As I’m sure you understand I am unable to commit directly to any funding proposals without receiving internal governance sign-offs. I will raise yours (and the Councillors concerns from last week) within Thames Water. Where possible we have avoided full closures, exemplified by our ongoing works at Stratford High Street, but it is becoming increasingly difficult to balance access to the Greenway against planning safely the infrastructure improvements needed to upgrade the Victorian sewers. These are once in a generation projects – once complete the Greenway will re-open and provide a fantastic community benefit as it has done for many years previously.
With regard to the diversions themselves please advise if you feel there are any alternative routes to those presented last week? We have been working closely with LB Newham for some time and if there is a safer way to implement these closures we would welcome those ideas. To date Thames Water have funded improvements on the existing diversion route including traffic calming measures on Abbey Road, widening of the ramp at Manor Road and improvements in lighting around Manor Road bridge.
As for the notice periods provided we are giving as much time as possible but we cannot slip our timescales as ultimately these are driven by the assets themselves; their condition and the work we need to do to repair and replace them.
Many thanks to those who have already offered to speak to camera for our video. In order to make the maximum impact, we need to tell the human story of the Greenway closures – the individuals who are and will be affected. We would like to involve as many people as possible, and to reflect the diversity of the pedestrian and cycling users of the Greenway. Are you/your family/your friends affected by this closure? Do you work in the healthcare sector? Do you work with community groups? Do you cycle for a living? Would you be willing to talk to camera for 20-30 seconds? Do you know anyone affected who you could ask to tell us their story? If so please contact us at newham@lcc.org.uk and we will be in touch – we hope to complete the video this month (June).
If you would prefer to write about your experience, we are using a form to collect individual experiences of the impact of the Newham Greenway closures. These will be displayed on this website on a map of Newham, linking individuals to Council wards. Please complete the form, keeping in mind that this information will be displayed on a publicly available webpage, so please choose your name and location such that your identity remains secure. Your email will only be used to send you a copy of your response; it will not be displayed.
At a meeting arranged by Newham Council on Wednesday 21st May, Thames Water finally confirmed significant further closures of the Newham Greenway, on the Northern Outfall Sewer. TW suggested this was a risk in a response to questions from Caroline Russell AM in March. However the closure timeline of 2-3 years has not previously been shared. Moreover the timing of this announcement means that Newham Council has less than 4 months to provide safe alternative routes for walking and cycling. Our understanding of the closures and their duration is as follows:
Phase 1, ongoing: Greenway closed from Channelsea Bridge to Manor Road Bridge
Phase 2, July 2025 – September 2025: Greenway closed from Stratford High Street to Manor Road Bridge
Phase 3, September 2025 – December 2027: Greenway closed from Channelsea Bridge to Upper Road
We are writing to express our concerns regarding the safety implications of these closures, and the proposed diversions, and to ask how Thames Water intends to support Newham Council with funding for safe diversion routes.
The Greenway (aka C22, one of TfL’s designated cycleways) is the only safe route for cycling between the north and south of Newham, serving schools, colleges, and Newham Hospital. In 2024, Newham Council recorded 3,200 cyclists using the Greenway each day.
For many, cycling is more affordable, convenient, and more reliable than public transport. Many people who live in Newham depend on walking and cycling for their day-to-day travel—particularly for non-discretionary journeys that they have to make, no matter what. People deserve to be able to make those journeys safely.
The current Phase 1 closure of the Greenway has already unacceptably compromised safety for people walking and cycling, who are diverted via Abbey Road, a narrow bridge, with fast and heavy traffic and narrow pavements. Many cyclists using this route have experienced dangerous incidents involving motor vehicles, including parents with children.
Your proposals for Phase 2 will force cyclists to use the alternative Bridge Road diversion. This will more than double journey times for those using the cheapest forms of transport, and also involves passing through the 3rd and 4th most dangerous junctions in Newham when travelling southeast – including the junction with Carpenters Road, where a cyclist was hit and killed by a lorry in January 2025.
