures coming! Thanks so much for your support,

2014-05-09 14:30:46 +0100

500 signatures reached

2014-04-28 14:17:41 +0100

Shocking response to my Freedom of Information Act request from Wandsworth Council, please read and keep sharing the link to this petition: http://stickandwheels.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/cycle-lanes-in-wandsworth-and-tooting.html

2014-04-24 11:27:02 +0100

Despite huge opposition, Wandsworth Council are proceeding with these plans. This is a huge blow.

Please keep sharing this petition and if you can volunteer a few hours to help with this campaign, it could make all the difference. Thanks for your support.

2013-08-13 06:23:19 +0100

Great news! Wandsworth Council have agreed to review the plans. Thanks for your support!

2013-08-01 17:03:20 +0100

Thank you all for your phenomenal support! We will be handing the petition in tomorrow afternoon. Staff from 38 Degrees will be coming along to the hand in. If you are free, please join us around 3 pm outside Wandsworth Town Hall (main entrance).

2013-07-30 23:05:45 +0100

Could you spare a few minutes on Weds evening to help?

On Weds 31 July, 5 to 7.30 pm, we will be out in Wandsworth Common on the railway bridge in the centre, to get more signatures. The response so far has been overwhelming, but we can't be complacent. Even if it is for only 10 mins, your help could make all the difference. The first petition was so popular, people queued up to sign it, so it is probably the easiest campaigning you will ever do!

If you do come along, don't forget your umbrella!

2013-07-29 17:58:08 +0100

In response to some criticism, I just want to make it absolutely clear that the proposal we are opposing is the removal of the raised, white segregating lines. The planned change is for the 'segregated shared use' cycle / foot paths to become 'unsegregated shared use'. That will mean that cyclists will still be able to use the lanes, but the protected spaces for cyclists on one side and pedestrians on the other will be replaced by one shared space on the paths.

It is our view, that the recommendations of the RNIB paper 'Put Pedestrians First', the Department of Transport's 'Inclusive Mobility' and Wandsworth Council's 'Wandsworth Cycling Strategy' that shared paths be segregated where possible should be followed.

2013-07-26 09:31:11 +0100

100 signatures reached

2013-07-25 10:00:13 +0100

50 signatures reached

2013-07-25 07:26:43 +0100

25 signatures reached

2013-07-25 04:31:32 +0100

10 signatures reached