City of London vs Southwark Cyclists

Why will this cyclist wait a very long time and then ignore the red light?

In my blogpost of 19th December I wrote about this traffic light:


Finally, in the City of London, the cyclist push-and-wait traffic lights at the junction of Queen Street and Queen Victoria Street weren't working as has been the case for a good three weeks now. Clearly no-one in the City's highways department cycles over Southwark Bridge in a month of Sundays.


There's now good and bad news. The bad news is worse than the good news.


Finally there is now power to these lights (maybe as a result of my reporting it) and as you can see a working red light.


On the bad news side,I have absolutely no idea if the amber and green lights work because cyclists have been prevented from pressing the button that eventually makes the lights change from red to green. (Would a motorist at this crossroads be expected to press a bloody button?)


The cyclists' button is attached to this traffic light

I filled in the on-line reporting form on the City of London website at noon today, so a traffic queue problem of this nature (somewhat less problematic to solve than the Hammersmith Flyover) should have been resolved by  commuter rush-hour tomorrow morning, or at least by the Olympics. I won't be there so please let me know if it's been fixed in the morning or, presumably surely, by the evening rush-hour.


It's totally deplorable that, at the end of Cycling Superhighway 7, cyclists should even have to press a button for the lights to work. It's comparatively incidental in comparison that the accursed button has been barricaded away. 


Let's see what the City of London's strategy says (my bold)

The Transport Objectives in the City of London Community Strategy 2004 – 2014

• To facilitate the provision of an enhanced public transport system which is punctual, reliable, not overcrowded and accessible to all and has greater capacity, especially at peak times.
• To facilitate greater ease of interchange and higher standards of customer information.
• To maintain productive and effective relationships with the strategic transport authorities, operators and policy makers, including the development and maintenance of robust contingency plans.
• To improve the ‘pedestrian experience’.
•  To encourage improvements to the safety of all modes of transport.
• To encourage cycling.
• To deter breaches of traffic regulations.
• To facilitate the maximisation of transport choice at all times of day.
• To maintain the traffic flow.

In all mildness, the City of London can't be said to be doing very well with regard to the last five points of their strategy here.