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Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) is proposing to introduce a 20mph zone in the south-east St Albans area; details of the location is shown above. The aim of the proposal is to make it easier and safer for people walking and cycling and to improve safety for all road users by encouraging vehicle drivers to adopt appropriate and safe speeds. HCC have measured the average vehicle speeds within the proposed 20mph zone; for the most part they are low enough that additional physical traffic-calming features are not required, apart from Cottonmill Lane where a variety of traffic-calming measures are proposed together with the introduction of a 40mph speed limit on part of Cottonmill Lane to create a “buffer zone” between those of the national speed limit (60mph) and the 20mph limit.
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The 60mph speed-limit zone is currently from the junction with Butterfield Lane to the mini-roundabout just west of the railway bridge.
The information is provided as part of the consultation process and HCC invites you to provide comment on the proposal. You may do this via email response to speed.management@hertfordshire.gov.uk by 21st August 2023.
Residents of the area will also be consulted as part of the of the informal public consultation from 14th August 2023 to 18th September 2023, in the form of a letter and plan mailed to all affected properties, with the option to complete an online survey or respond via post. To take account of the summer-holiday period the consultation will run a week longer than normal.
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Jarman Park, Hemel Hempstead
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HCC have proposed a new walking and cycling facilities, including a signalised toucan crossing over the A414 St Albans Road to improve connections to Jarman retail and leisure park.
The proposed improvements include:
- A new signalised toucan crossing on the A414 St Albans Road to provide a step-free crossing option with direct access to and from Jarman Park;
- upgrading the existing informal crossing at Jarman Way to a new toucan crossing to improve connections along the A414;
- new shared-use paths for people walking, wheeling and cycling on both sides of the A414, to improve connections towards Hemel Hempstead town centre, Leverstock Green and Adeyfield;
- widening of the existing footpath on the northern side of the A414 to provide space for the shared-use path (this would involve removal of approximately 2m of the wall near the footbridge);
- widening of the existing footpath where possible on the southern side of the A414 between Jarman Way and Bennetts End Road to provide space for the shared-use path. The crossing at Bennetts End Road would also be upgraded to a toucan crossing so that people cycling can cross safely alongside those walking or wheeling (this would involve either reducing or removing the existing traffic island on Bennetts End Road at the junction with the A414 to maintain the two-way carriageway)
STACC commented very positively on this proposal during the consultation period (now closed) while suggesting that the detailed design of the new cycling infrastructure should allow for non-standard cycles such as cargo bikes and tricycles.
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Works will start on the roundabout on the Lower Luton Road at Wheathampstead in the middle of August and are expected to continue until November. The improvements, which should benefit cyclists as well as pedestrians, consist of:
- Two new raised zebra crossings over Lower Luton Road and Codicote Road at the west and east entry and exit points of the roundabout.
- Widened footways on each corner of the roundabout.
- Improvements to the existing informal crossing points over Station Road and Lamer Lane at the north and south entry and exit points of the roundabout
- Speed cushions on Lower Luton Road and Codicote Road to slow vehicle traffic approaching the roundabout.
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A new cafe has opened in the railway station at Bricket Wood, which should be of interest to cyclists and cycling groups. Called The Tea Room, it is open from Wednesday to Saturday, but is closed for a staff holiday from 11th to 31st August. There are covered bike racks on the station platform.
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We are pleased to report that the vegetation has been trimmed along the shared-use paths from Berner's Drive to the Alban Way and from Coningsby Bank to the underpass beneath the Park Street roundabout.
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In the underpass itself, however, the activity of the local street artists has been prolific, considering that only just over a year ago the walls were cleaned and appeared pristine. There is clearly no evidence that the city houses a potential Banksy yet.
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We are pleased to see that white paint has been splashed about on some roads over the last week, especially near the top of London Road where the markings for the on-road cycle lane and the advanced-stop line by the Peahen are now much clearer. However, in the early evening there is usually a line of cars parked in the cycle lane, preventing its use and access to the ASL area, the culprits probably being those drivers collecting take-aways from the restaurants that line the road here. You can see that the double yellow lines need a repaint too. Maybe the new white lines will make a difference to this problem.
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A current planning application (5/2023/2736) on Ragged Hall Lane proposes to demolish house number 52 to provide an access road to a backland development of about 50 houses; as a nod to active travel, the access road will have a 3-metre-wide shared-use path alongside. Whilst this is welcome, it is only about 40 metres long and does lead to a dead-end road so traffic speeds and volumes are unlikely to be high, hence the benefit for active travel is small.
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Following our reporting of the destruction of the bollards protecting the bike stands outside Tesco Express at Beech Road, St Albans, Herts County Council placed temporary plastic barriers in their place. But not to be outdone, the pavement parkers have shifted these barriers right up against the bike stands, making them unsuitable for bikes to be placed against them.
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A Herts County Council report says that the A602, from Watton-at-Stone to Ware, has at last been diverted over the new bridge at Sacombe Pound in early August and the mainly already constructed cycle path that goes under under it will be opened in September. The design of the realigned road is intended to speed up traffic, hence the need for a safe crossing for cyclists and pedestrians.
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The Leavesden Cycle Hub in Abbots Langley closed at the beginning of July and merged its activities with the Watford Cycle Hub. The adjacent café remains.
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The picture says it all really. The second Nash Mills cycle jumble sale is on Saturday 12th August on the field used for car-boot sales on Sundays, south of Hemel Hempstead, near the bottom of Bunkers Lane.
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In Germany, e-bikes now account for about half of all bike sales; to support this and alleviate range anxiety (the fear that an electric vehicle will not have enough battery power to reach its destination) charging points for them are now appearing in towns. This one was seen outside the Rathaus in Einbeck, near the former Iron Curtain.
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