Mini Holland 7-11-15

MINI HOLLAND

FROM: Claire Weiss

Dear all,

I have sent the following communications (edited as appropriate) to: Jennette Arnold AM, Stella Creasy MP  and the three Waltham Forest Lea Bridge Ward Councillors:

As you know, one of the big issues under discussion and implementation in the borough is the Mini-Holland £30million-worth of improvements to travel and the environment in Waltham Forest. In general I support the aims of this project.

I am writing to you about a new element of Mini-Holland that has cropped up this week with the release of the consultation on the main works to Lea Bridge Road: to many people's surprise the eastbound bus lane is going to be removed entirely from the border with Hackney at the Lea up to the Bakers Arms.

From what I understand, there is a theory that if the traffic all goes along in one lane with no indentations for bus stops and no bus lanes, all traffic will proceed at the pace of the buses and so this means bus times would be optimal.

I have raised the following two questions with Jennette Arnold AM:
1. Has the removal of bus lanes as part of Mini-Holland been set out as a principle of general design?
2. Can you point me to any sources of research which have analysed the removal of bus lanes?

As you can imagine, this matter is causing a great deal of consternation locally, not least because in the preliminary consultations last summer the removal of the eastbound bus lane in Lea Bridge Road was not written into the narrative. It has now appeared, but without any particular heads-up for people. Unfortunately it seems to be another communication clanger for the project.

Although the Mini-Holland project is a local authority matter, I do think that changing traffic priorities in the Lea Bridge Road is something that will affect far more than just the local residents. For instance many vehicles from north London use the eastbound Lea Bridge Road from Hackney to turn off at Orient Way heading for the A12, M11 or Leyton Mills shopping centre. Travelling the road most days I see that it is used hugely by vehicles that are actually engaged in work of some kind such as goods delivery, service and business visits etc. Therefore I have also written urgently to Stella Creasy MP.

Does anyone in SLM or wider know more about the latest theories on bus lanes and their effectiveness?

Cheers,

Claire

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Evening Standard report

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