As Hackney shows, you don’t need cycle lanes to increase cycling

Vincent Stops, London Borough of Hackney

A recent @Transportxtra Tweet asked: “Is this what a place needs to be like for #smartertravel?” The tweet referred to a map of a small area of Hackney that benefits from a series of road closures which, along with parking controls and self-enforcing 20mph zones, means through traffic is excluded, making it a great place to cycle, walk and play.

To quote Meg Hillier MP Hackney South and Shoreditch, in the Parliamentary cycling debate of 16 October 2014: “...it is possible to cycle around the backstreets of Hackney and rarely meet a moving car. That is what gives me the confidence to cycle slowly in my own little way.”

In Hackney more commuters cycle than drive. Transport for London’s analysis is that 24% of cycleable journeys are cycled. There has been a doubling of the number of walking commuters (as measured by the Censuses of 2001 and 2011). The borough also has the highest bus ridership in the UK.

In Hackney over 100 roads are closed and more than 30 contra-flow cycle lanes allow privileged access for cycles. These closures have an area-wide effect. It is this that enables our MP and others to ‘pootle’ around the borough. (Incidentally, the closures and contra-flows are shown on a Google Map). 

So, in answer to your question, these measures have contributed to Hackney being the most successful local authority area in the UK for smarter travel. 

But closing roads is only one of many initiatives to get residents travelling smarter. The holy grail is to integrate transport and planning. Hackney has seen high levels of housing development, at London Plan density levels, but with no general parking. 97% of new development in recent years has been car-free, not just at locations with high public transport access, but across the borough. In the ward I represent 268 units have been built without access to on-site or on-street parking. This has meant that, while Hackney’s population rose by 40,000 between censuses, the number of cars on the street reduced by 4,000. Hackney’s residents, however, retain access to cars via car clubs, with over 100 cars in the borough.

All of Hackney’s residential streets are self-enforcing 20mph zones. The borough has also reduced speeds on B roads using speed tables and entry treatments that slow turning traffic. On its primary network the focus has been on the junctions, where most injuries occur. On the links between junctions there is good bus lane coverage that provides a reasonable facility for cycles, albeit during operational hours. Prompted by the local cycling community, the borough and TfL have introduced some wide carriageway widths (4.5 metres) on the primary network. These allow cycles and large vehicles to pass each other safely. At these locations the white (centre) line has been removed. 

Hackney has little cycle-specific infrastructure. Cycle lanes mean fast-moving cycles, too far to the left, with vehicles turning across them. They encourage drivers to travel faster, believing that cycles will keep to their side of the line. Lanes are a particular problem near junctions and adjacent to parked cars, both risky locations for cyclists. Kerb-separated tracks would be inappropriate on Hackney’s streets where there is so much cycling, pedestrian, bus and loading activity. The safety benefits are overstated.

To meet the need for cycle parking, the borough pioneered a trial of on-carriageway cycle parking and adopted the Lambeth on-carriageway secure cycle hangar. Both have proved huge successes and have been rolled out across the borough.

Walking has not been forgotten. In all of its street works Hackney considers all modes. Getting the basics right has been the key. Almost every junction is protected by yellow lines, which keep sight lines clear. A borough-wide programme of dropped kerbs is almost complete. Pedestrian guardrailing has been systematically removed because there is no benefit to pedestrians and it can trap cyclists. Hackney’s Mare Street was transformed by removing the guardrailing in 2006 (thanks in part to LTT’s John Dales).

Hackney manages its footways better than most. None are cluttered by advertising boards (which obstruct the free movement of pedestrians). Most other pavement obstructions are removed too, unless specifically licensed. Much footway parking has been removed, using the controlled parking programme.

Beyond the basic task of providing level, continuous and clear pavements with single stage pedestrian crossings at locations pedestrians might use, the borough has upgraded the quality of paving and undertaken many streetscene improvements. Every street, district and local centre has benefited from tree planting, wider pavements, and clutter removal. Hackney’s Narroway, in my ward, has been pedestrianised and will soon see public realm improvements, once a major streets scheme is implemented. Hackney has even worked with TfL to build a beautiful bus stand! Every streets scheme, large or small, is an opportunity to improve the look and feel of the street – place is as important as movement.

Nor has the bus been forgotten. Hackney is implementing bus priority schemes where others are exchanging them for bike lanes. The borough is filling in bus lay-bys and ensuring all of its stops are fully accessible.

One of the characteristics of smarter travel should be streets with reduced motor traffic, as the Tweet implied. This means closing ‘rat runs’ either by design or retrospectively. But that’s only part of the incremental change needed to create a better balance between motor vehicles, cycles and pedestrians in the city.