{"id":190905,"date":"2025-06-17T05:50:13","date_gmt":"2025-06-17T05:50:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/190905\/"},"modified":"2025-06-17T05:50:13","modified_gmt":"2025-06-17T05:50:13","slug":"drivers-dont-have-to-push-their-cars-park-barriers-designed-to-stop-speeding-cyclists-are-forcing-families-onto-busy-road-with-no-bike-lane-cycling-campa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/190905\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cDrivers don\u2019t have to push their cars\u201d: Park barriers designed to stop \u201cspeeding\u201d cyclists are forcing families onto busy road with no bike lane, cycling campaigners say"},"content":{"rendered":"

A council\u2019s decision to install \u201cprohibitive, discriminatory\u201d barriers on a steep ramp at the exit of a park \u2013 a move purely based on anecdotal evidence, it has been revealed \u2013 has forced families using cargo bikes or those with disabilities using mobility aids or non-standard cycles onto a busy road with no cycling infrastructure, campaigners have said.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In January, months after they were installed at the western exit of Wandsworth Park in southwest London, which forms part of the local cycling network, Wandsworth Borough Council agreed to remove one of the barriers to make the ramp more accessible.<\/p>\n

However, all three barriers currently remain in place almost five months on, with members of the Wandsworth Cycling Campaign claiming that the council has ignored their emails about the progress of the works for months.<\/p>\n

The barriers were installed in October 2024 in Wandsworth Park, situated on the banks of the River Thames and located halfway between Wandsworth and Putney, purportedly in response to claims that cyclists were \u201cspeeding\u201d between the park\u2019s exit and a private residential street.<\/p>\n

\"BladeBlade Mews, Wandsworth (credit: Google Maps)<\/p>\n

The decision, which local cycling campaigners say was made without a consultation, came after residents of Blade Mews put up signs advising cyclists to \u201cplease dismount and push your bike\u201d through the private street.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut a lot of cyclists weren\u2019t dismounting and it\u2019s downhill into the park, so they were picking up speed,\u201d Becky Philip, a member of the Wandsworth branch of the London Cycling Campaign who uses the park to commute by cargo bike, tells road.cc.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd apparently there were quite a few complaints about cyclists going too fast, and people worrying about accidents being caused.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, the irony is that the Blade Mews residents drive their cars and park on the road. They don\u2019t push their cars into their parking spaces, do they?\u201d<\/p>\n

>\u00a0Disabled cyclist wins battle to remove \u201cdiscriminatory\u201d barriers after council agrees for out-of-court settlement to modify National Cycle Network path<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

However, a Freedom of Information request<\/a> submitted by local cyclist Andrew MacMillan, and responded to by Wandsworth Borough Council on Monday, has revealed that no formal complaints or reports of injuries or collisions involving cyclists and pedestrians in the park were submitted to the council in 2024.<\/p>\n

Instead, the FOI request reveals that the decision to install the barriers was passed purely on \u201canecdotal complaints via stakeholders\u201d.<\/p>\n

No formal consultation also took place before the barriers were installed, though the council claims it held site meetings with the Friends of Wandsworth Park group \u2013 though Philip says these were limited to just the group\u2019s chair.<\/p>\n

\"WandsworthWandsworth Park anti-cycling barriers (credit: Becky Philip)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re fully paid-up members of the Friends of Wandsworth Park, and there was no consultation at all with that body. Though there was with the chairperson, who was very much in favour of the barriers,\u201d she tells road.cc.<\/p>\n

Philip says that the new barriers have made exiting the park with her cargo bike impossible, forcing her to cycle with her children on nearby Putney Bridge Road, a busy stretch lined with parked cars.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t get through the barriers without help when my bike is empty. And when my children are with me, I can\u2019t get through at all,\u201d she tells road.cc.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd of course, there\u2019s not always somebody there who can help. It\u2019s forced me onto Putney Bridge Road, which is a very busy road that has no cycling infrastructure at all. It has parked cars either side of the road.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a 20mph speed limit, but it\u2019s a long straight road, so there\u2019s a lot of speeding cars. And that\u2019s now the road I have to cycle on with my children.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a very confident cyclist, I\u2019ve been cycling in London for over a decade, and I\u2019ve been cycling with my children on a cargo bike for five years. But not everyone is confident. And you\u2019re forcing unconfident cyclists out onto the road, and not all bikes are super light. Even a bike with a child seat on the back is very difficult to manoeuvre up that ramp and around those barriers.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd there\u2019s not even a cycle lane on Putney Bridge Road, not even a line \u2013 never mind one that\u2019s protected with wands. And that\u2019s a road people are being forced on if they don\u2019t want to struggle through the barriers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PutneyPutney Bridge Road, Wandsworth (credit: Google Maps)<\/p>\n

