Dear Dame,
The traffic and pollution levels in Kensington have reached new highs since the council installed cycle lanes on Kensington High Street.
All motorised traffic....cars, buses, taxis, motorbikes and vans have been squeezed into one lane whilst keeping the remaining lane for cyclists.
This Scheme was introduced hastily with minimal resident consultation.
It followed pressure from the government to use emergency Covid-related funding before the end of October ("Use it or lose it !").
What sounded like a good idea has turned into a nightmare: traffic levels have increased horrendously with corresponding pollution levels toxifying the atmosphere.
Residents report:
- endless traffic
- gridlocked side streets
- journey times quadrupled
- hospital appointments missed
No one is immune from the consequence of this ill-conceived mess....
- bus passengers
- parents on school runs
- vulnerable people affected by the pandemic and in need of safe transits
- emergency services
- taxi drivers, delivery vans trying to deliver goods to local businesses
THIS PART OF THE CITY IS BASICALLY HAVING A HEART ATTACK
The “Put an End to the Kensington High Street Cycle Scheme” petition has already gathered more than 3,100 signatures, from local residents and businesses, as well as people who transit through the area for work or necessity.
It can be found on: https://www.change.org/p/
In an effort to make our objections heard we have met with RBKC to discuss the Scheme and request more objective data so as to evaluate its impact.
We’ve also contacted all the residents’ associations (who oppose it almost unanimously), spoken to our MP (for Kensington) and reached out to various groups via social media and the press.
If you agree that the chaos created by these lanes must be ended urgently, please do sign the petition and write to your councillors as well as our MP Felicity Buchan.
Importantly, many of the signatories (including the sponsor of the petition) are cyclists and support greener cities as well as more active forms of travel.
However, what has been done is a badly conceived short-term measure that sets us all back.
We are all proponents of encouraging everyone to exercise more, pollute less, and finding safer ways for people to bike.
This goal- however valid, cannot come at the expense of all the users who share the city’s roads and those exposed to the dangerous levels of pollution this scheme generates.
Kind Regards,
Georges Assi
the 20 mph speed limit and cycle lanes....what could possibly go wrong!
ReplyDeleteWell done Georges for your efforts. Unfortunately we have an intransigent crowd of box tickers working in Hornton Street who are not connected up with public opinion nor are they interested or understand what consultation is about. This is not just a "bitch". I have been banging away about this matter directly with the Councillors and Planners and for them it seems to be an opportunity to fill in forms, blow raspberries, blame the Mayor and collect their pay cheques at the end of the month.
ReplyDeletePlease keep up your good work and let's hope that you can develop such an overwhelming force that they crumble.
It would be so much better (and efficient) if those in the Town Hall behaved like responsible and caring public servants and built a Cathedral of respect for democracy. Unfortunately we suffer from a lack of Leadership which trickles down into the organisation and has produced the dreadful (and expensive) operation that we now have. The cycle lanes are a smaller and much less dramatic event than the dreadful Grenfell disaster. But the cause is the same.
thank you very much for your message Donald, I appreciate it !
DeleteIt is disgraceful to compare some short term difficulties for motorists on Kensington High St. with Grenfell.
ReplyDeleteYour bad taste in making this comparison perhaps signals how few problems you have in life? As you make your way slowly along the High Street in your polluting vehicle perhaps you will have time to reflect on how lucky you are if this is your major problem in life.
And those of us privileged enough to drive in the borough should always remember that we are a minority and that our cars cause serious pollution for us all . Great that the Council is at last waking up to the seriousness of atmospheric pollution caused by selfish petrolheads . Time to move over and share the available road/ pavements with pedestrians & none polluting alternative means of transport
On the bad taste test you win for your faux outrage. Mr Cameron was making a fair comparison to mistakes being made because things were thought through. Are you suggesting cars be banned from our streets because if you are then you are bonkers. This scheme is neither good for cyclists not motorists.
Deletenot thought through
DeleteThere is also a survey about it here, so you can tell Tony Devenish what you think of it: http://www.tonydevenish.org.uk/hsk
ReplyDelete