Forum Topic

Bike Hangars 22/23 - Duke Road

Hi All, the council is going ahead with proposed bike hangars on Duke Road despite being abandoned once and with mixed results again during a second consultation. Is there any way to try and block this before installation begins next week? Not only will it be a nuisance for me, I think it is a safety hazard for bike users and pedestrians given this is a passthrough road and a busy school zone. There is plenty of space on Quick Road mere feet around the corner where these can be installed out of the way of traffic and not in front of someone's front room. I support cycling, but this decision does not make sense at all. I contested online and by email. I have sent another email to a couple councillors but admittedly I am not sure they are the right ones. Any help appreciated.

Paul Magnus ● 1275d39 Comments

We need more bike storage not less so probably best to have in both roads, especilly when Duke road is quite a long road. These hangars allow people unable to store their bikes at home to do so in a secure manner.

Matthew Swain ● 1274d

"I think it is a safety hazard for bike users and pedestrians"How is it more of a safety hazard than a HausfrauenPanzer parked up outside your house?

Paul Campbell ● 1274d

The OP explained that it is a school zone.  Children's visual acuity is immature - their eyes work with motion, so they can see a moving SUV but not a stationary cycling hanger.

Ed Saper ● 1274d

what absolute twaddle.

Tony Mansell ● 1274d

Tony, I think Ed is quite astutely caricaturing motonormativity.

Paul Campbell ● 1274d

Paul "How is it more of a safety hazard than a HausfrauenPanzer parked up outside your house?"I see you are insulting women and Germans in one word.  I am guessing you are trying to use that word to make car owners sounds as though they are Nazi's although modern Germans still refer to tanks as Panzers because that is the German word for tank.But lets look objectively as the idea that a bike hanger might be a safety risk and then try and compare it to a car.Duke Road is fairly narrow due to cars parked on both sides - based on google street view it looks as though there is little if any off street residential parking on that road.  The opening to the bike hanger to store the bike would have to be on the pavement side - on the road side it would not only block traffic every time a bike was stored or removed from the hanger but there would be a significant risk of the person using the bike hanger being hit by another road user (include by fellow cyclists).  The problem is that the pavements on the road are in some places already fairly narrow so it is questionable whether other pavement users would be able to get by someone loading or unloading their bike at the hanger.  Whilst I do not think that is a major issue LBH would need to do a proper assessment specifically looking at the implications for the elderly and disabled.The only difference I can see between the risk of a safety hazard for other pavement user being different between a bike hanger and a car parked by the road side is that typically someone getting in or out of the car will take less time than storing the bike, but that is surely a relatively minor difference.I would be interested to hear from those objecting to the bike hangers as to exactly what their concerns are.  My only thought is that objections could be related to bike hangers will probably be used by people who are not residents of Duke Road and may become a magnet for bike thieves

Justin Stephenson ● 1274d

Justin is quite right, a vehicle the size of a tank, poses significantly less risk to vulnerable road users than a bike hanger, which can literally come out of nowhere and will only attract cyclists, who are lethal to the elderly and disabled.

Ed Saper ● 1274d

Is it the Hausfrauen or the panzer that offends you, Paul?  Or both?  I see plenty of men driving SUVs in Chiswick and Hammersmith.  Is that not a problem too?  If so, why is your disdain directed only at housewives?  Should housewives not be allowed to drive?

Marie Power ● 1273d

Has the Chelsea Tractor fallen out of fashion?

Philippa Bond ● 1273d

In Germany, Hausfrauenpanzer = Chelsea Tractor

Marie Power ● 1273d

I don’t know the specifics of where the proposed bike hangar would be located, but just a thought - if it’s close to a junction where otherwise a car might be parked, perhaps the hangar placement removes the possibility of a badly positioned parked car making that junction even more hazardous?

Andrew Jones ● 1273d

Usual propaganda nonsense from Ed Saper comparing WWII tanks to modern cars. A more sensible comparison is to compare modern tanks with modern cars.Leopard 2Mass 2A6: 62.3 tonnes (68.7 short tons) 2A7V: 66.5 tonnes (73.3 short tons)Length 2A6: 9.97 metres (32.7 feet) (gun forward)Width 2A6: 3.75 m (12.3 ft)Height 2A6: 3.0 m (9.8 f)Substantially bigger than any modern car. And as a doctor Ed Saper will know that people are also substantially bigger than they were in 1945. Just fancy that.

