A1000 Cycle Lane engagement and consultation - Phase 1

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linkedin Email this link

Engagement has concluded

Have your say on the future of the experimental A1000 Cycle Lane 

Background

In late 2020, the council installed an experimental ‘pop-up’ cycle lane on the A1000, running in both directions, from just south of North Finchley Town Centre to the borough boundary with Haringey. This was a Government and Transport for London (TfL) funded response to help provide alternative travel measures for Local Authorities during the Covid-19 impacts on public transport.

In addition to the Covid-19 response, the A1000 Cycle Lane in Barnet also contributed to our other strategies such as The Long-Term Transport Strategy that sets out

Have your say on the future of the experimental A1000 Cycle Lane 

Background

In late 2020, the council installed an experimental ‘pop-up’ cycle lane on the A1000, running in both directions, from just south of North Finchley Town Centre to the borough boundary with Haringey. This was a Government and Transport for London (TfL) funded response to help provide alternative travel measures for Local Authorities during the Covid-19 impacts on public transport.

In addition to the Covid-19 response, the A1000 Cycle Lane in Barnet also contributed to our other strategies such as The Long-Term Transport Strategy that sets out our direction for change to offer greater choices for travel and encourage more active lifestyles to help increase the health and well-being of Barnet’s residents and improve air quality.

The Long-Term Transport Strategy also links to other important agendas we are working towards, for example the recent announcement of a Climate Emergency in Barnet and updating our Air Quality Strategy Action Plan 2017 - 2022, both of which we will be seeking your views on later in the year.

As part of the installation of the experimental A1000 Cycle Lane we have been continually gathering residents' feedback.


Next steps - we want your input to help us decide on the future of the A1000 Cycle Lane 

We now need to decide if the experimental A1000 Cycle Lane should be made permanent, altered or removed. So as part of considering these options we are rolling out an extensive resident and stakeholder engagement programme. The engagement will primarily consider the advantages and disadvantages of each option, and also have a focus on considering how we can encourage more active travel, which will help inform our final recommendations.

Central Government has also recommended that all experimental Covid-19 related transport schemes have thorough consultations prior to making a final decision and that these consultation activities are conducted by an independent provider to ensure impartiality. As such, the council has commissioned Steer, an independent transport consultancy to lead on this next stage of engagement on our behalf. Steer will foster open and meaningful discussion.


Who do we want to involve

We wish to involve residents, businesses, local community and interest groups, and our partners in a series of workshops and focus groups. These will take place between 31 October 2022 and 10 November 2022.

The workshops and focus groups will mainly focus on the future of the A1000 Cycle Route. There will also be an opportunity to share your views on transport across the borough and how we reach of our transport goals for sustainability and the environment.


How to register your interest in the workshops

Places are limited, so please take the time to register your interest by completing our registration form. Registration will be open until 11 October 2022.

If you want an alternative format of the registration form, please email Steer: barnet@steergroup.com or telephone 020 7910 5000.

Steer will use the information submitted through this form with an aim to recruit a cross section of our communities to be represented at the workshops. In particular, they will look to include:


  • a mix of residents from the different areas of Barnet and different demographics, including those who live directly on the A1000
  • a range of businesses, community groups, interest groups and partners

If you get allocated a place, Steer will contact you the week of 17 October 2022 and provide you with further details of the workshops.

If we are oversubscribed for the workshops and you don’t get a place on this occasion, Steer, with your permission, will share your details with the council who will keep your details on file and aim to ensure you are invited to future events.


What happens after Phase 1 of the engagement closes?

The council will use the engagement findings to inform the final consultation on the Cycle Lane in Phase 2 of the process, from November to December 2022. Following the Phase 2 consultation the Environment and Climate Change Committee will make a final decision on the future of the Cycle Lane in January 2023.

Engagement has concluded

  • We asked, you said, we did

    Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linkedin Email this link

    We asked

    We asked for your views on the future of the A1000 ‘pop up’ Cycle Lane, ahead of a Phase 2 formal consultation planned for November/December 2022.


    You said

    We received a total of 136 people registering for a series of ‘face to face’ and on-line’ workshops and all were offered attendance. A total of 60 of those people attended one of the six workshops.


    A mix of opinions were expressed at the workshops, both in support of and opposition to the scheme and overall people were measured in their comments about the scheme, notwithstanding that some attendees would like to see the scheme removed and many made comments about how the scheme could be enhanced and improved in the future.


    The high-level summary of the workshop findings is as follows:

    • those who support the scheme had reservations about the quality of the provision, as it currently is – not great for cycling and not great for motor traffic
    • those who oppose the scheme do so on the grounds of perceived traffic congestion that has arisen both on the A1000 and redistribution, to surrounding roads. Other opposition was more generalised e.g. facilitating cycling is not something that public money should be spent on, or that new infrastructure does not create new cyclists/cycle journeys
    • a common issue was that the type and quality of provision is not seen as consistent along the route including. lack of segregation at junctions and confusion about the blue cycle patches as used on the A406 bridge
    • there were some concerns around accessibility e.g. disabled parking bays being blocked by other users or insufficient supply of access for disabled people travelling by car
    • people identified how and where improvements could be made including the quality of the surfacing and materials used (segregating bollards seen as cheap and of poor quality), widening of the cycle lane particularly in segregated sections to enable street sweeping, proper segregation on the A406 bridge, introduction of early-release traffic signals for cycles.


    We did

    Following the workshops, we have used the feedback to develop Phase 2 of the consultation process, which runs from 21 November 2022 to 21 December 2022.

    The feedback from both Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the engagement and consultation exercise will help inform recommendations for the future of the route, to be presented to Environment and Climate Change Committee in January 2023.