Obstructing safe streets

I have been meaning to write to Lambeth Council concerning parking at the mouth of the junction of Renfrew Road and Dugard Way. Most evenings and weekends the junction is blocked by cars, restricting pedestrian, wheelchair and push chair movement and creating a sight-line hazard for people on bikes. 

There need to be double yellow lines here - especially as this is the only non A-road link between two cells of quiet roads. It should be made safe for children to cycle around.

There is, normally, less of a problem Monday to Friday 8.30am to 6.30pm when the single yellow line explicitly prohibits parking and, crucially, wardens enforce it. However this morning the drivers of the two vans pictured had ignored the yellow lines and dropped kerbs. They were still there at lunchtime. Both had blue folders in the windows, the sign of a police vehicle. The drivers are presumably in the police section house on the road - hardly an emergency meriting such anti-social and hazardous parking.

Here's a reminder of Highway Code 243 (Apart from parking on the yellow line, wardens in London can issue a Penalty Charge Notice for blocking a lowered kerb).

DO NOT stop or park:
near a school entrance
anywhere you would prevent access for Emergency Services
at or near a bus or tram stop or taxi rank
on the approach to a level crossing/tramway crossing
opposite or within 10 metres (32 feet) of a junction, except in an authorised parking space
near the brow of a hill or hump bridge
opposite a traffic island or (if this would cause an obstruction) another parked vehicle
where you would force other traffic to enter a tram lane
where the kerb has been lowered to help wheelchair users and powered mobility vehicles

The police locally have form on ignoring parking rules for their own convenience.

Anti-social behaviour in Kennington

Above is a picture of Gilbert Road tonight with, I think you'll agree, any amount of space to park if you're not too worried about single yellows. It's just around the corner from the police section house in Renfrew Road where lots of the police that I saw protecting the bankers today (see previous blogpost) are staying. The police found the permitted spaces outside the section house were full, so did they park on the road around the corner? Did they heck. They just stuffed their vans all over the pavements.

Job Creation the NHS way

'Please Give Blood' is the appeal on the back of this NHS van (MK59 LZU) parked on Tooley Street outside London Bridge Station with its hazard warning lights on shortly before 4pm today, enticing cyclists to nip out into the general traffic lane.

The van's in the mandatory cycle lane ('You MUST NOT drive or park in a cycle lane marked by a solid white line during its times of operation' - Highway Code 140) on a red route marked with double red lines ('no parking at any time').

There is no driver in the van.

It may be that the NHS has special dispensations that permit its vehicles to be parked in such a way as to encourage cyclists to mix it with the lorries and taxis. Even if they do I bet there's somewhere else the van could sensibly be parked at London Bridge that doesn't place the vulnerable road user at risk.

Maybe that's the intent though - the NHS wish to increase the demand for their services by upping the numbers Killed and Seriously Injured while also discouraging others from healthy lifestyle options that put health care professionals out of work?

Why I bypass shopping at Tesco Kennington

 Today, on my way back from shopping at a rival to Tesco that I prefer to frequent I was forced to a halt because of a Tesco lorry parked on a double yellow line totally obstructing the cycle track in Vauxhall Street. This is one reason I shop elsewhere.

The driver could have found a sensible place to park and Tesco could have called his mobile when the store was ready to receive his load.

Instead Tesco are happy to place cyclists' lives at risk - this is after all part of London Cycle Network Route 3 - a backstreet route intended to be appealing and safe for inexperienced cyclists such as children. Needless to say this is not a one-off incidence but a frequent occurrence at this store.

I'm emailing the store manager to ask why the suggestion I make above is not already in place, and to ensure that it or a similar equivalent will be put in place and the situation never arise again. I'll publish his/her reply.

No entry except cyclists

Finally the DfT seem prepared, following trials in Lambeth amongst other places, to accept having a standard 'No Entry' sign with the words 'Except Cyclists' underneath. It'll be easier to understand than the current permitted version:

This is Glasshouse Walk, just off the Albert Embankment, which has only recently become two way for cyclists. All we need now is some cycle parking outside the otherwise terrific Madeira Cafe to help persuade their customers to cycle there rather than driving.... and parking their cars in the cycle lane.

The cost of inconsiderate parking

Our local councillors blog celebrates the fact that Pratt Walk and Juxon Street will be resurfaced in March 2011.

These road works require quite a lot of planning and preparation, not least booking contractors and giving residents notice that they'll need to park elsewhere on the day. And, of course, putting up signs prohibiting parking in the places where it is normally permitted.

Funnily enough this all happened in these very same streets recently and, the other day, some resurfacing vehicles turned up to do the work. So why didn't they go ahead?

Rumour has it that they were unable to as the police had ignored the signage and taken the opportunity of lots of suddenly clear space to park their fleet of riot vans there.
Should the rumour be true I certainly hope the council will be billing the police for the cost of rescheduling the work.

I can't help but wonder whether the resurfacing contractors should have kettled the riot vans.

Loom(is)ing on a Cycling Superhighway near you

A Loomis 'security' van on the Cable Street segregated bit of CS3 today by Shadwell Rail Station that it was presumably delivering to. A few feet forward of the van the double yellow line on the left becomes a single yellow allowing loading/unloading.

Alternatively the van could have turned left into Dellow Street directly opposite the station.

 Let's look at Loomis' values shall we?

Our values are prominent in all our Loomis locations and drive a culture committed to deliver an honest and reliable service.


People
We are committed to developing quality people and treating everyone with respect.

Service
We strive for exceptional quality, innovation, value and exceeding customer satisfaction.

Integrity
We perform with honesty, vigilance and high ethics.

These words reflect Loomis' focus on creating a company culture that can deliver services to our customers in a responsible and confidence-inspiring way.

