New cycle lane on Foresters Drive, Wallington, under threat

  A resident in Foresters Drive (on the west side of Croydon Airport, joining Wallington to Purley) has circulated a petition to have the cycle lanes removed.  This is a pleasant road to cycle, except for the propensity for drivers to speed, and the number of felled plastic "wands" on the new cycle lane suggests more than mere accidental damage.

Ray Ward lives a mile away and received the unsolicited petition through his letter box.  Maggie contacted Councillor Jane McCoy (the local Councillor) about the petition.  Jane's helpful response is copied below, and this includes a link to the London Borough of Sutton survey on the cycle lane.  The survey does not close until mid April.

The serious accident referred to in Councillor McCoy's response sadly typifies the worst of the driving on this road.

If you would like to, please click the link and complete the survey.

Today, Maggie and I took a detour to visit the cycle lanes in question and this is what we found.  Obviously, Maggie removed the obstructions, but the Council's suggestion that if the lane becomes permanent, the wands will be replaced with "armadillo humps", will be an improvement. You can also see from the photo that there are cars parked in the northbound cycle lane.  When we last used the lanes, this was not the case, and given the amount of parking space available in residents' drives, we wondered if this was also deliberate. 

Dear Maggie

Thanks for getting in touch and alerting me to this leaflet, and the fact that you and others are supportive of the cycle lanes.

It may be helpful to note this information I posted about recently in respect of this cycle lane:

The lightweight plastic wands have not been welcomed as they are ugly and easily vandalised. Our enquiries revealed that these are temporary and the intention is to replace them with much less intrusive ‘armadillo humps’ should the lane be made permanent. You can feedback your views on the cycle lane trial here.

It might also be helpful to know that the fact that cycle lanes narrow the road is seen by highways engineers as a deliberate way to slow traffic down. Wide roads encourage speeding. Of course those people who drive badly will continue to do so. 

I spoke to the local police about the recent accident and that was entirely poor driver behaviour - a known violater presumed to be under the influence and speeding. It was a unique situation which very sadly has resulted in probably life changing injuries for the poor runner who happened to be in the worst place for this to happen. 

There is a formal consultation on the scheme that you can submit your comments on here.

We are all well here and managing to avoid Covid so far, but the rates in London and Sutton are rising alarmingly so I would urge everyone to take extra care.

Kind regards

Jayne McCoy

Liberal Democrat Councillor for Wallington South

Deputy Leader and Chair of the Housing, Economy & Business Committee

London Borough of Sutton

Email: jayne.mccoy@sutton.gov.uk

Voicemail: 0208 770 5031

Facebook: Councillor Jayne McCoy

Blog: Diary of a Sutton Councillor