St Albans Cycle Campaign (STACC) is campaigning for people cycling in St Albans and the surrounding area, including  Harpenden, Redbourn, London Colney, Wheathampstead & Sandridge:

• 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.

Contact us at info@stacc.org.uk

At long last Oaklands College are endeavouring to communicate with local residents - we are grateful to the Marshalswick North Residents Association for passing on updates via their Facebook page.   This has been quite a saga, and officers and councillors have made it very clear that any extension to the rights of way closure orders will only be granted if closures are minimal and well advertised.  Construction affecting the bridleways has now been completed, however, a new difficulty has arisen - 'contamination'.  This is understood to be sewage, and the heavy rainfall cannot have helped with whatever leakage / overflow has been occurring.  

At time of writing, the bridleway North Drive from Sandpit Lane to Oaklands College remains closed due to the contamination according to Claire Dolan,

(Deputy Principal, Strategy, Partnership & Business Development) on the

Oaklands College website. The outer barrier (see above) now has its gate open but the path is then blocked by another barrier. There does appear to have been some attempt at making an alternative route to the college; on the right after going through the gate, a path with a very soft surface has been laid, which according to the map above should get you to the college. However, the softness of the path surface means it cannot be ridden along even by mountain bikes, which is rather disappointing from an establishment that offers construction courses.

Herts County Council is proposing to give buses greater priority on the roads to improve bus journey times and make services more reliable as part of its Bus-Service Improvement Plan. Schemes are funded by central government. In St Albans this will include:

London Road - Mile House Lane junction

A new northbound bus lane on A1081 London Road of about 300 metres, from the approach to the junction with Drakes Drive up to the junction with Mile House Lane, with new traffic signals giving priority to buses at Mile House Lane junction.
London Road - London Colney roundabout A new southbound bus lane on A1081 London Road from the cemetery entrance  to the junction with to Nightingale Lane approaching the London Colney Roundabout, where it crosses the A414 North Orbital Road.
Speed-Limit reduction HCC would also like to hear views on whether the speed limit on the section of London Road up to the railway bridge should be reduced from 40mph to 30mph.
The bus lanes would be in operation all the time; moreover it is not intended to have any signage explicitly permitted to allow pedal-cycle usage. These proposals have obvious implications for cyclists. You can see more details about the scheme on the HCC website here where you can complete a short survey which is open until 17th March. Please do this, as the scheme is likely to receive some volume of adverse comments from motorists, which would put the scheme in doubt.
There is also a public exhibition of the proposals at St Lukes Church, Cell Barnes Lane, on Thursday 7th March 3:30 - 7 pm, where you can ask HCC officials questions about the scheme.

The Alban Way has experienced severe and prolonged flooding under the bridge at Smallford several times in recent weeks due to the heavy rainfall, getting worse as the month progressed.  This video recording shows the extent over the last weekend of February. The former railway is in cutting here and so is the lowest point for run-off from the field on the south side and Station Road ditches overflowing from the north across the station car-park. 

It has been an exceptionally wet month, more than double the usual monthly rainfall and the wettest February since records began in 1836. More about our warm, wet winter can be found on the Met Office website.

Nonetheless, this is a well-used active travel route and it is good to hear that SADC and HCC officers are co-operating to investigate the drainage system and, we hope, come up with measures to make the Alban Way more flood-proof.

Herts County Council is proposing to install an additional pair of speed humps at the junction of Marquis Lane and Crabtree Lane.  

The scheme consists of the following proposals and are detailed in the above plan:

• Install an additional pair of speed humps in Marquis Lane adjacent to 175 Crabtree Lane.

• Erect a new speed-hump warning sign opposite 30 Marquis Lane.

• Remove redundant speed-hump sign outside the Marquis of Granby and left-hand bend sign outside 169 Crabtree Lane. 

The information provided forms part of the consultation process (STACC is a 'stakeholder') and HCC invites you to provide comment on the proposal by email to: hlbtro@hertfordshire.gov.uk by Tuesday 19th March 2024.