We believe that there would be a benefit to many local residents, who are doing their best to comply with the new regulations, if the space currently allocated to motor traffic along some of the borough’s shopping streets could be reduced and/or private through-motor traffic prohibited. This would leave more space for people walking, queuing for groceries and, of course, riding cycles for exercise/essential transport. This would reduce the risk to pedestrians of walking in the road, and help them maintain a separation of >2m, thereby reducing the potential for transmission between people of the Covid-19 virus. We would, of course, envisage that public transport and emergency vehicles would be excluded from any through-route prohibitions, and any interventions may expedite emergency access in formerly congested areas. We would support any modal filtering on residential roads and our members believe that interventions (modal filtering, traffic reduction or reducing space for driving and increasing it for people walking and cycling) would be particularly valuable on the following streets: • Broadway Market The gates that are used to prevent motor traffic on market days could be closed during the lock-down period to enable people to walk on the road to enable them to keep 2 meters apart. The removal of through motor traffic and parking would allow enough space for people to use the street safely by foot or bike. Deliveries to shops could be facilitated either by opening one of the gates or by timed openings. Ideally, this should be combined with a modal filter on Cat and Mutton Bridge (permitting bus access) to remove through traffic from the entire cell. A filter on Cat and Mutton Bridge would likely reduce motor traffic on Whiston Road, thereby providing an alternative cycle route to the congested canal towpath. • Well Street Market A bus gate at the location of the Well Street Market, on Well Street before the junction with Collent Street would open up this area for safe access to vital shopping amenities. • Chatsworth Road Emergency vehicles / buses-only gate, which could be located either at the north end, near Lea Bridge Road or on Brooksbys walk towards the south end. It would be important to position the gate so that it could not be bypassed by any residential roads. Owing to the presence of the Council depot on Millfields Road, council vehicles may also need to be given access via the gate. • Stoke Newington Church Street The pavements on Church Street are especially narrow. The street provides numerous essential shops and is a key route for accessing the green spaces for exercise. Bus gates at the Stoke Newington High Street junction and at the junction with Albion Road, alongside a lower speed limit for buses, would allow the more able and confident people to be able to go on to the road when required, and so allowing the more vulnerable pedestrians to remain on the pavement while preserving the 2 meter distance. 2 • Victoria Park We welcome the reopening of Victoria Park, but if it is to remain closed to adult cyclists, then an alternative east- west route should be provided. As suggested in earlier email, our preference would be filters on Victoria Park Road, Gore Road and Cadogan Terrace. If a modal filter on Victoria Park Road is out of the question owing to emergency service access, a modal filter on Gascoyne Road beside Well Street Common should be included instead (at the junction with Bradstock Road). We would like to see Tower Hamlets Council bring forward the promised bus gate on Grove Road. However, if they are unwilling to do so, Hackney Council could introduce such a restriction at the borough boundary. • Downs Park Road The filtering of Downs Park Road and Downs Road would provide more space for people running and cycling, leaving the relatively narrow paths on Hackney Downs for people to walk safely. The above list is not intended to be exhaustive, and there may be other areas where you might consider interventions to be appropriate - for example, at the dual-carriageway section of Hackney Central and expediting trials for filtering in the London Fields area. As suggested in your recent interview reported in the Guardian, given the nature of the public health crisis we face, changes should be made rapidly and then monitored so adjustments can be made to resolve any issues. We would be grateful if you would consider the above when looking at any street interventions over the coming days and we would be pleased to lend our support to any schemes that achieve the relevant objectives. Regards Hackney Cycling Campaign 3 • Broadway Market The gates that are used to prevent motor traffic on market days could be closed during the lock-down period to enable people to walk on the road to enable them to keep 2 meters apart. The removal of through motor traffic and parking would allow enough space for people to use the street safely by foot or bike. Deliveries to shops could be facilitated either by opening one of the gates or by timed openings. Ideally, this should be combined with a modal filter on Cat and Mutton Bridge (permitting bus access) to remove through traffic from the entire cell. A filter on Cat and Mutton Bridge would likely reduce motor traffic on Whiston Road, thereby providing an alternative cycle route to the congested canal towpath. • Well Street Market A bus gate at the location of the Well Street Market, on Well Street before the junction with Collent Street would open up this area for safe access to vital shopping amenities. • Chatsworth Road Emergency vehicles / buses-only gate, which could be located either at the north end, near Lea Bridge Road or on Brooksbys walk towards the south end. It would be important to position the gate so that it could not be bypassed by any residential roads. Owing to the presence of the Council depot on Millfields Road, council vehicles may also need to be given access via the gate. • Stoke Newington Church Street The pavements on Church Street are especially narrow. The street provides numerous essential shops and is a key route for accessing the green spaces for exercise. Bus gates at the Stoke Newington High Street junction and at the junction with Albion Road, alongside a lower speed limit for buses, would allow the more able and confident people to be able to go on to the road when required, and so allowing the more vulnerable pedestrians to remain on the pavement while preserving the 2 meter distance. • Victoria Park We welcome the reopening of Victoria Park, but if it is to remain closed to adult cyclists, then an alternative east-west route should be provided. As suggested in earlier email, our preference would be filters on Victoria Park Road, Gore Road and Cadogan Terrace. If a modal filter on Victoria Park Road is out of the question owing to emergency service access, a modal filter on Gascoyne Road beside Well Street Common should be included instead (at the junction with Bradstock Road). We would like to see Tower Hamlets Council bring forward the promised bus gate on Grove Road. However, if they are unwilling to do so, Hackney Council could introduce such a restriction at the borough boundary. • Downs Park Road The filtering of Downs Park Road and Downs Road would provide more space for people running and cycling, leaving the relatively narrow paths on Hackney Downs for people to walk safely. 2 The above list is not intended to be exhaustive, and there may be other areas where you might consider interventions to be appropriate - for example, at the dual-carriageway section of Hackney Central and expediting trials for filtering in the London Fields area. As suggested in your recent interview reported in the Guardian, given the nature of the public health crisis we face, changes should be made rapidly and then monitored so adjustments can be made to resolve any issues. We would be grateful if you would consider the above when looking at any street interventions over the coming days and we would be pleased to lend our support to any schemes that achieve the relevant objectives. Regards Hackney Cycling Campaign 3 12th May 2020 Dear We are grateful for TfL’s recent work to make walking and cycling safer in Hackney through pavement widening, and are excited about the Streetscape plans to make walking and cycling easier across the city. Over the last year, Hackney Cycling Campaign has been working on a vision for Hackney’s streets. We have mapped the existing interventions, and the improvements which would be needed to make walking, cycling and public transport use the first choice for the overwhelming majority of residents, visitors and workers We have used this mapping to identify the highest priority actions on TfL roads within the borough. We’ll be calling for this publicly in the hope that this mobilises wider support for these changes. In addition to the priorities below, we have also written to Hackney Council to outline priority changes for the roads that they control in the borough. We attach a copy of the letter for your information. We will shortly be in a position to share the interactive map showing the current and desired changes, and the written summary of interventions publicly. We’d be happy to share this with you and officers in advance if that would be helpful. Best wishes, Hackney Cycling Campaign Hackneycycling.org.uk 1. Install cycle tracks on the A10 between Dalston Junction and Hackney Road.