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“Great Divide” ride aims to show destructive effect of the North Circular

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Bit of a heads-up on a London-based protest ride though this takes place away from the recent battleground of better cycle safety within Greater London itself.

The marshalled 12 mile ride, which is this Sunday (March 25), will be for Barnet Cycling Campaign’s “Great Divide” protest which highlights the effect that North Circular (A406) has on those who want to travel around or across the borough of Barnet by bicycle. The ride will cross the North Circular Road several times to demonstrate what a formidable barrier it is for a cyclist.

There is a 10am meeting time for the “Great Divide” ride, with a 10.30am start from New Southgate station. The ride will finish with a picnic at Barnet’s ‘secret park’ in the centre of Staples Corner.

Route Map for the ride can found here, with more info on the ride here.

Call to action

David Shannon of Barnet Cycling Campaign told us that many people already commute by bike across the A406, but so many more would if junctions on the road were made safe for cyclists.

“Our 12-mile marshalled ride will allow people to experience in safety the appalling lack of provision for locals and visitors trying to cycle across this vast highway, including the mayor’s inadequate redesign of Henlys Corner.

“It seems that little has been learned since the construction of Staples Corner nearly 60 years ago, with the final design of Henlys Corner not even following the simple recommendations for cyclists in TfL’s own Safety Audit.”

What’s needed in Barnet?

Barnet Cycling Campaign and the London Cycling Campaign want the main north-south crossing points of the A406 to be included in TfL’s junction review program, especially Henlys Corner. On top of this, the campaigning groups want infrastructure improvements to assist the growing number of people who are choosing to cycle across the A406.

As part of the London Cycling Campaign’s Love London, Go Dutch campaign, the London Cycling Campaign/Barnet Cycling Campaign also want a commitment from all the mayoral candidates that, as the head of TfL, they will see to it that whatever eventually happens at Staples Corner and Brent Cross, the design will include “robust”, “high-capacity” provision for cycling.

The Big Ride

As mentioned previously on Going Going Bike, the London Cycling Campaign is organising a ‘Big Ride’ for Central London on Saturday, April 28. That ride, which will be in support of safer streets for cycling and walking, will be on closed roads. It takes place prior to the London Mayoral Elections on May 3. The aim of the ride is to show the Mayoral Candidates that there is strong support to make London streets as safe as possible for cyclists.

More details on that ride can be found here. If you haven’t yet signed the London Cycling Campaign’s ’Love London, Go Dutch’ petition, please do here .

Manchester and Leeds’ most dangerous junctions for cyclists

Injury solicitors Levenes has been busy compiling lists for the most dangerous junctions for cyclists in a number of English cities including London, Cambridge and Bristol. Manchester and Leeds have recently been analysed with the junctions for both shown below.

The lists show the number of cyclist accidents at specific junctions. Lists were compiled using police data that was originally collated by central government and then analysed by Levenes.

Leeds

Roundhay Road-Easterly Road-Harehills Lane in Harehills (23 accidents)
Bridge Road-Abbey Road-Commercial Road-Kirkstall Lane in Kirkstall (17)
Harehills Lane-Chapeltown Road-Potternewton Lane-Harrogate Road in Potternewton (16)
Bainbrigge Road-Headingley Lane in Headingley (14)
Sheepscar Street-Clay Pit Lane-Barrack Road-Chapeltown Road in Sheepscar (13)
Headingley Lane-Hyde Park Place in Hyde Park (12)
Headingley Lane-Cumberland Road in Headingley (11)
The Headrow-Park Lane in Leeds city centre (11)
Royal Park Road-Queen’s Road in Hyde Park (nine)
Kirkstall Road-Burley Wood Mount in Kirkstall (nine)

Manchester

Wilmslow Road/Wilbraham Road/Moseley Road (25)
Wilmslow Road/Walmer Street (25)
Deansgate/Peter Street (19)
Kingsway/Chester Road/Edge Lane (16)
Dickenson Road/Stanley Grove/Stockport Road (16)
High Lane/Barlow Moor Road/Sandy Lane (16)
Wilmslow Road/Great Western Street (14)
Wilmslow Road/Claremont Road (12)
Bolton Road/Manchester Road roundabout (12)
Wilmslow Road/Moss Lane East (11)

To search for cycle accident hotspots near you, Levenes has a national accident map at http://cycleinjury.co.uk/map


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