St Albans Cycle Campaign (STACC)
STACC campaigns for people cycling in St Albans and the surrounding area, including Harpenden, Redbourn, London Colney, Wheathampstead & Sandridge. Together, we advocate for better cycle paths, lower speed limits, and improved parking while promoting cycling as a key part of a sustainable transport system.
Latest News (and member actions in red!)
Annual General Meting
Our AGM and public meeting was held in the Marlborough Road Methodist Church Hall in St Albans, so provided an opportunity to admire the newly completed* Active Travel Fund project, and quite a high proportion of attendees had cycled to the meeting.
* 'snagging' is still to happen, i.e. checking and rectifying any omissions or defects, including for example the 'except cycles' plate on the No Entry signs on Marlborough Road.
A summary of the meeting is in the latest newsletter here
St Albans High Street
The changes in the High Street area of St Albans over the last four years stemmed from national government funding for schemes to improve town centres to aid Covid-19 retail recovery. Three Experimental Traffic Orders ran in St Albans.
The High Street filter was discontinued, although the gates are still there for occasional use if the occasion arises.
The Market Place is now formally a pedestrian and cycle zone, with time-limited motor vehicle access for deliveries. Unfortunately those vehicles have gradually demolished all of the well-used cycle stands by the Clock Tower that feature on the front cover of the Active Travel Strategy. The good news is that HCC have confirmed that new cycle stands will be installed here.
Various experimental layouts were trialled for George Street. The current layout is one way downhill with a contraflow cycle lane going uphill, which is very useful for accessing the city centre from Verulamium Park and St Michaels. The street is closed to motor vehicles at weekends. There is to be a final consultation to review this layout soon, look out for this and respond!
When using the contraflow lane, keep a good lookout for pedestrians forced off the footway by the obstructive parking - seen in the photo above - by residents who think it's ok to park a massive vehicle partly in their former garden and partly on the footway. This parking is especially a problem for people who use mobility aids such as walking sticks, pushchairs, rollators, wheelchairs or mobility scooters. The small sliver of footway that is left is on a sideways slope and is hazardous for those with mobility aids.
To see a video of the passage south down Marlborough Road, and how a lorry obstructs the mandatory cycle lane and a taxi blocks Keyfield Terrace, click here.
If you haven't been in person yet, our AGM is being held in the church hall on this road on 7th November, so there's an opportunity!
Herts - Cycling, Wheeling and Walking
STACC attended a recent update meeting for cycle campaigners across the county hosted by the excellent HCC team that covers all things cycling and also walking and wheeling - for definitions, see this Wheels for Wellbeing explainer.
Updates included:
The Hertfordshire Active Travel Strategy is now a approved document, find it here. The consultation on this in 2023 generated a huge number of comments and the county officers have done a lot of work in reviewing the comments and developing a strategy that will be effective as a supporting document of the HCC Local Transport Plan.
Being in favour of active travel is not 'anti-car'; the only way to solve congestion is to reduce car use. Highway changes that only work for cars do not solve congestion, they just move the bottlenecks to somewhere else. Creating an environment where walking, wheeling or cycling are the mode people choose for short trips will improve driving conditions also and have huge public-wealth and economic benefits.
The Hertfordshire Cycling map is being thoroughly updated; this has taken longer than envisaged as the team have been determined to do it really well, so we are looking forward to spring 2025 when the new edition will be published in an enhanced format. The new format will enable regular updates. Meanwhile, the 2017 PDF of the map (6MB) is here.
The public workstands are gradually being installed across the county, with 26 of the 45 to be provided are already in place. The Hertfordshire Cycling Walking and Wheeling team would love to receive your pictures of the stands in use - email them to cycling@hertfordshire.gov.uk. Sadly, that is also the address to report any vandalism; do report any problems to the team, they are working with the manufacturer to improve damage-resistance of the equipment.
A414 improvements - Hemel
Hertfordshire County Council have completed the crossing improvements near Jarman Park, Hemel Hempstead. Work started in July and the new signalised toucan crossing over the A414 dual carriageway is now complete, enhancing access for people walking and cycling between residential areas to the north and key local destinations, including the shops and leisure facilities at Jarman Park.
Cycling Asset Register
The Cycling Asset Register has been developed alongside the LCWIPs, as a tool to identify existing provision and gaps. The Herts CC team is very keen to have ongoing input - the register is designed to help everyone understand what infrastructure is available for cycling and what is planned. It also provides the way to suggest missing parts of the network which can be considered for future works. So do contribute; you can find it under its alternative name of Cycle Facility Register.
Five of the county's ten Districts / Boroughs now have approved Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans (LCWIPs), one is being reviewed and three are currently being developed. The odd one out is Broxbourne which is being separately developed. The LCWIPs are iterative rather than fixed; they are intended to be periodically reviewed and updated. The Stevenage LCWIP was approved in 2019 and is due to be reviewed in 2025/26.