The Phase 3 Greenway closure will additionally remove access to a safe crossing of the District Line for people walking and cycling. Your proposed alternative routes via Plaistow High Street and Manor Road have fast, heavy traffic and no cycling provision, and include navigating the 5th most dangerous junction in Newham for cycling.
The diversion routes proposed by Thames Water for Phase 3 are particularly unsafe. As discussed at the meeting, Newham Council will have to take action to mitigate the impact of the Greenway closures by providing safer alternatives. But with only 4 months’ notice, there is little time for Newham to apply for funding to deliver a safe alternative route, let alone to complete the work.
We have the following questions:
Will Thames Water delay Phase 3 of the Greenway closures in order to allow Newham Council time to construct safe diversions for walking and cycling?
Will Thames Water support Newham Council financially in constructing safe diversions for walking and cycling?
Newham Cyclists and LCC exist to break down barriers to cycling, and help people of all ages, all races, all genders, all abilities, and all backgrounds access this cheap and convenient form of transport. The principal barrier to cycling and walking is safety. We look forward to hearing how you will support measures to ensure the safety of pedestrians and cyclists travelling between the north and south of Newham.
It has come to our attention that Thames Water will be significantly extending their closure of the Greenway, extending their closures as far as Stratford High Street and Upper Road. They have given Newham Council less than 4 months to provide safe alternative routes for walking and cycling. This is completely unacceptable and Thames Water need to take responsibility for their poor planning. This is the information we have to date (below). We have been informed that Newham officers are in discussion with Thames Water to try to reduce the extent of the closures.
Phase 1, ongoing: Greenway closed from Channelsea Bridge to Manor Road Bridge
Phase 2, July 2025 – September 2025: Greenway closed from Stratford High Street to Manor Road Bridge
Phase 3, September 2025 – December 2027: Greenway closed from Channelsea Bridge to Upper Road
We will be writing to Thames Water about their hilarious suggested diversions (for Phase 3, via Plaistow High Street and Manor Road) and will ask how they intend to help (financially) Newham Council to provide safe diversion routes for walking and cycling.
What we need from you: in order to make the maximum impact, we need to tell the human story of these closures – the individuals who are and will be affected. We will be producing articles and videos and we would like to involve as many people as possible. Are you/your family/your friends affected by this closure? Do you work in the healthcare sector? Do you work with community groups? Would you be willing to talk to camera for 20-30s? Do you know anyone affected who you could ask to tell us their story? If so please contact us at newham@lcc.org.uk and we will be in touch.
This is our 2024/25 annual report and Statement of Financial Affairs. We approved it at our AGM on Monday 28th April. For ease of reading and searching, we have copied the text of the annual report to this page; you can download the PDF original, and the SoFA, at the foot of the page.
Summary
2024-2025 was a busy year for cycling in our borough.
There were a number of very positive developments in terms of new, high-quality infrastructure being opened and being built. The first completed sections of the long-fought for Romford Road cycle track officially opened. So has the first section of the Westfield Avenue cycleway, turning one of the worst streets in the borough for cycling (a dreadful “stroad” type design left over from the Olympics) to one of the best. The Royal Docks Corridor scheme from Canning Town to Pontoon Dock and London City Airport is nearing completion, and is truly great. We have also seen a number of public realm improvements and permanent mode filter upgrades, and the roll-out of the borough-wide 20mph limit. Work has also just begun on phase 1a of Cycle Future Route 7 from Leyton to Stratford Town Centre, which will improve one of the worst parts of Cycleway 16 and deliver a much-needed cycling connection over the Great Eastern Railway.
The new West Ham Park LTN, despite some opposition, appears to have settled in and is working well. This scheme in particular is a game changer, as Newham are delivering it simultaneously with the Romford Road works. This is the first time the Council has treated both side roads and main roads at the same time, providing a joined-up network of safer streets.
We are pleased that the ambition shown by portfolio holders and officers at Newham Council is generally high. We have seen some positive consultations for future schemes, for instance for the crossing of Water Lane on the Stratford-Forest Gate backstreet Cycleway link.
Unfortunately, there were also negative developments, particularly the sudden long-term closure of the Greenway, TfL Cycleway 22, by Thames Water in September 2024. At time of writing the Greenway at West Ham has now been unusable for 7 months, which has had a serious impact on children, families, and NHS workers at Newham Hospital who relied on it for their travel. We have had more contact about the Greenway than any other campaigning issue in the history of Newham Cyclists. Newham Council’s diversion is not fit for purpose, after somewhat nebulous fears about traffic displacement from the Police led to them abandoning their original plan to close Abbey Road E15 to general traffic. It is also now clear the “temporary” closure of the Greenway will be longer than the originally planned 18 months. We have also been monitoring the long-term closure of the ExCeL waterfront path on NCN route 13, which raises similar concerns about the cycle network’s dependence on permissive paths that private landowners can close at will.
Considerable disruption has arisen from works for the construction and mitigation of the Silvertown Tunnel, an urban motorway project that TfL has mortgaged £2.2bn of future tolls on. The desultory “cycle shuttle” (bike bus) is not an adequate mitigation, and has already proven in its first weeks to be inadequate for the demand to cross the river by cycle east of Tower Bridge.
A continued lack of action on legacy unprotected junctions has also been evident. Tragically, Newham saw its first cycling fatality in 4½ years in mid-January 2025, at a known dangerous junction on TfL Cycleway 2 on Stratford High Street. The person killed was a man in his 20s. This section of Cycleway 2 features 4 of the 6 most dangerous junctions on our list, and at each, the physical separation for cycling disappears. We have pushed the Council and TfL to stop accepting the “Cycleway” designation as a fait accompli, and to get on with treating the dangerous junctions in line with best practice standards. We are pleased that both Newham Council and TfL recognise the need for rapid action, but they must work together to deliver a meaningful, permanent scheme, speedily, and without being watered down, mired in endless rounds of traffic modelling, or punted out to the next political cycle.
Readout of Newham Cyclists’ Monthly meeting, 31st March 2025
This meeting took place at the Cart and Horses, Maryland.
Greenway – JR shared Caroline Russell’s response from Thames Water, indicating that the Greenway could be closed for longer and additionally other areas could be closed. We discussed further actions and raising the profile of those affected by the closure. Romford Road – Newham have received the LIP funding that they asked for which should cover some of the cycleway junctions.
Temple MIlls Bridge – CK has made some contacts with TfL buses. JR and KF will pass him a summary of events for use in his follow-up.
Ride Calendar – we have sufficient marshalls to cover upcoming events.
Fix Your Ride – it was agreed that we cannot cover the Green Fair, but we have sufficient people to cover the Forest Gate Festival if a quieter stall becomes available.
AAA (Ambition, Aspire, Achieve)– AR will be organising an AAA ride for May 17th and would like 1 more person to support
Silvertown Tunnel – LCC are looking for people to work with their photographer w/c 7th April
Next meeting – AGM with guest speakers Frames of Mind – all Newham LCC to be invited – we discussed additional invitees.
On Monday 20th January at 6pm, we held a vigil at the site of a crash the week prior, which claimed the life of a cyclist in his 20s. Our co-ordinator, Jonathan, read the following prepared remarks. We then held a minute’s silence to commemorate the man who was killed.
We’re here tonight to mark the sad events of last Monday. Details are still scarce to us, and no doubt will become clearer in the coming weeks and months as the Police and coroner make their inquiries.
Right now, we have no further details about the person who died, nor the circumstances of the crash.
Fatal crashes involving lorries and people cycling are a distressingly regular occurrence. The last one in London that we know about was only 10 weeks earlier, on 2nd November last year, when a 27-year-old man was hit and killed in Putney while he was on his way to meet his friends for lunch.
Last week’s crash took place just a few feet away from here, at a junction that was, between 2019 and 2023, Newham’s fourth most dangerous for cycling. Despite being a known danger spot, Carpenters Road junction has been left largely untouched and unprotected for over a decade—just like its neighbours at Cooks Road and Warton Road. It should not take someone, or someones, losing their life for the responsible authorities to take action to remove danger from our streets—at a location that the thousands of us who navigate Stratford on a daily basis know all too well. Even one death is one too many.
Today we are here to acknowledge yet another violent and premature end to a person’s life on London’s roads—and to pay our respects to the unknown rider whose life ended here. And it is easy to forget when policymakers, journalists, and indeed campaigners like us, so readily reduce traffic fatalities to statistics, but let us remember: Every single death or serious injury in traffic is someone’s personal tragedy.
No matter who the young gentleman who died here was, no matter what he was doing, no matter where he was going: no-one deserves a sudden and violent death while simply going about their lives.
We’ll now observe a minute’s silence to reflect, and to pay our respects to the person who was killed.
Newham Council decided not to remove car traffic from Abbey Road, despite this being the formal diversion for the borough’s only safe north-south cycle route. This is despite horrendous near misses on a daily basis—danger which will affect people turning to their cycles during next week’s Tube strike. This is unacceptable. We demand action before someone is hurt or killed.
Halloween may have been yesterday, but the Greenway nightmare is far from over. We have been informed by Newham Council that they will not be proceeding with the traffic order to remove traffic from Abbey Road—a narrow, weak bridge which isn’t on the Strategic Road Network and was never designed to carry the volume of traffic it does—after objections from the Police.
This is a terrible outcome which leaves people who rely on walking and cycling in severe danger. Near misses are extremely common. It is inevitable that at some point, one of those “near misses” won’t be a miss any more.
Keeping Abbey Road open to traffic exposes the most vulnerable road users using the cheapest modes of transport to unacceptable danger, including during next week’s Tube strikes. This failure of leadership from the Council undermines the superb workthey’re doing elsewhere.
It is a matter of time before someone is seriously injured or killed on or around Abbey Road while using the Greenway diversion. We have expressed this concern repeatedly over the past months.
What now?
Short term changes
The “good” news (if we can call it that) is that the traffic calming we were promised over a month ago should finally be installed soon—it has been paid for by Thames Water, and the council are awaiting approvals from TfL’s structures team (since the bridge is over the Jubilee line and DLR.) We hope this should be imminent but feel the delivery of traffic calming has taken much too long. We are also concerned that speed cushions might make close passes by motorists more likely. We will closely monitor the situation.
We have asked for the “do not overtake cyclists” signs we were promised by Thames Water on 20th September to be installed as well. Drivers overtaking cyclists has been a common theme in almost every report we’ve had from Greenway users of a near miss.
Newham Council are also looking at signing a diversion route via Bridge Road (parallel to the DLR.) While much safer than Abbey Road, and actually more convenient for accessing Stratford and destinations to the north east, Bridge Road is nowhere near up to the standard of the Greenway, with narrow bollards at the south end limiting access. It also adds considerable delay to journeys towards Bow and central London via C2, in the region of 10 minutes.
The Bridge Road diversion which Newham Council are going to sign. It’s better than Abbey Road… but a significant diversion if you’re heading west.
The long-term (but still-might-not-happen) plan
The “permanent” solution Newham are planning is to widen the southern pavement on Abbey Road to provide a 4m two way cycle route, with the northern pavement reserved for pedestrians. A single lane would be available for motor traffic, which would either be one-way or operate in alternating directions. However there are a number of issues at play:
The timescale for this kind of work is at least 3-6 months, even with Newham’s officers focusing on it full time. This is frankly disastrous, meaning people cycling will continue to be endangered on the Greenway diversion well into the New Year (when many people begin cycling to work for the first time, and may have a terrifying first experience)
Physical infrastructure will be expensive—well over £150,000. While we obviously think this is a price worth paying to avoid even one serious injury or death, Newham Council is extremely strapped for cash; that money will have to come from somewhere.
Stakeholders may object to any solution on Abbey Road that reduces capacity for cars. If the Police have an issue with a full closure (exempting emergency services) they may also have an issue with reducing its capacity to make way for cycling infrastructure. This is despite—as we said before—Abbey Road not being on the Strategic Road Network, never being designed for the 9000+ vehicles that use it each day, and the A112 and A12 being eminently more suitable for those volumes of traffic.
We are not aware of any progress on the mooted diversion via Crows Road, which would run through private land.
Other things we have asked about
We asked about speed cameras. These would likely need co-operation from TfL and the Police.
We asked about changing the traffic light phasing on the Abbey Road/Leywick Street junction, to split the east/west phase into 2 phases and make it easier for people cycling to turn right. This would also require collaboration from TfL.
Further feedback from Greenway users
This is another selection of some of the feedback we have received. We have tried to credit the people who provided it where we can—please let us know if this is your feedback and you would like your name added (or removed.)
I was just almost flattened by a van swinging out of the yard at the junction where the greenway is closed, and the van then proceeded to block my exit onto the bridge. On top of this, the road surface on the bridge in wet conditions is highly dangerous, especially when being forced into the kerb by close passing traffic. — Laura, via email
The right turn into Leywick Street is particularly awful – much better for Abbey Road to be closed to vehicle traffic, or single lane with traffic lights enabling cyclists to use the other lane —hilbobbling via Instagram
A driver on the bridge heading towards West Ham from Stratford way overtook me at the bridge and when he realised he’d collide with a car coming the other way he cut back in and forced me to a near crash.— Orrin, via email
It’s ridiculous. That road is known for cars speeding and then add that to when you are cycling with your family… it’s added 15 mins minimum of stress to a relaxing family friendly route… — architect_mummy via Instagram
This is my route home. It’s not safe. I’m really not looking forward to using it in the wet and the dark. —@cattleprod via twitter
There is nothing to indicate to drivers that it has become a diversionary cycle route. Drivers ignore the 20mph speed limit and there are no cameras to enforce it. — annekehodnett via Instagram
What must happen now
Newham Council need to get their act together and deliver a truly safe solution for cycling on the Greenway, fast—preferably by Christmas. Thames Water, plus other organisations such as TfL, need to help them achieve this.
This could involve:
Giving Newham Council’s officers the money, staffing levels, resources, and expertise necessary to accelerate delivery of cycling infrastructure on Abbey Road Bridge–preferably by Christmas;
Reviving the experimental traffic order with a view topermanently closing Abbey Road bridge—yet again, a narrow and weak structure that was never designed for the heavy traffic it now sees;
Working fast to deliver a diversion via the currently-closed Crows Road and negotiating with landowners and stakeholders to make that happened
In the immediate term: Overtaking of cyclists on Abbey Road needs to stop. The “DO NOT OVERTAKE CYCLISTS” signs that were promised need to go up within days. Speed cameras and a police presence may lead to better compliance. We will contact TfL about speed cameras. Thames Water should contribute to the capital cost of installing any cameras.
In the long term, Thames Water needs to recognise the importance of the Greenway to the community and change their planning so that nothing like this happens in future years. Providing a safe alternative for people who rely on the Greenway for their daily travel should’ve been a key dependency that was fulfilled before the Greenway was closed.
What you can do
Your photos, videos, and stories are powerful! Share them with us at newham@lcc.org.uk or on Instagram and Twitter/X. We may soon be undertaking a larger campaigning activity in November—please let know if you want to get involved in this too, or better still, join our email newsgroup.
We naturally continue to encourage you to complain to your councillors (find out who they are here). While this decision was made by Newham Council’s officers (permanent employees) and not their elected representatives, it’s still important that you tell your councillors your concerns. It helps them gauge the strength of public feeling about the issue and press for action. If you want to make an impression, you could also write to the Mayor of Newham, Rokhsana Fiaz.
It’s also worth complaining to Thames Water quoting ref BB00472913 because none of this would have happened had they managed their assets properly & not sprung a closure of the Greenway on the Council with only a few months’ notice. We think Thames Water must fund at least part of Newham’s costs for the permanent solution.
We support this scheme and hope that it will go together with a wider scheme to improve both the C-link and the Water Lane area, which is blighted by high volumes of high speed traffic despite not being a main road. We are very aware that there was recently a fatal crash here (two Fridays ago.)
We’ve asked for clearer visual priority for people walking and cycling, with a continuous surface treatment, to make more likely that drivers will give way to people crossing (as they legally should.)
You can find our response below, and use that to inform your own response to the survey.
Inspired by Camden Cyclists’ excellent series of the same name, this post is about the progress of the many cycling infras schemes with spades in the ground in Newham. We will post new ones as and when volunteer time allows and there’s something new to report.
Romford Road
As a large project which will take a number of years, the long-awaited Romford Road public realm improvement scheme is broken up into sections. Sections B eastbound (Water Lane to Radlett Close) and D eastbound (Woodgrange Road to Richmond Road) were the first to be consulted on, and are the first to have been substantively finished. Snagging work should now have been completed for both.
Work has now begun on section B westbound. We’d expect work on section D westbound to take a little longer, owing to the recent fire at Forest Gate Police Station. Work continues on sections H and I.
The open cycle track on sections B and D eastbound is already being very well used by people cycling. In particular a lot of cyclists want to turn right into Dyson Road and the West Ham Park area, and so are already cycling around the barriers to use the zebra crossing.
The massive carriageway on the Westfield Avenue bridge (2 lanes + central hatching!) has already been narrowed by the arrival of materials presumably associated with the construction work. This, combined with hatching on the opposite side, reduces the road width to its final configuration of one traffic lane in each direction. This appears to have already led to a significant reduction in vehicle speeds at what was a real danger spot for people driving, and bodes well for improved safety on the whole corridor for all road users.
West Ham Park LTN
The planters have been installed at the point closures on Ham Park Road for this LTN which is going live on Monday 4th November, although the formal “no motor vehicles” signage has yet to be installed. Signage for the other two point closures on Vicarage Road and Tavistock Road will also need to be installed soon. (UPDATE 8 November: This was an error in the traffic order, the implementation date is now 25 November.)
You don’t need to stand on Ham Park Road long to see why this LTN is desperately needed! Even at 2pm on a Saturday when this photo was taken, large bursts of traffic were forcing their way through this narrow residential street from both the east and the west. We were somewhat concerned for the safety of a cat crossing the street (alas, not visible in the photo!) We look forward to this LTN coming into effect soon, for a safer West Ham Park for all cats (and humans.)
Greenway diversion
We are still waiting for the delivery of any measures at all to make the appalling Greenway diversion via Abbey Road safer. Our latest understanding is that speed cushions are imminent (a purchase order having supposedly been raised by Thames Water) and the ETMO to close Abbey Road to motor vehicles will be coming in late November (UPDATE: now cancelled because Newham Council chickened out) followed by permanent works to build out the south pavement to become a shared cycle track. We will post when we have more confirmed details. There is still no sign of permanent signage for the diversion, with portable temporary signage still in use and still regularly going missing.
New “cyclists dismount” signage has appeared on the shared pavement under the bridge, which has been narrowed… by Thames Water’s own storage unit. “Cyclists dismount” signs are generally not helpful and should only be used as a last resort—they do little more than tell people cycling they’re unwelcome, and many people ignore them. They are also not inclusive of Disabled cyclists using cycles as mobility aids, who may not be able to easily dismount.
We feel this dismounted section can be avoided by extending the traffic light phase for the pedestrian crossing, sending cyclists on this phase through the section of carriageway under the bridge. This is eminently achievable, but requires Thames Water and Newham to collaborate on traffic light phasing, signage, and road markings that work.
Greenway users have now been exposed to over 6 weeks of unacceptable danger, all of which would have been avoided had Thames Water planned their works properly and not closed the Greenway until the diversion was kid-safe.
Work around Beckton station is continuing. The priority pedestrian and cycling crossing on the Frobisher Road arm of the roundabout (into the Asda car park) is now available for use. Drivers leaving the roundabout are generally respecting the priority of people walking and cycling here. It remains to be seen how this develops with time as the scheme nears completion and the volume of cyclists increases.
