Agenda item

ALBEMARLE ROAD AND BROMLEY ROAD CYCLE SCHEMES

Minutes:

ES20151

 

The report was introduced by the Assistant Director for Traffic and Parking who explained that the report had been drafted to seek approval for the modification of cycle lanes on Albemarle Road and Bromley Rd and also to retain Westgate Road Bridge as one directional traffic. It was pointed out that at the ECS PDS meeting on the 11th of March 2021, the Portfolio Holder had made a decision which recommended that the Albemarle Road experimental scheme be subject to further reviews and consultations and because of this the report was now being presented to the Committee.

 

The Assistant Director for Traffic and Parking highlighted what he considered to be the main recommendations as outlined in the report:

 

1.  The segregated cycle lane which currently existed between the junctions with St. Georges Road and Westgate Road should be retained.

 

2.  It was recommended that the segregated cycle lanes that existed between the junctions with Westgate Road and Bromley Road be removed and that two directional traffic be reinstated.

 

3.  The junction of Albemarle Road with Bromley Road should be changed to ‘no entry’ from Bromley Road and then left turn only towards Shortlands.

 

4.  There should be no change to the one way traffic system that was currently in operation on the railway bridge in Westgate Road.

 

The Ward Member for the Copers Cope Ward, (Councillor Michael Tickner) said that there were two items referenced in the report which had not been taken forward in terms of recommendations. He stated that he would like to add two more recommendations to those that had been outlined in the report. His two additional recommendations were then disseminated to Members by the Committee Clerk.

 

Cllr Tickner said that his first recommendation derived from paragraph 3.15 of the report which referred to cars and cyclists disobeying the one way instructions. In view of this, he proposed an additional recommendation, (Recommendation 2.7) which read as follows:

 

  I.  In view of one way traffic on Westgate Railway Bridge being often dangerously ignored by cyclists, a ‘cyclists dismount’ sign be erected on the south side of the bridge and police be requested to take enforcement action.

 

Councillor Tickner then referenced section 3.18 of the report which referred to the junction of Westgate Rd and Albemarle Rd. The report noted that this junction had in fact been the subject of three safety audits in total. However  the consultation indicated that most responders thought the junction should be redesigned. The report went on to say that the designs for the junction would therefore be considered independent of the recommendations in the report and would rather be approved under delegated powers. Councillor Tickner stated that he was not happy with the recourse to delegated powers in this case and he proposed an additional recommendation, this would be Recommendation 2.8 which read as follows:

 

  II.  Proposals for a reconfiguration of the junction of Westgate Road and Albemarle Road be submitted to the next meeting to include an option for the installation of a mini roundabout

 

Councillor Tickner moved that his additional recommendations be agreed by the Committee and the motion was seconded by Councillor Simon Fawthrop.

 

A discussion took place concerning the extent of the consultation process for the scheme. It was noted that this was a wide ranging consultation involving about 3000 properties and that it was indeed a relatively large consultation for a local scheme. A Member queried what the specific response was from people living near Westgate Bridge. The Assistant Director for Traffic and Parking responded and said that this was not given specific weighting, although it may be helpful to understand. The Ward Member for Copers Cope Ward, Councillor Michael Tickner, commented that the overall response to the consultation was good, was spread out and that in fact no one lived on the bridge.

 

A Member stated that he was pleased that something was being implemented but that in his view the recommendations were disappointing. He opposed the  removal of the segregated cycle lane and the conversion back to two way traffic in the centre of Albemarle Rd. He felt that these recommendations should be reversed. In his view the best option for local residents would be to totally close Westgate Bridge to motor traffic and open the bridge up to cyclists and pedestrians only.

 

Councillor Tickner responded and said that it would not be a good idea to close the bridge as it was a busy bridge with much traffic on it and there was already a lot of pressure on other routes and junctions; he felt that this was not a good idea and would be unpopular with local residents. He further said that if the segregated cycle lane along Albemarle Rd was kept, the Council would need to retain the one way traffic system--however this was causing a lot of frustration with local people who wanted the restoration of two way traffic.

 

A discussion took place concerning how the Council could measure whether or not a cycle scheme was a success. The Assistant Director for Transport and Parking said that there were too many variables--there was no specific guidance on how to judge success in this area; it was not an exact science. With respect to the Albemarle Road and Bromley Road cycle schemes, again there were too many variables. The Assistant Director referred to the scheme as a ‘pop up’ scheme in that it was implemented quickly during the time of the COVID pandemic when funding was being made available for cycle schemes as an alternative method of transport to buses. The funding for the implementation of the cycle scheme needed to be used quickly, and the scheme needed to be implemented swiftly in response to Covid. There had not been time to consider how to measure success.

 

The Ward Member for Farnborough and Crofton (Councillor Christopher Marlow) asked the Assistant Director if he could confirm that feedback would be provided by the end of February 2022 regarding the measures of success for the Crofton Road Cycle Scheme. Cllr Marlow said that this had been promised at the previous meeting. The Assistant Director for Traffic and Parking assured that a response would be provided to Cllr Marlow by the due date.

 

A discussion took place as to whether or not the emergency services had been consulted before the scheme was implemented. A Member commented that the actioning of the recommendations would indeed be of benefit to the emergency services. It was noted that the report mentioned that the emergency services had been consulted; only the police had responded saying that the scheme had not impacted on their response times. 

 

The Assistant Director for Traffic and Parking said that Councillor Tickner would be pleased to know that some consideration had already been applied to the implementation of a mini roundabout in line with his recommendations.  The design of the mini roundabout would need to be safety audited. He said that he would do his best to have the results of the safety audit brought back to the March meeting, but he was not able to guarantee this.

 

The Committee resolved to agree the recommendations of the report and also to agree the recommendations suggested by Councillor Tickner.

 

Councillor Ian Dunn did not agree with the recommendations and asked that this be noted in the minutes.

 

RESOLVED that: 

 

1) The segregated cycle lane between the junctions with St. Georges Road and Westgate Road be retained.

 

2) The segregated cycle lanes between the junctions with Westgate Road and Bromley Road be removed and that in its place there would be the reinstatement of two way directional traffic.

 

3) The junction of Albemarle Road with Bromley Road to be no entry from Bromley Road and left turn only (towards Shortlands).

 

4) The railway bridge in Westgate Road should continue to have one way traffic over the bridge and the traffic be one way southbound (as present).

 

5) The ‘Tiger’ crossing on Bromley Road would be retained and also the retention of cycle lanes but with the modifications to the carriage way markings at the junction of Bromley Road with Shortlands Road; the removal of wands on the downhill/eastbound section of Bromley Road. The ‘wands’ on the uphill section to be left in situ for a further trial period over the coming six months.

 

6) Funding for the changes to be allocated from the TfL budget for the review of LSP schemes.

 

7) The Director of Environment and Public Protection should receive delegated authority to deal with the design amendments across the whole scheme in consultation with the Portfolio Holder and in line with the requirements of the Traffic Regulation Orders.

 

8) in light of the support received for the cycle route and residents’ feedback (evenly split on many of the consultation options) the Council would continue to investigate and seek funding opportunities to improve the environment for cyclists on the Bromley—Beckenham-- Lower Sydenham Cycle Route.

 

9) The two additional recommendations suggested by Councillor Tickner be agreed.

 

 

 

 

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Supporting documents: