Forum topic: Our Green Lanes - saved ?

Took the little old car for its month battery top up run today as I head down from a once 9000 miles pa to a current sub 2000 as I endeavour to shift personal travel behaviour; being my first time driving myself along Green Lanes, this to pick up some panes of glass, I found that by effective use of the steering wheel I didn’t hit an orca, armadillo, wand or anything else. I understand from some comments that this may be close to a unique skill. Once the Hedge Lane section is complete I’ll get the old 2 wheels out and give Enfield Town market a visit, decayed tyres permitting, complete with its newly purchased shopping basket. Assuming that goes as well as driving, walking and waiting for and sitting (occasionally standing) on the bus I really really can’t see what people were SO ANGRY about for so long.

Sorry to interrupt folks, but just wondering how you're all getting on post Mini Holland. TfL is doing a second round of consultation here in Chiswick and they constantly refer us to your experience. Seems from other posts pavements didn't suffer nor did parking. True? False? Campaigning? Here in W4 pavements are to be reduced by half and evening economy parking is to be eliminated entirely. Many thanks for your feedback.

it triggered me to give up about 9000 car miles pa and switch to public transport and feet. I'm not sure my knees see that as a good thing.
Fight to ensure the 50% pavement reduction is in width rather than length, for that would be tough.
if you start from the premise you will always hear that there is never enough parking whatever scenario and wherever is being contemplated than it probably answers pre, actual and post Mini Holland views in one scoop

To answer David Lesniak's question it seems to me that for the time being what people think about the completed Mini-Holland changes depends largely on the prejudices they held before the work began. So most of the noise came, and still comes, from car-bound people who hated the loss of carriageway space and the consequent changes in the position of parking spaces.

Frankly I don't remember every detail of the plans for pavements, but in practice there were changes which seem to me to reduce them. Sometimes this happened in places where there was very wide pavement space so probably no one is bothered, but I do think that one of weaknesses for pedestrians has been in the shopping areas where the pavements were never wide, and now they are bounded by a cycle lane. Whether you think that means the project should not have gone ahead depends on what you think about the importance of cycling, but I think that some compromises had to be made to enable the growth of cycling - cars take up too much room in crowded towns and cities, currently they are very polluting (and that will never be completely erased because tyres affect air quality) , and the habit of driving when walking, cycling or use of public transport would make more sense has to be taken into account. We are an under-exercised nation.

Of course I don't know whether this response helps, but I'd certainly be willing to debate the issues on this website. And I guess Karl Brown and others would too. It is after all a time when kids are starting to campaign about climate change.

One issue that the anti-cycle lane lobby over look is that if more people choose to cycle then you need less vehicle space and less parking - and in some places less pedestrian space. Logically, a committed motorist would support cycle lanes as over time they will lead to less motorised traffic . I have a car but bought a bike a few months ago because of the lanes - so I'm one less car on the road for many journeys.

The narrowing of pavements is only noticeable in those places, in busier shopping areas where the allocation of space to.pedestrians was already tight. People are generally using these areas with courtesy.
One positive consequence of the lanes on pedestrians, that I have observed, is that their presence alone, often directs people towards walking on the inside of the pavement. I don't think the advantage of this position is well publicised. It is also further away from the vehicles emmisions than it would have been otherwise. From what I have learnt about the presence of car pollution in our streets this will mean that people will automatically be experiencing lower levels of pollution.

" I found that by effective use of the steering wheel I didn’t hit an orca, armadillo, wand or anything else."

Karl, missed this previously, but that is absolute GOLD!

Funny, pretty sure the Chiswick scheme had already been fully consulted on and met with overwhelming approval (save some random angry NIMBYs like the very unChristian church and Jo Biddolph's general ignorance of, well, everything).

I've enjoyed walking and cycling around Palmers Green since EMH and have even used my car fine on a few occasions. There's always plenty of parking..... in the car park behind McDonalds.