She continued: \u201cEveryone I\u2019ve spoken to hates them \u2013 and it\u2019s not just cyclists, it\u2019s pedestrians. You basically can\u2019t get more than one or two people up at a time.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019ll be interesting to see what it\u2019s like in the summer, and it\u2019ll be interesting to see what the Blade Mews residents think when there\u2019s a bunch of people queuing beside their cars because they can\u2019t get down. Because you now can\u2019t get out of the park quickly when there\u2019s a lot of people there.\u201d<\/p>\n

>\u00a0Under-fire council admits “discriminatory” cycle route barriers were installed without equality impact assessment<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The recent FOI request also revealed that the council failed to carry out an Equality Needs Impact Assessment before installing the barriers \u2013 which Philip believes is clear by their design, which she describes as \u201cprohibitive for anyone in a wheelchair or adapted cycle\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cA man who just had knee surgery said he found it really hard to make it down because he couldn\u2019t twist his knee,\u201d she says. \u201cMums with pushchairs \u2013 trying to get a pushchair around that kind of chicane uphill is tough.\u201d<\/p>\n

Philip says she immediately complained to the council last October about the barriers, eventually holding three on-site meetings with staff.<\/p>\n

And at the end of January, the local authority confirmed that it would remove one of the external barriers, to make the gap slightly wider, and reduce the incline of the slop towards the exit, as part of what the cargo bike rider labels a \u201ccompromise\u201d solution.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe immediate response was: \u2018we applaud you for cycling and using a cargo bike, and taking another car off the roads, and we\u2019re sorry these barriers have stopped you from cycling\u2019,\u201d she says of the reaction to her initial complaint.<\/p>\n

>\u00a0\u201cHow exactly is a disabled person supposed to access this bridge?\u201d: Campaigners call on council to remove \u201cunlawful, discriminatory\u201d barriers from National Cycle Route<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

However, since that agreement in January, Philip says she\u2019s been met with radio silence when requesting updates of the work\u2019s progress.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have the council, and they haven\u2019t replied to me at all \u2013 so I have no idea where we\u2019re at with it. I\u2019ve heard nothing. I\u2019ve had no responses to my emails, at all,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, Philip insists she\u2019s hopeful one of the barriers will be removed \u2013 \u201cbecause I\u2019ll keep emailing them until someone gets back to me!\u201d \u2013 but isn\u2019t confident that the work will be carried out imminently.<\/p>\n

\u201cA solution has been agreed, so I\u2019m hoping they\u2019re just going through the process of getting the engineers in, I don\u2019t know. I do have hope it\u2019s going to be done. But I don\u2019t have hope it\u2019s going to be done anytime soon,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole point is we\u2019re supposed to be encouraging active travel, and this really does go against that in every sense.\u201d<\/p>\n

>\u00a0\u201cBenefit of removing barriers far outweighs anti-social motorbike behaviour\u201d: Cyclist calls for removal of barriers from cycle paths for greater accessibility<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

With no concrete evidence to back up the local authority\u2019s decision, the cycling campaigner believes the barriers were installed thanks to a \u201cskewed\u201d perception of the dangers of cyclists around pedestrians.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of pedestrians end up complaining about cyclists. Whereas cyclists don\u2019t tend to complain too much,\u201d she notes. \u201cI\u2019ve been knocked off my bike before, been cut up by drivers, and I didn\u2019t tell anyone from the council or anything like that.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut because it\u2019s more localised for pedestrians \u2013 they\u2019re walking around the park and this happened \u2013 they\u2019re more likely to complain.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, I think the council get a skewed idea of people\u2019s views towards cyclists. And they\u2019ve listened to those people without fully appreciating the impact it\u2019s going to have on everyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n

road.cc contacted Wandsworth Borough Council last week for comment but is yet to receive a response.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A council\u2019s decision to install \u201cprohibitive, discriminatory\u201d barriers on a steep ramp at the exit of a park…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":190906,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4104],"tags":[4230,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-190905","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-cycling","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114697144423036708","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=190905"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190905\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/190906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=190905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=190905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=190905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}