Simon Hayes ● 1273d

Yes, people are fatter because they drive too much instead of walking or cycling. That's a medical fact, and I should know, what with being a doctor and all. Professor Hayes makes an important point that there are bigger tanks available but hardly suitable for normal use in town. The smart crowd are getting runabouts like the Wiesel Panzer, handy for the shops, will take out any LTN bollard / barrier to help you beat the traffic and can flatten a Duke Road bike hanger in a jiffy.

Ed Saper ● 1273d

There used to be a chap in Chiswick when I was a lad who drove down to the shops on CHR in an ex-US Army half track.He apparently lived in the Strand-On-The-Green area.

N V Brooks ● 1273d

People are getting obese because they eat more calories than they burn off. Cycling doesn’t make any difference unless you do a serious long ride, otherwise you’d never see a fat person on a bike. But you know that, being a doctor, apparently.Sounds like you might need to go back to medical school.Oh, and the main reason cars are bigger is all the legally required safety features that have to be incorporated. Just because you don’t like it doesn’t make you right.And if you really want to see tanks on the street I suggest you pop over to Ukraine and spend a bit of time there. It might even give you some perspective on life rather than being a smug arse!

Simon Hayes ● 1273d

Thanks all for the very useful comments and suggestions. As I already said, I support cycling. However, I simply believe there is enough space to put the hangars in lesser travelled side streets.

Paul Magnus ● 1272d

Maybe those lesser travelled streets are not where the users and owners of the bicycles want to live?

Philippa Bond ● 1272d

Useless comment Philippa. My proposed alternative solution is mere yards away. If you don't know the area, don't comment. I am sure the hangar is not reserved exclusively to those within 10 yards.

Paul Magnus ● 1272d

So please explain why it will be a nuisance for you since the road doesn't belong to you?

Philippa Bond ● 1272d

"not in front of someone's front room".Car brain thinks "hmmm lovely hausfrauenpanzer outside my front room. Ugly bike hangar. Move it to where nobody has to look at it.Bike brain thinks "best not to locate the bike hangar on a part of the street that will make it easier for thieves to break into it without being seen. Great that it provides parking for eight bikes in the space taken up by one of the smaller hausfrauenpanzers".

Paul Campbell ● 1272d

Would you like it in front of your window.

Janice Evans ● 1272d

Better than a Ford Transit or whatever the large builder's van is sitting outside my home all morning!

Philippa Bond ● 1272d

When asked for comment, I also submitted the suggestion that it would be better located round the corner in Quick Road. As a civil engineer, who has cycled more miles in recent years than I have driven, I would assess the overall risk to be less in the much quieter road, which was I think the original point. It would be interesting to have seen the logic for its intended location, as opposed to the alternatives, or if that was ever assessed.

Alan Green ● 1272d

But you don't have bike thieves hanging around it could be worse.

Janice Evans ● 1272d

you prefer SUV/Motoring thieves do you?

Matthew Swain ● 1272d

It seems a strange idea to have a bike hangar so far down the road. Why there? It doesn't make sense.But if you move it round the corner in Quick Road it would be rit would be right outside the front door of the houses on the corner because their doors open onto the street. That would be very disruptive on them surely? At least you have a front garden between you and the hangar.

Anne Collins ● 1271d

I lived in a similar type street with terraced houses in Chiswick for most of my life. I always had a bike and was always able to keep it inside or in the front garden - the back garden being an option too. The same options appear to apply here too and, if so, there is no justification to litter the road with a bike shed and waste valuable car parking space.

Michael Brown ● 1271d

Philippa, why not stick a  note of the Builder's windscreen telling him to get a bike to cart his large amount of heavy equipment from job to job ? Wonder what his response would be - 🤬🤬 ?

Loraine Pemberton ● 1271d

Still too big, noisy and get broken into.

Janice Evans ● 1271d

As you can see from the photo of the proposed site below, replacing the protected habitat of a "Wankpanzer" with a bike hanger is not just a nuisance for the OP, but "a safety hazard for bike users and pedestrians".

