Cycling in Parks

​Hackney is blessed with amazing parks which are enjoyed by park visitors but also often used as routes to walk wheel or cycle in or through.  As supporters of safe and inclusive walking wheeling and cycling, here are our thoughts on cycling in Hackney's parks:

Designing cycle routes
Cycle routes through parks are not preferred, as they are unlikely to be socially safe at night, and will exclude some cyclists.  The alternative should be safe routes on roads, including protection from traffic where required
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Cyclist Behaviour
Away from cycle routes, some people will always choose to cycle in parks for travel and leisure.

• Cyclists should: Drop the pace, enjoy the space
• Pedestrians have priority on shared paths, and even where paths are split like in London Fields, pedestrians are often very close by. Cyclists need to slow down to avoid collisions. Enjoy the slow ride and the park.
• Paths crowded? Walk your bicycle or slow down to walking speed.
• In a hurry? Ideally use an alternative route for your journey.
• Avoid startling people: be visible, give an audible warning or ring your bell. 

What the Council can do

• Any space in parks shared between cyclists and pedestrians should be clearly marked with pedestrian priority made clear
• No barriers or humps should be used as these exclude some cyclists as well as wheelchair or mobility aid users
• Consideration should be given to use of speedometers like in London Fields, or gentle chicanes, for example, to encourage cyclists to slow their pace 
• Where entrances to parks are shared between pedestrians and cyclists, they should be designed to not put cyclists at risk from motor vehicles*
• Shared electric bikes should have their speeds limited while in parks through geofencing
• Where there is evidence of conflict between cyclists and pedestrians in parks, it may be appropriate for the council to perform quantitative and qualitative monitoring, with clear thresholds for mitigating action (e.g. average speeds exceed a limit, numbers of cyclists and pedestrians sharing a width of path per unit of time exceeds a limit, etc.) 

The role of Policing
Illegal e-bikes are as inappropriate in parks as they are on the roads, and should be subject to police control
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*The Road User Hierarchy deems that in circumstances where a road design puts cyclists at risk, a design should be found to ensure safety for both pedestrians and cyclists.