Regent's Canal towpath - time to ban cyclists?

[wiggydiggy]

I'd be tempted to then keep using it if I did already, but just ride slower - I swapped my commute or any quick journey into town onto the roads a while back but I still use the towpath when I just want to pootle into town or for sighteseeing.

Not sure about 5mph / banning bells BTW I average around 12 on the towpath (any faster and its too rattly) but will happily slow down to a stop if I need to to. The bell is invaluable as its recongnisable by most as whats coming with my patented 'Ding Ding Wave' going down well as does thanking dog owners that properly control their animals.

Education of the cyclists and a hope that people want to use the space together carefully is the only way forward really. Towpath cycling and the use of such space needs a whole different approach to what you use elsewhere and the more people recognise that the better!

 

[User169]

I gave up using the canal in about 2004 because the speedy cyclists pissed me off, use the roads if you want to hurtle along.

Me too. After a dunking (me and bike), gave it up as a bad job.

 

[dawesome]

Where the Lea joins the Regent I used to see dirty great carp flop over in the water, offering a glimpse of fish-belly white. Used to give me the creeps!

 

[srw]

Isn't the answer to fast cycling on towpaths more bikes - and lots and lots of pedestrians? On the grounds that congestion will mean that traffic will eventually settle at a speed that everyone is comfortable with.

(OK - I don't know the route in question, not being a Londoner, but if it works on the M25...)

 

[Davidc]

do these bumps allow wheelchairs to pass freely? The ones on the Regents towpath don't, and the BWB insists that ramps to the towpath are designed to take wheelchairs

Anyone trying to use a wheelchair on that route would need to be suicidal, it would be like using one on the M1 but without a hard shoulder. When I've been there it's been solid with bikes in both directions.

For the Regent's Canal all we need is someone to put up a big prize for a design of a cycle speed limiter which doesn't affect wheelchairs. Someone would come up with one.

 

[wiggydiggy]

I was reading up on the regents last night and it falls under British Waterways 'Drop the pace, Share the space' campaign. It emphasisesthat pedestrians have priority (more than once) and encourages all groups of users to be courteous toeach other, I dont know what that means on the path though - is it advertised anywhere or is it just a website?

http://www.waterscape.com/features-and-articles/features/share-the-space-drop-your-pace

Ps It mentions a figure of 500+ cyclists per hour at peak times, wow!

 

[dellzeqq]

I was reading up on the regents last night and it falls under British Waterways 'Drop the pace, Share the space' campaign. It emphasisesthat pedestrians have priority (more than once) and encourages all groups of users to be courteous toeach other, I dont know what that means on the path though - is it advertised anywhere or is it just a website?

http://www.waterscape.com/features-and-articles/features/share-the-space-drop-your-pace

Ps It mentions a figure of 500+ cyclists per hour at peak times, wow!

I've seen a couple of small (A3) signs that you have to look for.

500 cyclists an hour is not that great - the number using the Kingsland Road is probably a lot more, and I'd have thought the number going through the Angel is a great deal more. Those are north/south routes, and for people going to Islington, Holborn and the West End from Hackney the Regents Canal is a cut-through that avoids the horror that is the Old Street roundabout to the south and the rather random street pattern around De Beauvoir and Essex Road to the north. Having said that......there are alternatives, and people using them would not be disadvantaged.

 

[wiggydiggy]

I've seen a couple of small (A3) signs that you have to look for.

500 cyclists an hour is not that great - <SNIP>....there are alternatives, and people using them would not be disadvantaged.

Hehe to a northern yokel like myself 500/hour is a lot Then again I am always surprised by how many cyclists I see commuting when I am not but I suppose you dont notice the one's in front and behind when you are going the same way.

I think if there was more of an effort then on BW's part to advertise the campaign people may be more considerate? I'd bet most people using the canal probably don't even realise the campaign exists?

 

[albion]

A and maybe hoarse panting cyclist shouting 'excuse me' or a slightly effeminate bell from a greater distance.
Which do you prefer?

Many commuters are very dysfunctional, be it in car or on a bicycle.

 

[wiggydiggy]

A and maybe hoarse panting cyclist shouting 'excuse me' or a slightly effeminate bell from a greater distance.
Which do you prefer?

Many commuters are very dysfunctional, be it in car or on a bicycle.

Ding Ding always. I only ever resort to shouting something if they look like they havent heard me

There should be some onus on the pedestrians as well mind, walking several accross or not doing a quick shoulder check especially on busy sections like this is just rude IMO

 

[Gooner Mad Dog]

Have thought about using that route peeling off by the canal near the pub at Colebrook Rd head right along to Victoria park then up towards Lea Bridge rd, it would be slower scenic route to me rather than cut through, might try it tonight, presume I can get from towpath through Victoria park head NE to Lea Bridge Rd area, looks as if you can on giggle maps!

 

[dellzeqq]

A and maybe hoarse panting cyclist shouting 'excuse me' or a slightly effeminate bell from a greater distance.
Which do you prefer?

Many commuters are very dysfunctional, be it in car or on a bicycle.

I'd prefer a polite, normal voice from a person riding at sub-panting speed. That's a personal thing, though.

As for dysfunctional - well, yes, you're right. None of us are perfect. And almost all of us aim to get our commute over as soon as we can. It's just that this particular canal towpath isn't suited to that.

Here's the latest from the BWB site
The increase in towpath users has been accompanied by an increase in verbal and written complaints to British Waterways reporting incidents of actual and near conflict between pedestrians and cyclists and more general observations about the number and speed of cyclists.
To improve the safety for towpath users in Central London, British Waterways London has been working in partnership with Transport for London to make the towpath safer and more accessible to the thousands of people who use them every day for walking, cycling, jogging and boating.
Following advice from independent experts and liaison with local user groups, a series of physical towpath safety improvements between Old Ford Lock and Camden Town were completed at the end of April and a new Code of Conduct for all towpath users is currently being promoted.
The improvements include:

• a trial of chicanes at City Road Lock in Islington and between Wharf Road and Packington Square in Hackney;
• rumble strips and the words give way written at some bridges with poor sightlines;
• rumble strips and the word slow written on the towpath at some blind corners and slopes;
• towpath refurbishment at a number of locations;
• new Code of Conduct signs displayed at entrances to the towpath;
• improved directional signs at some access points;
• new shared use path signs along the towpath.

British Waterways continues to work with a number of partners, including Transport for London and local authorities, to improve London’s towpaths for the benefit of all users.

 

[CotterPin]

If any of you want to discuss this subject in more detail, feel free to come along to any Islington Cyclists Action Group meeting (2nd Wednesday of the month, Islington Town Hall) where this topic is debated ad nauseum, sometimes to the detriment of issues that truly matter to cyclists

 

[wiggydiggy]

If any of you want to discuss this subject in more detail, feel free to come along to any Islington Cyclists Action Group meeting (2nd Wednesday of the month, Islington Town Hall) where this topic is debated ad nauseum, sometimes to the detriment of issues that truly matter to cyclists

Not my neck of the woods but you've not sold it well lol! I just like talking about towpath cycling in general

 

[Richard Mann]

there is a route parallel, worked out by LOCOG with the LCC. It's not at all bad, although a diversion further north through De Beauvoir Square is really nice.

I was more referring to Bow & Aldgate. Looks like the Olympics has put paid to my old route, and there's a distinct lack of routes across the Lea. The main virtue of the canal used to be ease-of-navigation as much as anything; perhaps with alternative routes signed through Hackney and Islington it isn't necessary any more.