Blackfriars Road remodelling

Interesting design concept drawing for Blackfriars Road (SE1 News). There's single lane traffic with bus loading bays like Oxford Street, and these just don't work when more than one bus pulls up. Not sure either, what the paved bay is in front of the bus bay. I suspect the road can cope with single lane traffic as it stands today, but I wonder if it will cope once the regeneration at E&C is completed and all the new buildings on the road itself are up and running.

I wonder when cyclists are going to pay their fair share of road taxes and get compulsory insurance imposed upon them.

As there's no such thing as road tax, I think you mean vehicle excise duty, which is based on your CO2 emissions, and free for very efficient cars.

Roads are paid for from general taxation, to which many cyclists contribute handsomely.

The scheme looks great - early in the process so I wouldn't put too much stock in the artists impression, but a great step for SE1.

Thebunhouse wrote:

I wonder when cyclists are going to pay their fair share of road taxes and get compulsory insurance imposed upon them.

Here we go again!

1. There is no such thing as 'road tax'. Road construction and maintenance is paid for by everyone through general and local taxes. The Vehicle Excise Duty that motorists pay is levied according to engine size or CO2 emissions. Bicycles don't have engines.

2. According to the BBC most cyclists ARE motorists - 'most adult cyclists do hold a driving licence, and regular cyclists are more likely than average to own a car'.

Thebunhouse wrote:

I wonder when cyclists are going to pay their fair share of road taxes and get compulsory insurance imposed upon them.

I'd guess some time before motorists are going to stop polluting the air we breath, clogging up public space with their parked cars, and threatening pedestrians and cyclists with death or serious injury when we try to share road space with them.

I wish all you anti-motorists would look at what was written and not what you thought was written. I deliberately said "road taxes" and not Vehicle Excise Duty they are very different.
The road transport system contributes 50 billion pounds a year to the exchequer so it actually pays for itself and many other things that we all enjoy such as a vast contribution to the NHS.
No mention was made of Vehicle Excise Duty, which I believe is raised in the correct manner.
Pedestrians should not try to share the roads with motor vehicles, their place is on the footpath, equally cyclists should not try to share the footpath their place is on the road.

But what relevance does "road taxes" or compulsory insurance have to the issue of the proposals fora new layout for Blackfriars Road? Cant that be discussed on its own merits without having the same, sterile cyclist V motorist (to be quickly followed by V pedestrian) debate yet again?

I personally think there's enough space on Blackfriars Road to go for a design like this, here's hoping the plans match the images.

cycling thru a wind tunnel sounds so much fun...

If, as the news item says, half of all traffic over Blackfriars Bridge is cycles, that's great, and is a good reason for making the bridge much more cycle friendly.

The same should, of course, go for approaches to the bridge.

However, I'm not clear as to what the point of making the whole of Blackfriars Road single lane traffic is, unless there's some sort of plan to bypass the E&C traffic system. Have I missed something? If this is supposed to be a North-South cycle route, won't it all go pearshaped at the St George's circus?

Thebunhouse wrote:

...
Pedestrians should not try to share the roads with motor vehicles, their place is on the footpath...

Pedestrians have to share the roads with motor vehicles. There are roads everywhere and no other way to cross them.