Rectory Lane to Debden Station via Brickclamps Path

(This is proposal for a route that I'd potentially like to include in along with our response to the Epping Forest Cycling Action Plan. I use this route myself, but it currently includes sections where cycling may not currently be allowed.)

Purpose: this signed "Quietway" route is intended to allow access to the shops at Debden (Loughton Broadway) and to the Tube station, without having to use the Rectory Lane / Broadway junction itself, which is not at all cycling-friendly. It would reduce traffic on the Broadway by providing clear encouragement that cycling to these shops is an easy option, bringing highly-visible cycling infrastructure right into the heart of the shopping area.

* From the Rectory Lane / Westall Road junction, a signed route to Debden Station and the Broadway Shopping area would lead down Ibbetson Path (which is actually a highway leading to Barrington Road);

* the entire area including Ibbetson Path, Barrington Green, Barrington Road and Doubleday Road is residential, including sheltered accomodation, and should have a 20mph speed limit;

* from Barrington Road, the route would turn onto Brickclamps Path which would be a Segregated Shared Use path. There is plenty of width so conflict between cyclists and pedestrians seems extremely unlikely, indeed the existing central barrier suggests that at some point explicit cycle/pedestrian segregation was intended but never signed;

* the railings at the junction of Brickclamps Path with Vere Road are an obstruction to both cyclists and pedestrians and should be replaced with bollards, which would be perfectly adequate to prevent cars using the path;

* the area around the cycle parking where Brickclamps Path meets the Broadway should probably be shared space for cycling and pedestrians: very low speeds would be expected here;

* turns across the central reservation would be permitted for cyclists, so that the route could continue south-west along the Broadway;

* an unsegragated shared-use footway alongside Torrington Drive would allow cyclists a direct route to the station from the Broadway (and vice-versa). Pedestrian volumes next to the former post office are not high, and the main carriageway is not wide enough for two-way cycling because of the bus stop;

* where Torrington Drive becomes two-way after it meets Burton Road, cyclists would rejoin the carriageway;

* access for cyclists from Torrington Drive to the station would be made easier by installing drop kerbs and clear route signs;

* the railings where the footpath meets Station Approach would (by agreement with Transport for London) be modified or removed - they are already a serious obstruction to pedestrian flows at peak times (e.g. students arriving in the morning for Epping Forest College). A single railing or bollard would be sufficient to discourage motor vehicles.