‘Where is the campaign supporting the safety etc of pedestrians?’

• I ENCOURAGE those for whom Prince of Wales Road matters – you live there, walk, drive or cycle along it – to look closely or even contribute to the current online “consultation” and consider aspects of it.

It is referred to as the “Prince of Wales Road Eastbound Pop-up Cycle Lane” and is run by Camden using a site called “Commonplace”.

It seems that your contribution could have a critical impact on the decision as to whether the latest cycle lane will stay or go.

It invites you to click on different opinions. On Saturday April 24 there had been 192 contributions.

I assume most readers are like me and see cycling as greatly to be encouraged. But not at the expense of weaker brethren like young children, old people, bus passengers and generally anyone on foot.

So let’s look at an analysis of the 192 who contributed to this “consultation”; 42 said they thought this cycle lane made it “safer for children to walk, cycle, scoot”.

Who seriously believes that children are safer having to check on four lanes of traffic before starting to cross the road? Even worse, finding that when they get off a bus they step down into a bike lane?

So one suspects, as so often, that we are witnessing the well organised cycling lobby in Camden encouraging its members to write in, saying whatever they can to cause the lane to be retained.

Where is the campaign supporting the safety etc of pedestrians? It doesn’t exist but on the contrary. The Pedestrian Association changed its name to Living Streets and has been largely taken over by the activists in the cycling campaigns.

Living Streets even supported cyclists being able to ride on the pavement at the Haverstock Hill / Prince of Wales Road junction. Fortunately wiser counsels prevailed and that was scrapped.

Camden is going to have to decide whether to retain this cycle lane. Are they going to accept the opinion of the stronger against the weaker and just count numbers?

At least 36 people said it is “less safe for children to walk, cycle, scoot” and an additional 25 that (without referring to children), “walking here is still unsafe or less safe”.

I urge anyone who cares about this to contribute to this consultation run by “Commonplace” for Camden.

BRIAN BENJAMIN
Queens Crescent, NW5