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| Ealing Council Wins Cycling Award... | ||||
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Congratulations to Ealing Council for winning the London Cycling Campaign Award for the best activity to improve cycling in London during 2000-2001. The award, announced on 27 October, was won by a project in Southall aimed at encouraging teenage girls to be more physically active. The Southall Transport Exercise Project (STEP) gave a group of girls from Dormers Wells School training in on-road cycling. It was set up following concerns about the health of Asian women. |
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One particularly striking statistic reveals that Asian women have a 50% higher rate of coronary heart disease than average for UK women. Medical research has identified a lack of physical activity as one of the key contributing factors. As part of the scheme, the girls kept their cycles for 9 weeks, and were provided with helmets, locks and safe storage lockers at school. Sima Stannage, who received the award at a Ceremony in central London on behalf of the Borough of Ealing, said: "It's great to be appreciated for this project. We hope to expand it to more of the schools of Southall." A further scheme is planned for Spring 2002 |
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...And Comes Runner-up as Well. Ealing also came runner-up in the same category. The On-Road Cycle-Training Scheme run by Ealing Transport Department beat-off strong competition from better known initiatives such as European Car Free Day to make it onto the final short-list. The scheme offers on-road cycle training to schools as an advance on the National Cycling Proficiency scheme. The aim is to give children the skills they need for cycling in the urban environment. The project was initiated by Bob Davis, Ealing cycling officer, who was also at the awards ceremony. One of the best things about this training scheme is that it is available to children and adults alike. For more details, and how to become involved, see below. |
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Uxbridge
Road Transit The big issue over the coming months (if not years), is going to be the proposed West London Transit running between Shepherd's Bush and Uxbridge. The favoured option by those in power appears to be for a tram. There are 2 main issues affecting cyclists. The first is whether the Uxbridge Road will remain a through route. Phil Cummings, Project Developer for Transport for London said, "I would like to think so." He hopes that cyclists will be able to ride in the transit lane for the sections where the road is too narrow for a separate cycle track. But this raises the second issue: safety. Two cyclists have died in incidents with tram rails in Sheffield, so this is a matter of great concern ‹ and a reason to favour the trolley bus option. Public consultation on the scheme started in October. A leaflet circulated to 300,000 homes includes a paragraph on cycling: "Uxbridge Road is an important route for cyclists and is a priority strategy route on the London Cycle Network, and where space is available special cycle lanes would be built clear of the transit route. Cycle racks could be provided at transit stops." TfL appear to have taken some notice of our initial objections, but the statement does not guarantee that the Uxbridge road will remain a through route for cyclists. We are concerned at the lack of detail in the proposals presented to the public. The safety of cycles and trams is not mentioned, nor is the knock on effect of traffic displaced to adjoining roads. The cover of the consultation document shows picture of a pencil ticking a box with the caption: "With this equipment you can cut travel times in West London". It fails to mention that the average speed of the tram will be just 22 Km per hour (just under 14 miles per hour). For almost all journeys, a bicycle would be quicker. There are 2 remaining "roadshows" where you can study the outline proposals and speak to TfL staff: 25 October 11 am - 8 pm Hayes Library Golden Crescent Hayes, Middlesex UB3 1AQ 29th October 11am - 8pm Acton Town Hall Acton High Street London W3 31 October 11am - 7pm Queenstyle Furniture 58 - 78 High Street Southall To see details of the scheme, go to: http://www.transportforlondon.gov.uk/wn_transit_wl (The pdf document on this site is exactly the same as the consultation document sent out to homes) To complete the public consultation document online, go to: http://www.transportforlondon.gov.uk/wn_transit_wl_form.shtml |
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Death on the Uxbridge Road It's sad to have to report the death of an Ealing cyclist. Sixty-five year old Michael Baker, of Berry Way, South Ealing, was killed by a lorry as he cycled west along the Uxbridge Road. The incident occurred at the junction with Windsor Road in Ealing Broadway around 11.30 am on Wednesday 3rd October. At the time of writing, no details of how the incident occurred were available. Cycle
Training The council
no longer do the cycling Proficiency Tests, but are running on-road
training for 6 schools. This is farmed out to Cycle Training Co.,
a company run by Simeon Bamford, and consists of 4 x 2 hour lessons
& a one-one session with each child taking the route from their
home to school. In addition to this, the council also have money
(for the time being, at least) to pay Cycle Training Co to train
other small groups of children. Anyone who wants their child or
children trained should form a local group, ideally of 6 to 10 kids
(the usual course consists of 2 instructors and up to 10 children),
and contact Bob Davis on 020 8579 2424 Ext. 57056 who will arrange
the on-road training. Please note that the children should be at
least 9 years old. This offer also extends to adults and even people
without bikes. In time the council hopes to have its own in-house
training. Anyone interested in being trained to be a trainer should
contact Bob Davis on the above number. Bike Racks The council have installed 25 shiny new stainless steel cycle racks outside Ealing Broadway Station. New
Cycle Routes Proposed The Ealing
Centre Forum have produced a document "Developing a Strategy for
Ealing Town Centre". Among the proposals for discussion are the
pedestrianisation of the High Street, W5, and the creation of 5
cycle routes. Three of these - Windsor Road, Ealing Green, and Longfield
Avenue, can be cycled along already, but it's good to see the plans
also include two new routes. The first is two-way cycling across
Haven Green in the North-West to South-East direction. The second
is a route running north from Green Man Lane in West Ealing, across
the railway line on a new bridge, to Manor Road. This would open
West Ealing shopping centre to people living to the north. Events:
Meet at rear
entrance of Perceval House (next to Ealing Town Hall on Ealing Broadway,
W5) Meeting ends at 8.45 pm prompt and adjourns for drinks etc.
at the Polish Cafe on the Grove.
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