Each month, we email a bulletin to everyone who has signed up on this site. Below is the mailout that we sent in June 2020. If you like it, please sign up on our Get Involved section - you will be showing your support for our work and you will receive our free monthly bulletins a month before they appear here. Have a look at our first bulletin to find out more about how RPC was formed.
SUPER TUESDAY
It finally happened – cycling has returned to Richmond Park! Like many others, Richmond Park Cyclists got out of bed early and rode straight in on Tuesday morning to enjoy the car-free environment in glorious sunshine, and it was pleasing to see so many kinds of cyclists easily accommodating each other’s presence on roads which had been unavailable to most of us for more than a month.
Now we have got this fabulous asset to health and wellbeing back, it’s incumbent on all of us to show respect and courtesy to other park visitors, whether they are on two wheels or on foot, by passing at a considerate speed and keeping a distance of two metres at all times in accordance with Government advice. If you want to exercise without too many other cyclists to distract you, try to get to the park when there will be fewer riders on the road. We rode in the park at 6.30pm for over an hour and the roads were fairly clear.
And as everyone gets used to the change of rules on cycling in the park, let’s show courtesy to the people who help enforce them. Yesterday, the security personnel at Sheen Gate told us cycling was not permitted on the gravel path next to the road – when, in fact, it is. It turned out that crossed wires in the briefing they had been given was the source of confusion, and the problem was ironed out after we whipped out our phones to show them the official advice The Royal Parks had given on social media regarding the path. It is perfectly understandable that with so much new guidance to process at this early stage there will be some misunderstandings, so please deal with the situation patiently if you find yourself in a similar position – and stick to the rules at all times.
That said, there are some aspects of the restrictions that are concerning. The gravel path by Sheen Gate is one of two areas we are quite apprehensive about; the other is the section of the quietway by Pen Ponds. Both are narrow and shared with pedestrians, creating great difficulty in attempts to socially distance. The gravel on the Sheen Gate path makes it dangerous to ride on, and the density of people on the quietway is a major issue. These issues, and others further on in this bulletin, will be the subject of a letter which we will be sending to Tom Jarvis, TRP’s head of parks, in the next couple of days. If you want us to bring up any other issues, please reply to this email.
In the meantime, have a look at our Q&A guide to the new restrictions, which includes some background on how they came into being and an analysis of what could happen next...
Can I now ride my bike in the park?
Yes you can! Two months after cycling was suspended, Richmond Park is now open again to ALL cyclists. Hooray!
Are motor vehicles allowed back in?
No. You can enjoy the unique opportunity to ride on roads that are still car-free!
Are there any restrictions to riding on the park’s roads?
Yes. You are only permitted to ride on the roads before 10am and after 4pm weekdays, and you cannot use the eastern stretch of the roadway from Roehampton Gate to Kingston Gate – the part that covers Dark Hill and Broomfield Hill. The road between Sheen Gate and Sheen Cross is also off-limits – although since The Royal Parks announced the reintroduction of cycling last week, it has emerged that you CAN enter and exit via the gate and ride on the shared-use gravel path next to the road. All the roads you can ride on are clearly marked on this handy map.
Who is exempt from the restrictions?
Key workers and children age 12 and under can ride their bikes on all of the park’s roads.
Can I ride on the Tamsin Trail?
Yes. The park’s off-road trail and other permitted paths are open. As usual, cyclists share them with pedestrians.
Why are the restrictions in place?
There was a huge increase in the number of cyclists in the park after permission for motor vehicles to enter was temporarily rescinded in March. Some were new to cycling or inexperienced. TRP felt the sheer volume of bike riders of greatly different abilities, combined with their presence among walkers and runners, posed a danger to safety.
So TRP has established restrictions to avoid accidents (which would place an additional burden on the NHS) and to keep people at least two metres apart so they abide by the advice set out by the Government.
The eastern roads, which are now a no-go area, cover the hilliest side of the park. Dark Hill and Broomfield Hill create greater differences in speed, mainly due to their descents, making breaches of the 2m rule impossible to avoid during overtaking on the road at busier times. Like the rest of the park’s roadway, the hills had become densely populated after the roads became car-free.
As well as suiting commuters, allowing cycling only on weekday mornings and evenings could limit the number of cyclists who would normally visit throughout the week (including the weekends which are traditionally much busier) thereby making it easier to socially distance.
