Cycle Hire Parking - BIG CHANGES in Merton

 Merton Council is formalising parking of hire bikes (Lime, Forest, etc.). Soon, users will be forced to park in one of the marked bays around the borough, and cannot simply park the bike in a location convenient to them that is not obstructive to other street users.

We note there's been no consultation on this decision, and we were not asked for our views. There is, however, consultation on the bays (because highway changes require statutory consultation). Materials and email address for comments can be found here:

https://www.merton.gov.uk/streets-parking-transport/cycling/hire/overview 

We tend to think that having formal bays in high-demand locations where there have been problems with bike parking will help ensure a more orderly and less cluttered public realm. But it is important that safety and convenience for hire bike users is not sacrificed unnecessarily. Bays need to cater to demand and be located close to where user journeys end. Bays should be on-carriageway both to avoid additional pavement clutter, and to avoid users having to mount pavements. Restricting users to marked bays in less busy locations seems like an overreach. At this point our recommendation is that, similarly to car parking, parking on the carriageway should generally be permitted in residential areas.

 

Raynes Park centre is a high-demand location with many people using hire bikes to get to the station. Most park in the plaza facing Coombe Lane. Looking at the bays, there are none at all in the plaza. 

 

 

There nearest bays that are planned are: 

1. "Wyke Road" -junction with Pepys Rd - capacity about 8 bikes

2. "Coombe Lane" - by the Skew Arch- capacity about 11 bikes

3. "Grand Drive" - at the Grand Drive/Approach Road junction, opposite the Cattle Arch/station entrance -- capacity about 13 bikes

(We are assuming 600mm of bay width per bike, which assumes bikes are parked quite closely; this may be optomistic).

All these bays are off-carriageway.

The problem with all of these bays is they are in the wrong place for a lot of station users. For #1 and #2, for users coming from the west, they have to cross the very dangerous RP Bridge junction to get to the bays, and then cross again on foot. And they are going a total of 300m out of their way. For a return journey, that's over half a kilometer extra.

#3 is a reasonable location for users coming along Kingston Rd or Grand Dr, but not useful for users approaching on the north side of the station. Cycling isn't permitted through the Cattle Arch, and the alternative - going round via Raynes Park Bridge - is dangerous and involves significant extra time/distance. We note with disappointment that there is still no proposal to fix the road-danger issues with Raynes Park Bridge/Coombe Lane junction (poor sight-lines, no formal crossing, etc.), despite forcing hire-bike users to use this crossing.

 

 

Now let's look at Morden centre:

 

 

There is a SINGLE bay - "London Rd" - which is outside Crown House, requiring users to cross the 3-lane Crown Lane gyratory to access it.

Nothing outside Sainsbury's, or Lidl/Iceland. Nothing on the main part of London Rd where all the shops are, or on Abbotsbury Rd. This really isn't good enough.