Hackney Council Supports Cycling
The Council is highly committed to promote cycling as an environmentally friendly and safe mode of transport in the borough. Cycling is cheap, saves time, keeps you fit, gives you door-to-door travel, and there's no risk of parking tickets. It's often faster and more reliable than other forms of transport, especially for local journeys and in congested areas.
Hackney's a good place to cycle
Hackney is very well suited to cycling, because it's mostly very flat and everything's within easy reach. An average fit person can cycle from one end of the borough to the other in 20 minutes, making the two-wheeled choice very competitive when compared to public or private motor transport.
The Council is working to make streets friendlier for cycle traffic by:
- engineering to control excessive speeds
- ensuring that surfaces are in good repair and streets are well lit
- providing on-street cycle parking
- providing cycle gaps in road closures
- and facilitating two-way access for cycle traffic
The borough scored a major success for walking, cycling and public transport recently when the Shoreditch one-way system was turned back to two-way, reducing speeding and making journeys more direct.
Hackney's Cycle Network
A network of cycle routes criss-crosses the borough, mostly using quieter back streets with some handy short cuts through green space.
Check out www.londoncyclenetwork.org.uk for information and interactive 'pan-and-zoom' mapping of the cycle network in Hackney and throughout London.
Maintenance of cycle routes is done by the Council. Those cycle routes which are designated as part of the London Cycle Network are maintained through funding from LCN , which is part of Transport for London.
Cycling is good for your health
The health advantages of cycling outweigh the risks by a ratio of 20 to 1, according to the British Medical Association. Regular cyclists typically enjoy the fitness levels (heart rate, blood pressure) of non-cyclists ten years their junior.
Advice for Safer Cycling:
- Ensure that your bicycle is properly safe to use – check your brakes and tyres are in good working order.
- You must have a rear reflector and a working front and rear lights for night-time cycling.
- Consider wearing reflective and fluorescent material and bright-coloured clothes.
- Get specialist advice on safety helmet.
- Make full use of cycle routes - they are for your safety and convenience.
- Take care whilst cycling near traffic and always obey the Highway Code - for everyone's safety.
- Be confident. Cycling too close to the kerb increases the risk as it makes you less visible to other traffic. Ride far enough from parked cars to avoid opening doors.
- Give lorries space. Be aware that large vehicles have blind spots - if you can’t see their mirrors they can’t see you. Do not creep up the nearside of large vehicles at junctions.
Page updated: 12 Jun 2008