But in the case of Sheen Gate to Sheen Cross, it’s not immediately apparent how this road closure could help achieve TRP’s goals. It is not a fast stretch, and as a limb taking traffic to and from the main loop, it is not particularly busy. Cyclists can use the parallel gravel path between the gate and the roundabout, but this is a cause for concern as it is too narrow to support social distancing.
Can access be further improved?
In terms of accommodating vulnerable road users and achieving TRP’s aim of maintaining the 2m rule, the answer, we think, is yes.
A Richmond-based group called Mothers Against Muggings contacted us asking if the age limit to the suspension rules could be lifted to 18 which would give more teens the opportunity to ride their bikes in a safe environment. A subscriber who works with the Weir Archer Academy for disabled athletes tells us that lack of access to the park has severely restricted their access to exercise.
All disabled cyclists and those aged 18 and under are vulnerable groups on the open roads, especially now traffic levels are rising again, and the times when the park is currently available for cycling could be a hurdle for some of them. Before the lifting of the suspension, we spoke to TRP about giving both groups full access to all the park’s roads at all times, and we’ll keep making the case for both parties.
More fundamentally, large numbers of cyclists will now have to ride around pedestrians and runners on the roadway. The park’s roads are only about 1% of its total space, and it is where most of those who arrive by bike choose to ride. Could TRP politely ask runners and pedestrians to distance from cyclists by using the other 99%? When we highlighted this issue on Twitter last week, it was the most popular tweet on the thread about the reintroduction of cycling, so rest assured we will bring this up with TRP.
Another baffling element is the Tamsin Trail. Our advice is to temporarily make it a no-go for cycling as its narrowness leads to frequent breaches of the 2m rule, and excluding cyclists would create extra capacity for pedestrians. TRP said it wouldn’t be able to police such a restriction. But with little policing of the suspension, visitors largely stuck to it. Why would they not do the same on the Tamsin Trail?
What happens next?
TRP is going to monitor usage. Part of that process will involve data gathered from electronic traffic monitoring devices placed on the roads (you can see their locations marked in yellow on the map). We believe a first review is likely in two weeks.
A change in Government advice would also affect the next stage. Lessening the nationwide restrictions could lead to more cycling in the park, or vice versa.
Either way, it will be interesting to see how everyone behaves in this latest chapter of the fascinating real-world experiment of cycling on traffic-free roads. Will we see families rushing back in the numbers we saw prior to the suspension? Now that sports cyclists cannot do laps, will they be less likely to ride in the park? How will cyclists and pedestrians alike socially distance on the narrow path through the centre of the park and on the shared use trails? Might it be sensible to re-open the roads on the hillier eastern section of the park to support social distancing which is proving to be a challenge on the shared use roadways and paths?
It is a reasonable assumption that all of us will witness something similar to those five wonderful days in March, between the ban on cars and the cycling suspension, when Richmond Park became a haven for every type of cyclist. Women, children, families and the elderly arrived on bikes, many for the first time. They felt safe because, by and large, it was safe.
Whatever happens, Richmond Park Cyclists would like to see reasoned evidence for whatever decisions TRP makes. There were many raised eyebrows when a Freedom Of Information request revealed that TRP had counted 1,072 cyclists pass Roehampton Gate Roundabout in one hour – a figure that could surely only have been reached by double- and triple-counting some cyclists who were doing laps – while its fears regarding accidents seem to have been heavily influenced by just one relatively minor incident. But both of those aspects featured in an internal report written at a tense moment nationally in the pandemic crisis when the organisation was forced to make difficult decisions for public safety in just a few days. With two weeks of monitoring – and with you telling us about your experiences of cycling in Richmond Park – we hope TRP has a broader, fairer picture on which to base their decisions.
Finally, it is worth remembering that regardless of what the next stage may bring, the restrictions on cycling triggered by lockdown are merely temporary. In contrast, The Royal Parks’ ongoing Movement Strategy is committed to change which is both welcome and permanent, including the reduction of shortcut journeys made in motor vehicles, and throughout the process Richmond Park Cyclists will continue to help make the park an even better place for you to ride your bike.
SEE YOU NEXT MONTH...
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All the best,
Richmond Park Cyclists
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