Monday 14 December 2009

The Manor Road contraflow fa(r)cility























On its website, the Waltham Forest Cycling Campaign lists among its “Achievements since 1997”

Helping to get the contraflow cycle-lane approved in Manor Road, Leyton.

Yeah, right. More on this far(c)ility another day. For today let me just point out that the entrance to the Manor Road contraflow lane seems to be permanently blocked just about every day of the year by this particular parked car.

As far as I can tell the driver is not committing an offence. There’s a continuous white line, but there is along the entire length, which means that all drivers accessing the on-street parking bays have to cross it.

It appears that the only way of preserving the integrity of the start of this contraflow lane would be to introduce double-yellow line ‘no waiting at any time’ restrictions. But obviously the transport planners of Waltham Forest wouldn’t want that. Because a parked car must always come before the safety and convenience of a cyclist. It’s a question of priorities, and the London Borough of Waltham Forest is fully committed to car dependency and increased car ownership and use.