Rivington Street and Charlotte Road Pedestrian, Cycle and Air Quality Improvements

This document outlines Hackney Council’s proposals to improve the environment for cycling and walking on the Central London Cycle Grid along Rivington Street and its junction with Charlotte Road.

The Council is committed to making Hackney’s roads safer for everyone living, working and visiting the Borough. Creating an environment that will encourage more walking and cycling is a key part of the Council’s Transport Vision and an essential part of Hackney’s Transport Strategy.

 

Hackney Council has partnered with other London authorities and Transport for London (TfL) to deliver the Central London Cycle Grid (CLG). The CLG is a network of cycle routes in Central London Zone 1, containing a mixture of Cycle Superhighway and Quietway routes. Quietways are well sign posted, connected cycle routes that provide an attractive and accessible environment for cyclists on low-traffic roads.

 

More detailed information on the CLG, along with a number of other cycle initiatives can be found on TfL’s website: https://tfl.gov.uk/travelinformation/improvements-and-projects/central-london-cycling-grid

 

In addition, The Mayor of London has awarded Mayor’s Air Quality Funding to create a Low Emission Neighbourhood (LEN) in the City Fringe. The LEN is a tri-borough initiative between Hackney, Islington and Tower Hamlets Councils and will include a package of measures focussed on reducing emissions and promoting sustainable travel to improve the local air quality.

 

An integral part of this focusses on public realm improvements to encourage more walking, cycling and low emission vehicles. This scheme forms part of the LEN and wider public realm vision to improve walking and cycling links across Shoreditch and Hoxton.

 

 

What are the proposals?

 

Please refer to the detailed plan attached.

 

Rivington Street between Great Eastern Street and Garden Walk It is proposed to relocate the existing parking bays to improve the westbound cycle contraflow along this one-way road, making it safer for cyclists travelling in the opposite direction towards oncoming traffic.

 

The current cycle contraflow arrangement forces cyclists to ride very close to parked vehicles increasing the risk of collisions when someone opens the door on the path of a cyclist.

 

The current arrangement also encourages travelling westbound cyclists to ride in the middle of the road risking a head on collision with a vehicle travelling eastbound.

 

The Proposals include:

 

Relocating the existing permit holders and motorcycle parking bays located on the southern side of Rivington Street, to the other side of the road. The overall number of permit holders and motorcycle parking spaces in this section of Rivington Street will

not change.

 

 

Hackney wants to improve the public realm at the Rivington Street – Charlotte Road junction, bringing benefits for the local community and making walking and cycling at this location easier and more accessible.

 

• Raising the junction and the approaches and using different materials to encourage drivers to slow down, making it safer for people walking and cycling at the junction.

• Introducing a shared space area at the junction with a kerb-free flat surface with no barriers, allowing pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles to occupy the same space, with more freedom of movement.

• Enhancing the public realm to improve the overall value of the junction, including high quality materials to improve aesthetics and recognise the architectural quality of adjoining buildings.

• Removing kerbs to allow easier movement around for wheelchair users, the elderly and those with pushchairs.

• Relocating the motorcycle parking bay on Charlotte Road (north) to the other side of the road to create deflection and reduce vehicle speeds on the southbound approach to the junction.

• Relocating the cycle parking on Charlotte Road (north) to Charlotte Road (south) toimprove access and minimising the use of traffic signs and road markings to reduce clutter.

 

Your views will be taken into account as part of the detailed design process. We expect

construction works to commence around February 2017 with completion in May 2017.

 

During the works a temporary full closure to traffic will be in operation at the junction between Rivington Street and Charlotte Road for approximately 10 weeks. Lane closures will be required to relocate the parking bays along the western section of Rivington Street.

 

Businesses will continue to operate as normal and the Council will be contacting business

owners to discuss loading arrangements during the works.