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Ealing Cycling Campaign

News January 2010

Cycling in the snow

Despite the snow and ice on our roads, many cyclists are still getting on their bikes. The January meeting was well attended, with several cyclists making the tricky journey on minor roads covered in car-compacted snow that had refrozen into ice. So what is the council's policy on gritting? Back in 2008, we checked with councillor David Millican who sent this reply: "The contractor's brief is to grit the principal roads, known difficult spots, and width restrictions. The borough is responsible for several thousand roads and the majority of these roads and residential footways are not on the gritting list; however residential roads which service bus routes, or have a school on them, are gritted. Residential streets without a bus route or school are only gritted in the event of snow fall." This suggests that the back streets should have been gritted after the snow. Perhaps the snowfall wasn't heavy enough to qualify, or the council are saving money.

New Bicycle Racks and Shelter


In our station parking survey last year, one of worst stations for cycle facilities was Perivale which had no stands (see photo above left). Now, thanks to the Perivale Ward Forum, Ealing Council have built a new cycle shelter. The Ward Forum initiated and funded the project. Each ward has a budget to spend on local improvements, and the public get to choose projects and vote on how the money is spent at Ward Forums which are held four times a year. If you want to improve cycle facilities in your area, or just have your say on how the council spend your money, then it's well worth attending. To find out when the meetings are, and which ward you are in, go to Ward Forums

Ealing Broadway Station update

In October ECC met Boris Johnson, when he promised to review the suggestion that the former District Line entrance (above) be re-opened to reduce overcrowding.   Over 40 million people will pass through the station before the Crossrail works are completed, and a second entrance/exit would be helpful during Crossrail construction too.   The idea could also allow better access to platform level for people with cycles and luggage. Now that Boris has discovered the cost of buying out the lease on Ladbrokes betting shop, he has decided that TfL simply can't afford to pursue the idea further.   A pity.   However, in the unlikely event that Crossrail founders, this is an idea that could be resurrected later. Meanwhile, ECC's Station Cycle Parking Survey 2009 has been well received.   We will be concentrating on this in our ongoing discussions with the station authorities.