On Islington’s second most popular cycle route, cyclists pass an echelon parking bay on Drayton Park road outside shops which include a cafe and a plumbing supplies shop, opposite the large white Arsenal sign and Drayton Park railway station. Google Maps streetview.
Drivers routinely double park outside the shops. In addition, the echelon parking spaces are too short for the commercial vehicles that regularly use them. The back ends of long cars and the vans often overhang some or all of the cycle lane. There is, however dead space on the other side of the road.
The problem was first documented officially in the TfL funded CRISP study of the route in 2005, and ignored. ICAG has raised the issue many times with officers but nothing has happened. Most recently, local residents have emailed ICAG and pointed out the danger to cyclists.
It’s extraordinary that council officers decided that there was room for echelon parking here in the first place, then extraordinary that officers would decide to run a cycle lane underneath the parked cars. To cap it all, council officers have hastily painted a second set of marks in the middle of the cycle lane which extend the length of the parking bay beyond the original official marks. Cars are permitted to park in the bay as long as the back wheels of the vehicle fall inside those marks. Of course the tail of the vehicle might still overhang the cycle lane.
If parking wardens are issuing tickets, the recipients are undeterred.
The photos were taken on random days, all were taken since September 2010. Here are some possible solutions:
- remove the temporary marks that allows longer wheel base vehicles to park in the bays but avoid penalties
- shift the carriageway away from the shops to make more room for the echelon parking.
- repaint the the cycle lane in the middle of the carriageway which will encourage cyclists to take the primary position in the road while passing the parking bay.
- convert the parking bay into standard parking spaces adjacent to the pavement.
- remove the parking bay.
Islington has some echelon parking that’s been properly engineered, take a look at the parking on the north end of Roman Way.
There is also the problem that vans backing out cannot see what they are doing or what might be coming along the road. I have asked parking wardens on many occasions to ticket vehicles illegally parked, but I have never seen a ticketed vehicle.
There’s plans to limit the width of this road, with the central refuge between the station and the school replaced more effective width restriction to two 6’6″ lanes in the middle. The cycle lan markings would go, but bikes would use the emergency vehicles only lanes which wouldtake their place. Express your views on Islinton’s consultation site: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/DraytonParkWidthRestriction. It looks OK to me, and might deter some traffic, especially the bigger vans, from this street entirely.
One morning I found a traffic warden inspecting the vans & cars on this site. Given the opportunity to address a fellow human being about the dangers to cyclists, I pointed out one white van which is in the habit of blocking the cycle lane all day, but I did not even get a comment, let alone an agreement that it was illicitly parked. The only good result of the controversial new layout is the removal of the traffic island at the point where cylists had to lurch into the road to avoid the parked vehicles. Otherwise it is so haxardous that I am investigating a different route into town. So much for designated cycle routes. Does no council official who authorizes or designs cycle amenities actually ride a bicycle?