Transport for London (TfL) has recently announced the award of more than £3.5million to 30 London boroughs this week, to create over 7,800 new cycle parking spaces across London.
Waltham Forest Council was at the forefront receiving a whopping £490,000 to help deliver new cycling parking at stations, schools, town centres and in residential streets across the borough. This significant injection of funding will help the huge and growing demand for cycle parking, created by the growing popularity of cycling here in Waltham Forest for work, leisure and pleasure.
Cycling in Waltham Forest has continued to grow over the last five years with more and more residents taking to our growing network of segregated cycle lanes and using our low traffic neighbourhoods to travel across the borough. The Enjoy Waltham Forest Programme has seen an increase in cycle usage of 103 per cent and a reduction of car usage by seven per cent, among other positive factors including improving air quality and decreasing carbon emissions. A study published in 2018 by Dr Rachel Aldred of Westminster University, found that the borough residents living in areas where improved cycling and walking facilities had been implemented, were walking on average an extra 32 minutes and cycling an extra nine minutes a week compared to the outer London average. Last year, the Council declared a Climate Emergency and committed to responding to this global challenge.
Councillor Clyde Loakes, Waltham Forest Council’s Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Environment said: ‘We’re pleased that our ground breaking and innovative Enjoy Waltham Forest programme, continues to provide the blue print for councils across the UK and further afield and with more and more residents cycling in the borough on a more regular basis, it’s vital for us to provide more and more reliable and better located cycle parking.”
Will Norman, London's Walking and Cycling Commissioner, said: “We are determined to get more Londoners onto their bikes to help to tackle congestion and make the city greener.
“As well as continuing to make cycling safer, we know it’s vital that we make the beginning and the end of people’s journeys as simple and hassle free as possible. Alongside our investment in high-quality routes, we are extremely pleased that this new funding for cycle parking facilities will enable thousands more Londoners from all corners of the capital to hop on a bike.”
Waltham Forest Council’s future cycle developments will include:
Chingford Station Cycle Hub
Highams Park Station Cycle Hub
57 secure cycle parking hangers on borough roads creating a further 342 cycle parking spaces
21 secure hangers on residential estates creating 126 cycle parking spaces
New cycle parking facilities for schools