It is how we live our values in everyday life that make us different from our competitors.

Waterloo cars - happenstance or result?

Well done to all those people who complained to TfL's Taxi and Private Hire office about Waterloo Cars's mini-cabs parked on the yellow line and in the mandatory cycle lane on Cycling Superhighway 7. I haven't been that way for a few days but at 09.45 today it looked like this. Fingers crossed for the future.

Site to record bike lane parking, plus local meeting

Apropos my blogs about Waterloo Cars, I've been told about a new site mybikelane.com to log illegal parking, and that a Kennington meeting is planned for the 9th November.

TfL meet their Waterloo

We all make cock-ups at some point and some may argue for TfL to be cut a bit of slack for assuming, as we cyclists have, that if it looks like a yellow line and a mandatory cycle lane then that's what it is. A quick slap of blue paint over the top and you've got a whizz-bang Cycling Superhighway.

TfL have just apologetically been on the phone to explain that it turns out to have been a faux green cycle lane outside Waterloo Cars on Southwark Bridge Road, so it's now a faux Superhighway.

You see, wardens can't enforce no parking there because in some way or other the old cycle lane wasn't correctly lined and signed, hence neither is the shiny blue one.

Apparently they've been on the case for a while now and promise it'll be resolved soon....

In the meantime, I can't resist the opportunity to invite you to sing the following, maybe replacing Napoleon with Boris in the lyrics

{Waterloo, Waterloo)
(Where will you meet your Waterloo?)
(Every puppy has its day)
(Everybody has to pay)
(Everybody has to meet his Waterloo}


Little General Napoleon of France
Tried to conquer the world but lost his pants**
Met defeat, known as Bonaparte's retreat
And that's where Napoleon met his Waterloo

WATERLOO
(Marijohn Wilkin / John D. Loudermilk)

Waterloo Cars late morning today

Ice Cream vans in Future Cars Challenge

I've 'borrowed' this lovely image from the wonderful London SE1 and hope they don't mind. Here's a splendid promo photo of some of the vehicles taking part in the Future Cars Challenge this coming Saturday. As the shot is taken on Westminster Bridge it's no surprise to see two Ice Cream vans included.

The challenge is to get the vans to stop trading in the bus lane, red route, cycle lane and I fear that the overstretched Met lack the resources to be able to tackle this kind of organised crime. Given this dire enforcement on our roads it's no wonder some cyclists prefer the mellow safety of the pavement.

Campaign against Waterloo Cars

As always, flouting the parking and traffic orders - just like yesterday.

I suggest readers write to TfL at the link below stating something along the lines of "Please take away Waterloo Cars' Operators Licence on Southwark Bridge Road for blatant transgression of the yellow line and mandatory cycle lane on a daily basis over several years."

If enough of us write in it may just happen. Here's the complaints site.

How do Waterloo Cars get away with it?

I resolved yesterday morning to take a more upbeat approach to this blog. The resolution was shattered by a blasted horn five minutes into my ride mid-morning.

I went northbound, past the blue mini-cab parking zone, on Southwark Bridge Road, unsurprisingly riding my bike on the main part of the highway, before stopping at traffic lights. Looking across the junction the cycle superhighway had a taxi parked in it and a van unloading. So I kept my road position across the junction to ride on the road, adjacent to the blue parking zone, only to get a blast of the horn from a dumper truck's moronic driver behind me presumably for having the gall to be in his way rather than ploughing into the back of the obstructions.

Time for another photo of Waterloo Cars mini-cabs obstructing the mandatory cycle lane parked on a single yellow line and an attempt to find out if anything is being done about it. I phoned Southwark Council and a highway planner told me the yellow line applied from 08.30 - 17.30 Mon-Fri; that the mandatory cycle lane would certainly have the same hours; that it was a parking offence to park and a traffic offence to enter the cycle lane. He advised that both offences were decriminalised and Southwark was the enforcing agency but that they don't take action against the traffic offence of entering the cycle lane. 5 minutes observation would be the minimum normal observation period for a warden to confirm that someone was parked rather than loading/unloading.

Even though it is a cycling superhighway, as it is a borough road TfL don't have any enforcement powers. Except, that "Any person who operates private hire vehicles in the London area must be licensed by Transport for London (TfL)." so please TfL, can you take Waterloo Cars' licence away. (The relevant TfL department has just moved in Palestra on Blackfriars Road so are around the corner if they want to check for themselves).

Meanwhile, the next stop is the Head of Southwark's Parking Enforcement to see what is going wrong with their enforcement.

Tesco Fiasco

Dear Tesco
Can you please tell me whether disciplinary action will be taken against the driver of your Tesco delivery vehicle AY55 JWA which was stopped in the Mandatory Cycle Lane of Cycle Superhighway 7 at 09.09am on Wed 28 July? A photo can be found at www.kenningtonpob.blogspot.com . Should you not take disciplinary action please let me know the reason why this decision was made.

Ice Cream Wars

It is ludicrous that two ice cream vans (one pictured) can regularly and blatantly sell ice-cream on Westminster Bridge in the bus and cycle lane on the red route in, I believe, the Bishops Ward, Lambeth part of the bridge.

Please TfL re parking or, if Lambeth has the jurisdiction on illegal trading, act on this.

Better still both.


There must be security cameras, Palace of Westminster Marksmen in need of practice, and even some traffic wardens who could do something every time the vans stop on the bridge never mind set up shop. Surely the South Bank Employers Group have security staff who could radio in when they appear.

I would hope that I never see them there again from a week's time. Otherwise I'll have to suspect someone's being paid a large sum of money to turn a blind eye.

By the way, googling the van's registration number I found http://london.mybikelane.com/map/plate/7084