| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:FYI. Hammersmith Bridge | |
| Posted by: | Francis Rowe | |
| Date/Time: | 19/01/26 08:42:00 |
| Michael, while 'the fast and the furious' as you call them are only a sub-set of cyclists, they are perhaps the most important one because they offer the greatest chance of modal shift. There seems to have been a significant switch to cycle commuting in the Barnes community as a result of the closure of the bridge to buses and cars. The impression I get (which I'll admit is based on a small number of conversations) is that the people who have started, would probably not go back to driving or public transport when the bridge reopens. These cyclists as well as the legions of delivery riders seem to be neutral or positive about sharing the bridge with traffic. You are quite right that there are many clever routes on the north side of the bridge that can allow you to cycle for most of your journey in roads with limited traffic. But for a large number of destinations it is impossible to totally avoid busy roads and junctions and crossing the bridge along a straight line of traffic would be one of the least challenging parts of many daily journeys. I am also not going to quibble with your point that segregated cycle lanes can encourage many people to use a bike who might otherwise have done so. How much of the growth of use of the number of people riding along CHR is down to this as opposed to the explosion of bike deliveries and e-bike hire as well as people forced off buses by their increasingly slow pace is something we can only guess at but there will also be 'fast and furious' cyclists who have abandoned using the High Road because their progress was significantly faster before the changes. You are right that my research on collisions on Hammersmith Bridge was not robust. I couldn't recall any ever having taken place (and as an occasional user of this route I would have been mindful of this) and I Googled and asked ChatGPT for any further information and it couldn't find any. If there have been cases of cyclist injuries on Hammersmith Bridge prior to its closure please do share. However, don't, as you often do when you claim to have data or evidence, give a vague reference and tell me to go and find it for myself. When you do this, I don't think I'm alone in concluding the purported evidence doesn't actually exist or doesn't support your point on closer inspection. |