Cottonmill Cycle Hub
From 1st October the Cafe and Community Centre elements have been managed by Everyone Active, who also manage Westminster Lodge and have already run community outreach sessions at the CC&CC.
A message from Mat, Cycle Hub manager:
The St Albans Cycle Hub will continue to serve the teas, locally roasted coffees, and snacks you’ve grown to love—now through the bike shop. Please feel free to pop in, say hello, and enjoy your favourite refreshments while supporting your local not-for-profit cycle hub. Both card and cash payments are accepted for your convenience. Once again, thank you for your ongoing support. It’s been a privilege to serve this community, and we hope to see you at the Cycle Hub soon!
Jersey Lane
The Friends of Jersey Lane (FoJL) now has more than 50 members and looks forward to recruiting many more local residents interested in helping to maintain the lane for the benefit of its wide range of users – hikers, runners, dog-walkers and, of course, cyclists. FoJL, who held their first AGM at the end of October, welcomes interest from any potential new members, who can find out more by contacting friendsofjerseylane@gmail.com. The group would also like to hear from anyone with information or memories of Jersey Lane stretching back prior to the development of the Jersey Farm estate in the 1970s.
Pothole and flytipping reporting!
Hertfordshire Highways Fault Reporting is the page to go to if you see a pothole and want it fixed. Potholes more than 50mm deep tend to be fixed quickly and those deeper than 100mm are fixed very quickly. Smaller potholes tend to be 'noted'.
Other faults tend to be less swiftly dealt with, if at all. STACC continues to raise our concern that carriageway faults such as potholes get sorted while mud or vegetation on cycling and walking routes are put 'under review by local engineers' until they quietly drop off the system. Our contacts at Hertfordshire Highways are aware of this shortcoming in the asset management system, and their message to us is KEEP REPORTING IT. This will help them make the case for improvements to the system. Contacting your County Councillor about a particular problem can also help to move things along.
Alternatively, call up a mapping app while you are in situ and take a screenshot of your location. Another option is to make use of What3Words. Here's a short video to simplify reporting of potholes (also works for fly tips and other issues) by using the What3Words app, which puts the three word location identifier onto the photo.
You can then make a report to the relevant local authority..... ah, but which authority is that, and how to contact them? Symondshyde Lane is in Welwyn Hatfield, not St Albans.
Well, there's an app for that... we suggest ClearWaste or FixMyStreet, which use the location that you supply to work out which local authority your report should be sent to. If you have time, you can make the report in situ when you take the photos; the app knows where you are when you do this so you don't have to tell it. You may find the flytip has already been reported.
You may have known of another app specifically for pot-holes, called FillThatHole that was created by Cycling UK. This app is no longer available, but a website with the same name that interfaces to FixMyStreet has taken its place.
Wanted - Bikes, locks, lights and helmets
Do you have adult men's bikes in good condition and any helmets, bike locks, or lights that can be given to local asylum seekers?
Before being given a bike, the asylum seekers need to pass a Bikeability course, the cost of which is covered by Herts County Council. All the bikes are checked over by Andy Brock of Herts Welcomes Refugees before being given out.
If you can help, please contact Nick Clarke, clarkefamily2004@yahoo.co.uk, 01727 855026.
Acronyms Explained
We try not to use abbreviations in our website and newsletters, at least not without prior explanation; however some do slip through the net so here is a list of those we commonly use:
ATF – Active Travel Fund – government money for local authorities. link
CMS – Countryside Management Service (part of HCC) link
CRoW – Countryside & Rights of Way (HCC & CMS)
DfT – Department for Transport – link to the public support-for-cycling survey
EATF – Emergency Active Travel Fund, link
GAP – Greenspace Action Plan, link
GTP – Growth and Transport Plan, drawn up by HCC, link
HCC – Hertfordshire County Council, link
LTN 1/20 – Cycle-infrastructure design issued by DfT, link
MMP – Maintenance and Management Plan – a follow-on from GAPs & last for 10 years
SAA – St Albans Abbey railway station, link
SAC – St Albans City railway station, link
SADC – St Albans District Council, link
SFRI – Strategic Rail-Freight Interchange, link
TRO – Traffic-Regulation Order, link; ETRO is an Experimental TRO, link.
VRRA – Verulam Road Residents Association, link
WMP – Widen My Path, CycleStreets website to suggest improvements, link
About STACC
STACC campaigns for people cycling in St Albans and the surrounding area, including Harpenden, Redbourn, London Colney, Wheathampstead & Sandridge. We campaign:
To encourage cycle usage in the St Albans District
To promote cycling to play a more significant role in a balanced transport system for the St Albans District
To support, assist and influence to local authorities responsible for managing the transport system in the St Albans District.
Our approach is to work co-operatively with key bodies such as the local authorities whilst lobbying for better funding and provision for cyclists with particular regard to cycle paths & routes, lower speed limits & cycle-parking.