In advance of the Islington Cyclists Action Group celebration of #space4cycling tomorrow, Green Assembly Member Jenny Jones visited to see why this campaign is so needed in Islington.
Jenny joined Green Party Highbury candidates and regular cyclists Caroline Russell and Ernestas Jegorovas along with Caroline Allen, European election candidate to see the road layout at Drayton Park. #Space4Cycling is a London Cycling Campaign (LCC) project to highlight some of the worst cycling provision in London.
LCC members are calling on every candidate in this year’s London borough council elections on May 22 to improve quality of life for all, by making local streets safe and inviting for everyone to cycle. Green candidates support all 16 LCC ward asks in Islington.
Jenny visited Drayton Park where LCC is calling for segregated cycle provision, road narrowing and lower traffic levels around Drayton Park School.
Jenny Jones said “This is my second visit to Drayton Park and I’m shocked to see that vehicle speeds are still far too high, despite having highlighted the problem back in 2012.”
Caroline Russell added “This is a very wide road, there is loads of space, so the lack of segregated provision for cycling is incomprehensible. The council had an opportunity to make this road more people-friendly and less traffic dominated, but blew it on a scheme that had to be removed after a few months”.
Caroline Allen said “Islington faces huge public health challenges due to physical inactivity and air pollution. Creating safe #space4cycling addresses both. Inaction on these issues is simply not good enough.”
Ernestas Jegorovas said “As a teacher I am very happy to support this pledge which will help children and their families cycle to school”.
Islington Greens will be joining Islington Cyclists on the ride.
Note: The full text of the Highbury West ward ask is:
Segregated cycle provision, road narrowing and lower traffic levels around Drayton Park Schools.
About 25,000 vehicles per day are counted on Drayton Park by the primary school; it is a residential rat-run that carries as much traffic as an A road but it is a key route for thousands of cyclists each day. Four primary schools and two secondary schools are attended by 2888 children in the area around Drayton Park and 1585 children aged 3-15 live in Highbury West. A safer cycling environment would encourage parents to let their children cycle to school. Traffic counts and recent casualty data shows that HGVs are only a small part of the problem compared to the volume and speed of rat-running cars and vans. Islington should set targets to reduce motor traffic on Drayton Park and provide segregated facilities all along to protect cyclists from remaining traffic.
