A big round of applause to TfL and Watford Borough Council for installing 34 new bike lock-ups outside Watford Met station.

It’s a shame it was only convened in response to a member of the public who prompted the council to do the initiative. Now all we need is a cycle path of some description along Cassiobury Park Drive - and approach roads such as Shepherd’s Road - which has become a dangerous rat run in recent years for drivers attempting to beat traffic on the busy Rickmansworth Road. Where are the cycle lanes? Just a dotted line or a cycle sign in the road would be good. On a separate issue, the narrowing of the road at the pedestrian crossing arguably poses a hazard to cyclists as it guides vehicles into a dangerous bottleneck.

The islands effecting the narrowing should have channels cut for bikes to pass through so cyclists are not funnelled into the oncoming traffic. As cars become ever wider like Cartesian tanks, those on two wheels are squeezed off the roads enough as it is without street obstacles like this. In fact, it’s high time the council designated many more streets like this as for shared cycle/pedestrian use if they are genuinely serious about meeting their climate change emergency commitments.

Dave Degen

Whippendell Road, Watford