TfL are undertaking a safety review of junctions on their roads. I'm still not clear whether their definition of safety is 'if you dare to use it you might get away with it', as shown at the Oval above (video regrettably now taken down by the film maker, but it showed the conflict that results from fast moving vehicles, with drivers encouraged to zoom by the motorway style layout, and poor cycle facilities), or 'we want it to be so safe that parents will let their teenage daughters cycle there, and their teenage daughters will want to'.
The latter is achievable, as the Dutch have shown, but it will take quite a lot of work given the poor subjective safety of most of TfL's junctions and I seriously doubt that our current Mayor and TfL are up to the job.
The Oval area is one of those under review. A revised layout should include getting rid of the go-faster railings in the middle of Kennington Park Road; making it easy to cross from the parade of shops to the park, and
slower traffic speeds, with, crucially, less of a race-track/motorway sliproad layout - achieved either by reducing the number of lanes or by giving wide, desirable and dedicated lanes to buses and cyclists.
I fear TfL's commitment will be on encouraging general motor traffic flow at the expense of creating a better place well suited to people travelling about in a healthy and sustainable manner.
Please take a moment to sign LCC's 'Love London, Go Dutch' petition if you haven't already and turn up to the Big Ride on April 28th. And finally, vote for the Mayoral candidate who will deliver most for cyclists in the coming term.