There is significant local opposition to bike hangers, the spokesperson for the Campaign Group NIMPS (Not In My Parking Space) made the following statement: "I support cycling, but this decision does not make sense at all and anyone with any common sense or decency can see that bike hangers don't belong on Duke Road, and should be on Quick Street where people don't care about the environment or children's safety." The Rev. Hayes added his support, saying: "Should we really be putting in Bike Hangers when Russia has invaded Ukraine?  Isn't that what Putin and the LCC want us to do?". Local residents group OneChiswick pointed out that the council's plans includes the relocation of a pole which has significant heritage value to local residents and would confuse the elderly and disabled if it were to be moved, adding: "Comrade Councillor Biddolphski extensively consulted local residents in an MRS approved survey which provides conclusive evidence that 99.98% of residents are against bike hangers which attract thieves, muggers, vagabonds, beggars and cyclists."  A local doctor provided a counter view, saying: "As a doctor, I am often asked if these people are completely nuts. It is my professional medical opinion that they are several sprockets short of a full cassette, particularly that Lord Hayes chap." Bikehangar Sites "Duke Road, Chiswick: The location chosen is to support where demand and the requests originally came from. View Map."

Ed Saper ● 1271d

(now with photo working I hope!) As you can see from the photo of the proposed site below, replacing the protected habitat of a "Wankpanzer" with a bike hanger is not just a nuisance for the OP, but "a safety hazard for bike users and pedestrians".

There is significant local opposition to bike hangers, the spokesperson for the Campaign Group NIMPS (Not In My Parking Space) made the following statement: "I support cycling, but this decision does not make sense at all and anyone with any common sense or decency can see that bike hangers don't belong on Duke Road, and should be on Quick Street where people don't care about the environment or children's safety." The Rev. Hayes added his support, saying: "Should we really be putting in Bike Hangers when Russia has invaded Ukraine?  Isn't that what Putin and the LCC want us to do?". Local residents group OneChiswick pointed out that the council's plans includes the relocation of a pole which has significant heritage value to local residents and would confuse the elderly and disabled if it were to be moved, adding: "Comrade Councillor Biddolphski extensively consulted local residents in an MRS approved survey which provides conclusive evidence that 99.98% of residents are against bike hangers which attract thieves, muggers, vagabonds, beggars and cyclists."  A local doctor provided a counter view, saying: "As a doctor, I am often asked if these people are completely nuts. It is my professional medical opinion that they are several sprockets short of a full cassette, particularly that Lord Hayes chap." Bikehangar Sites "Duke Road, Chiswick: The location chosen is to support where demand and the requests originally came from. View Map."

Ed Saper ● 1271d

Can you show a photo of the bike hangar in that space.

Janice Evans ● 1271d

If the space taken up by a bike hangar is say 20% of the total  “”valuable  motor car parking space” and the present utilisation of total parking space regularly exceeds 70-75% then perhaps if there’s somewhere more suitable close by it’d be a good idea to change the location. Does beg the question why couldn’t the car driver park somewhere slightly further away instead, but sometimes things like CPZ boundaries effect things.But in a road that has room for 20+ cars to park, a loss of 5% of available parking space isn’t going to make that big a difference I’d have thought.I too used to leave my bike in our hallway - and a right pain it was too. I was very grateful that at least the council allowed me to rent a space on the public highway for my own exclusive use to park my car at a rate considerably below what a business would pay for a similar area. Admittedly the space I occupy can vary day from day and isn’t fixed.

Andrew Jones ● 1271d

Why would I do that Loraine? He moves his van around from place to place. Just as the window cleaner who uses a cargo bike moves his cargo bike around. Horses for courses. The bike hangars are a lot less intrusive and you can't fit EIGHT stationary just-in-case cars in one.

Philippa Bond ● 1271d

Don't be silly Janice, that's far too upsetting a thing to show on a public forum. Children may see it and be mislead that people are thinking of their futures. 

John Hall ● 1271d

If I place something in my back garden I always think about if it's on viewto the neighbour's or is it something they will want to see every time they look outside, even asking them if it will be o.k  What a cheek I have as itseems others don't think it's important.

Janice Evans ● 1271d

I've seen bikes raised on pulleys in hallways but it's not something that landlords tend to like tenants organising for themselves and when there are several bikes per house it can become a bit crowded.

Philippa Bond ● 1271d

Amazing that someone so stupid can be qualify as a doctor. Are you this much of a wanker with your patients? Perhaps your medical heroes are Crippen and Shipman.If your post is supposed to be amusing then it singularly failed.Perhaps you should take fewer drugs.

Simon Hayes ● 1271d

Hi. Did the Bike Hangars go in? Are they as bad as you feared?

Anne Collins ● 1268d