Waltham Forest is changing and we want you to be part of it. Thanks to a funding pot of £27 million from Transport for London, we’re delivering the Mini-Holland Programme to make our streets fit for everyone to use, whether you walk, cycle, use public transport or drive.

The Mini-Holland Programme is about making our streets work for everyone and our borough a better place to live, work and travel. By creating designated space for cycling, creating routes that better connect our town centres and redesigning some of our public areas, we want to help cut down unnecessary traffic outside your home, and provide safer and healthier travel options so that people enjoy living and spending time in the borough.

Between 2010 and 2014 there were 181 collisions on Forest Road and air pollution in Waltham Forest is on the increase. At peak times of the day, we have up to 6,000 extra cars on our borough’s roads due to the school run making our roads more congested than ever before. We need to do something about this so that everyone can get from A to B easily and safely.

What’s planned for Forest Road?

The Mini-Holland Programme is made up of a network of walking and cycling routes, one of which is Forest Road. These routes aim to better connect areas within the borough such as our town centres and residential areas, making it easier for people to walk and cycle for local journeys. The routes also help connect Waltham Forest to our neighbouring boroughs, attracting visitors and boosting business for our local economy.

Forest Road is a busy route used by up to 17,000 vehicles daily, and is home to around 3,600 residents and 340 businesses. It’s a key route in Waltham Forest connecting Woodford New Road to Ferry Lane, and is already an important walking and cycling route that helps people get to key places like the William Morris Gallery, Lloyd Park, Walthamstow Wetlands and other local facilities.

Over the last few years Forest Road has seen a 56 per cent increase in people cycling to get around. To make this road safer for all road users we’re planning to make the following improvements:

Upgrade all major junctions
Improve and create new pedestrian and cycle crossings to make the area safer and more accessible to people who walk and cycle
Upgrade and relocate bus stops to bring bus facilities up to Transport for London’s standards and make it easier for disabled people and people with push chairs to get on and off buses
Introduce new blended ‘Copenhagen’ crossings at all side road junctions, giving pedestrians a continuous pavement rather than a traditional kerb that they need to wait at before crossing the side road. These crossings encourage vehicles to slow down when entering and exiting the side road, ensuring that pedestrians or people cycling have right of way, as per the Highway Code
Create segregated cycle lanes which create separate, designated space for cycling – making it safer and easier for cycles and vehicles to share the road
Invest in new public spaces, making Forest Road more enjoyable to use, and benefitting residents, businesses and visitors to the area.

Also, with Walthamstow Wetlands due to open in spring 2017, we will work with Haringey Council to improve the overall environment of Forest Road between Ferry Lane and Blackhorse Road junction.

Walthamstow Wetlands will offer access to 200 hectare of unique wetland nature reserve land and is predicted to attract 250,000 visitors a year. This investment to Walthamstow Wetlands will significantly benefit residents and visitors to both Waltham Forest and Haringey.

We’ll also improve the cycle connection between Blackhorse Road junction and Tottenham Hale, making the area more accessible for the 250,000 people predicted to visit Walthamstow Wetlands yearly.