The Capital’s First Network of Community Cycle Hubs

The first two state-of-the-art Cycle Hubs have opened at Walthamstow Central and Leytonstone Stations marking a milestone for cyclists and pedestrians who commute within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. In a ‘first’ for the capital, a network of eight cycle hubs will be installed by 2016 as part of the TfL funded Mini Holland programme which aims to boost the number of cyclists and pedestrians across the whole Borough.

The project began with a comprehensive month-long stakeholder engagement process with over 60 respondents giving their views on what they wanted from their community cycling facilities. Falco used this data to design the hubs which include the following features and facilities:

• Robust structure with laminated toughened glass
• Latest two tier FalcoLevel Premium cycle racks
• FalcoFlip seats for cyclists to change clothes/shoes on
• FalcoFix maintenance repair stand
• FalcoBoost cycle pump
• Display cases for community information
• Green sedum roof to link with other environmental initiatives
• Luminaire lighting on PIR sensor and timer
• Help point for emergencies
• Fob access control
• CCTV with 24 hour monitoring
• Powder coated finish and branding

There are 80 two-tier FalcoLevel cycle parking spaces at Walthamstow Central and 50 two-tier spaces at Leytonstone Station and when complete the whole programme will provide an additional 432 secure cycle spaces over and above the current outlay of cycle racks within the borough.

Six more state-of-the-art hubs will be installed by 2016 at the following locations:

Location                                                Number of Spaces

Blackhorse Road Station                         50        

Chingford Station                                   28

Highams Park Station                             28

St James Street Station                          28

Wood Street Station                               28

Leyton Station                                       80

The cycle racks are housed in a bespoke contemporary design of the classic FalcoLok shelter, which feature innovative ‘green roofs’ and clean lines though glass cladding held by stainless steel glass clamps. The whole shelter is hot dip galvanised to BS EN ISO 1461 and then polyester powder coated in the Cycle Waltham Forest colours. Rainwater is collected via innovative integral gutters as part of the roof system.

Going forward, the shelters are designed to be maintenance free providing minimal cost of ownership to LBWF (only occasional cleaning and statutory inspections required) and additionally should there be any unforeseen damage, the modular nature of the structure means that replacing any damaged items is simple to undertake.

Members of the public can now register for a membership costing just £10 per person per annum which provides excellent value and enables all economic groups within the borough to have an affordable cycle parking facility.