Petition to support the New Malden to Raynes Park Mini Holland cycling and walking route

Please sign our petition in favour of the proposed New Malden to Raynes Park Mini Holland Cycling and walking route;

http://bit.ly/new-malden-greenway

Prudential FreeCycle Feeder Ride, 1st August

Join a family-friendly ride along quiet roads to and from the RideLondon FreeCycle 2015, led by experienced ride leaders from London Cycling Campaign’s Merton Group.

• Route: Wimbledon to Green Park (Constitution Hill)
• Start point: Wimbledon Police Station, 15-23 Queens Road, Wimbledon SW19 8NN
• End point: Green Park (Constitution Hill)
• Start time: 09:00
• Distance: 9 miles
• Return ride start point: Green Park (Constitution Hill)
• Return ride start time: 15:00

New Malden to Raynes Park link, community event this Saturday

Community event on footbridge between Alric and Dukes Avenue
Saturday 20 June 10am to 1pm

The New Malden to Raynes Park link is a project progressing under Kingston's successful Mini-Holland bid. The aim of the event is to provide local residents with detailed feedback from previous engagement events with particular focus on safety and local ecology issues. Sustrans, who are developing the route on behalf of Kingston Council will be attending, along with LCC representatives from Merton and Kingston.

Please do join us to find out more about the project and have your questions answered.

Become a FreeCycle 2015 Marshal.

Last year, our volunteer marshals helped to successfully lead over 2500 riders into Central London from over 30 London Boroughs. These rides are aimed at giving less confident cyclists the opportunity to ride into the event in the company of experienced cyclists, and on a pre-planned quiet route. For many people these rides provide the confidence to start cycling regularly.

Around London, a review of the Cambridge Junction proposals in Westminster

Westminster Council are consulting on changes to the Cambridge Circus junction, where Charing Cross Road meets Shaftesbury Avenue. An MCC member takes a closer look at the proposals

First of all, the practice of redesigning isolated junctions is inherently hostile to cycling. In the absence of a plan for cycling that covers the West End, it is difficult to say how changes to this junction will affect cycling. However it is possible to say that encouraging cycling will benefit pedestrians, by encouraging modal shift away from motor traffic.There are many pedestrians who would like to cycle but are put off by the road danger they witness. If the West End were more cycle-permeable, a lot of cyclists would likely avoid this junction. The point being - considering pedestrians and cyclists as separate groups, and treating a junction as if it were not affected by the surrounding environment - is flawed. Hopefully that will be clearly illustrated by the following comments.

Wimbledon Quietway

The Wimbledon Town Centre to Plough Lane section of the London Quietway network is currently being planned for delivery in 2016. The work is at an early stage, and will continue to change before formal public consultation.

This article takes a look at the current configuration of Merton Councils planned route, along with an alternative route in order to examine the problems and benefits of each. The Merton Cycling Campaign have not yet taken a position on its preference, and would welcome comments from anyone interested in this important project.

The New London Quietways

The London Quietway network was first announced in the Mayor's Vision for Cycling published in 2013. Intended to compliment the high capacity Superhighways, the Quietways would be designed for those wanting a more relaxed journey on low-traffic side streets.

The Mayor declared the following objectives for these new routes:

• They will be direct.
• They will be better-surfaced.
• They will be clearly signed.
• Each route will be delivered as a whole, not piecemeal.
• They will not give up at the difficult places.
• Barriers and ‘Cyclists Dismount’ signs will be removed as far as possible.
• Where directness demands the Quietway briefly join a main road, full segregation and direct crossing points will be provided, wherever possible, on that stretch.
• We will use judicious capital investment to overcome barriers (such as railway lines) which are often currently only crossed by extremely busy main roads. Subject to funding, land and planning issues, we will build new cycling and pedestrian bridges across such barriers to link up Quietway side-street routes.

VoteBike replies from Merton's election candidates.

In the run up to the General Election the national cycling charity CTC encouraged voters to contact their candidates to ask them their views on cycling and five specific policy measures as recommended in the "Get Britain Cycling" parliamentary report.

Ambition
Increase levels of cycling to 10% of trips by 2025 and 25% by 2050.

Funding
An average government spend of at least £10 per person per year on cycling.

Design standards
Create consistently high design standards for cycling in all highway and traffic schemes, new developments and planned road maintenance work.

Safety
Measures to improve cycle safety by strengthening road traffic law and its enforcement and revising the Highway Code.

Positive promotion
Support positive promotion of cycling, including cycle skills training, for people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities.