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[1/8] A few “highlights” from my recent FoI request about the High St Ken cycle lanes - also covered nicely in this @carltonreid article: https://www.forbes.com/sites/carltonreid/2021/01/01/council-officer-ghost-edited-business-groups-press-statement-seeking-dismantling-of-pop-up-cycleway-on-kensington-high-street @betterstreetskc @peterwalker99
2/8 First of all the council confirmed the absence of any meetings or consultation regarding the lanes, which of course begs the question of how the decision was taken and how sound the basis of it was. https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/kensington_high_street_cycle_lan
3/8 The council acknowledge that they may have lost control of the roads [to TfL] if they had not acted to install the lanes – presumably this is now a risk again.
![3/8 The council acknowledge that they may have lost control of the roads [to TfL] if they had not acted to install the lanes – presumably this is now a risk again.](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EqvfYlNXEAAYyl3.jpg "3/8 The council acknowledge that they may have lost control of the roads [to TfL] if they had not acted to install the lanes – presumably this is now a risk again.")
4/8 More concerningly, the rest of the correspondence reveals that councillors were soliciting negative opinions on the lanes from early November. A “review” meeting was held with residents associations on 12 Nov (the minutes and slides would be a good subject for a further FoI)
5/8 As Carlton Reid sets out in the article, the council press office was coordinating negative quotes to support the decision well in advance of it being announced. There is no evidence that actual users of the lane were approached for comment or input.
6/8 Reading the correspondence, it’s hard not to conclude that the council were were looking for reasons to remove it. At the time this was happening, signs up at junctions promised “Improvements coming soon”.
7/8 Count data support the lane being well-used, with a lower bound (due to undercounting) of 10-20% of daily traffic on the road being bikes. Bear in mind it wasn't even finished.
8/8 Now the safety of thousands of daily users has been traded for a few dozen parking spaces. The promised trading bonanza for shops lasted about two weeks before London was put into Tier 4. The process wasted >£350k of public money. Was it worth it? https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/jan/01/removed-london-bike-lane-blocked-by-parked-cars-most-of-the-time-study-kensington-and-chelsea-council
