Notting Hill Gate proposed segregated cycle lane
A protected cycle lane could be built on one of west London’s most affluent roads in a bid to improve safety.
Plans were released today for a 2.3-mile segregated route linking Notting Hill Gate and Wood Lane via Shepherds’s Bush Green. Its cost is estimated at £42.2m.
This would involve removing one of two westbound lanes from Holland Park Avenue to create the two-way cycle route.
Notting Hill Gate, which continues into Holland Park Avenue, is a notorious thoroughfare and was where cyclist Eilidh Cairns, 30, was killed by a HGV a decade ago. Her death was commemorated with the capital’s first “ghost bike” memorial.
Today’s proposals are Mayor Sadiq Khan’s alternative to his predecessor Boris Johnson’s idea of building a cycle superhighway on the A40 Westway flyover. Mr Khan axed the Westway plan two years ago.
The new route would link Westfield shopping centre, the former BBC TV studios and Imperial College’s “med city” science hub. It would go directly cross the Thames Water roundabout at Shepherd’s Bush and along the southern side of Shepherd’s Bush Green.
It would connect with the two-mile £10m cycleway already under construction alongside the A40 between Wood Lane and Acton, which is due to be completed by the end of the year.
The hope is that the new route will later be extended east from Notting Hill, along Bayswayer Road to Lancaster Gate, where it would meet the CS3 cycle superhighway from Hyde Park to Tower Hill.
If backed in a public consultation, it would be the first protected cycle route in Kensington and Chelsea, a Tory borough that has previously resisted safer cycling routes.
Ken&Chelsea is understood to have taken a neutral position in allowing the consultation to go ahead without backing or opposing it.
Today’s proposals also include a number of measures to improve pedestrian safety, including new crossings. Some side roads would become exit or entry only.
It would be the second major cycling route in west London. Construction of the £70m CS9 cycleway between Hammersmith and Brentford via Chiswick is due to start this summer.
Will Norman, London’s walking and cycling commissioner, said: “These improvements would enable many more people to walk and cycle which is vital to reduce car use and clean up London’s toxic air.
“By creating new pedestrian crossings, moving bus stops to better locations and making it safer to cycle, we will make streets much more accessible and welcoming for everyone who lives, works or visits the area.”
- An edited version of this story appears in tonight’s Evening Standard.
£42m segregated cycle route proposed between Notting Hill Gate and Wood Lane | rosslydall
Notting Hill Gate proposed segregated cycle lane A protected cycle lane could be built on one of west London’s most affluent roads in a bid to improve safety. Plans were released today for a 2.3-mile segregated route linking Notting Hill Gate and Wood Lane via Shepherds’s Bush Green. Its cost is estimated at £42.2m. This… [Read More]