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On your bike
Published: 2010-01-14 10:57:17
London Mayor Boris Johnson has given Croydon £25,000 to become a more bike-friendly borough.
The funding is being welcomed by the council, which has highlighted cycling as an area for improvement in its new draft transport strategy.
The council’s lead member for transport, Councillor Jason Perry said: “To make cycling more attractive and appealing we need to create an environment that allows easy movement and also to provide support that gives people the skills and facilities to maintain and ride their bike safely in Croydon.
“With our population set to increase significantly over the next 20 years, cycling offers the means of addressing climate and health concerns while also relieving pressure on road, rail and tram systems. We are delighted that being selected as a ‘biking borough’ will help encourage even more local people to take up cycling.”
A range of initiatives, identified by talking to cyclists about their needs, was set out in Croydon’s bike funding submission.
The kind of developments the council would like to see include:
•Traffic-free routes to parks and open spaces to encourage cycling uptake,
•More continuous sections of cycle lane on roads with direct connections between the town centre and surrounding areas,
•A network of convenient maintenance and repair shops,
•Secure, covered cycle parking at East and West Croydon stations and shopping centres, as well as places such as Mayday Hospital and Selhurst Park,
•Introduction of a cycle hire scheme to let aspiring cyclists test the water without having to worry about buying or storage,
•Allowing cycles on trains to get around some of the borough’s hilly inclines.
Croydon is one of ten outer London boroughs to have been selected by Boris Johnson to lead the cycling revolution that aims to encourage residents to regard cycling as a mainstream mode of transport for short trips. The money will help fund a local study that identifies how cycling can be developed and integrated into Croydon’s plan addressing transport priorities.
For more on cycling in Croydon click here