Academy Central

I've had a nose round Academy Central, the housing development at the former University of East London (or if you prefer NE London Polytechnic, or for the silver surfer, SE Essex Technical College) Barking Campus (in postal Dagenham, mainly). I saw that bikes are being stored on balconies. If this is because there is inadequate bike storage then this is another major disappointment.

Academy Drive, the new road into the development from Lodge Avenue, looks much like any estate road built in the last 20 odd years, except for the signs giving a 20mph speed limit and denoting a home zone. The physical design doesn't look like a home zone.

One of the reasons I wanted to visit was to look at the shared use paths that are there. These are narrow red brick that can be used by vehicles and pedestrians. Most of them seem to sport one way traffic signs, which is rather bizzare, unfriendly to cycling (surprise!) and in my view likely to increase motor vehicle speeds. I don't really understand why, according to the Barking & Dagenham Post, residents are objecting to them being made 2 way. The entrance to the site opposite Gainsborough Road is just that - an entrance. Try to leave through that gate in a vehicle and you're faced with no entry signs. Cyclists wanting to exit there need to do so as pedestrians.

So we see that the anti-cycling illness that pervades B&D is showing its symptoms here, despite the fact of a rather intriguing shared segregated cycle / pedestrian path that appears to run through the school site. It was gated / fenced off, so I could only view it - not go down it.