The connection with the Beckton Corridor route is closed for resurfacing. The traffic lights across the bus station are largely complete, although they’re not turned on yet. There’s an unusual detail of the cycle part of this crossing being separately marked as if it were a parallel crossing, although the traffic lights suggest a shared toucan crossing. The cycle part also uses non standard pedestrian “stud” markings, rather than the “elephants’ footprints” that are generally used in this country to mark a cycle crossing.
Royal Docks Corridor
This scheme is now well underway with work visible on site throughout the entire corridor from Canning Town to Connaught Roundabout. Kerblines have begun to appear on North Woolwich Road near Pontoon Dock, and the junctions are progressing nicely.
Extra work is now happening on the previously-opened eastbound cycle track near the Oasis Academy and petrol station at West Silvertown. The planting is generally in, although not looking as verdant as Romford Road just yet. Junctions south of the viaduct are still largely on temporary traffic lights.
Some value engineering is evident on the Silvertown Way viaduct, where the original plans for a fully stepped cycle track have been replaced by a semi-protected painted cycle lane with kerbs at intervals. The kerbed dividers seem sufficiently bulky that it seems unlikely people will be tempted to speed and risk crashing into them, but it remains to be seen whether drivers end up invading these lanes and parking in them.
Work on the northern end near Canning Town station and the connection with Cycleway 3 seems largely complete, albeit not including the more direct crossing of Cycleway 3 across Canning Town Roundabout which we suspect may come as part of a later scheme.
Tidal Basin Roundabout
Work appears largely complete at the new Tidal Basin Roundabout, although the new shared pedestrian and cycle crossings are still mostly closed off.
This scheme is primarily to accommodate the enormous volumes of traffic which are likely to use the new Silvertown Tunnel, an urban motorway project which wehaveconsistentlyopposed. Even with the new greenery, you only need to look at the wide, sweeping traffic lanes to see who the roundabout and tunnel are really designed for: heavy lorries, and large volumes of private cars. People walking and cycling will be expected to wait up to 5 times to cross this massive new incarnation of the roundabout, adding further delay and encouraging risk-taking on journeys to City Hall, Dock Road, and the proposed new housing at Thames Wharf.
It remains to be seen how this operates in practice. We remain deeply sceptical that the Silvertown Tunnel project will achieve its stated aims, and think it will be seen as an historic planning failure like the vestiges of the Ringway scheme from the 1960s. This roundabout, which expects those without a car to dance between traffic islands, is only part of that legacy.
Bow Roundabout
Work on this scheme has begun and will continue for some months. The usual “cycle gate” arrangement for Cycleway 2 at Bow Roundabout continues on temporary traffic lights.
The effect will be to add an additional traffic lane on one side of the roundabout, create an additional eastbound lane for traffic leaving the roundabout onto Stratford High Street, create an additional westbound lane for traffic entering the roundabout from High Street, reverse the direction of the connecting lane under the flyover, and cut back the contraflow lane so that uses this connection to join the main westbound carriageway to go around the roundabout.
TfL declined to assess the new layout under their Cycling Level of Service or Junction Assessment tools, because (cf. the FOI response) “the decision to separate cyclists from traffic at this location has already been established here and the route is a Cycleway.” We find this logic questionable:
The creation of additional lanes (and indeed this scheme being hurried through using the DCO before the Tunnel opens) suggests TfL believes traffic volumes will increase here.
CS2 eastbound is not physically separated from general traffic here. There is an existing issue where the painted lane is blocked by parked cars, forcing cyclists to merge into motor traffic that’s accelerating off the roundabout.
This issue will be compounded in the new layout by increased traffic volumes, the overwhelming majority of which will be through traffic, whose drivers may see the motorway-type design as an invitation to speed…
and by the new merge movement just west of Cooks Road, which runs the risk of drivers in the left-hand lane swerving into the cycle lane to avoid a collision with another vehicle merging from the right. While curtailing the contraflow lane is very welcome and will reduce the risk of motorists colliding head-on, we question why a new eastbound lane on High Street for the approx 60 yards before it merges into the first lane was considered necessary.
We will be monitoring this new layout very closely when it goes live, and won’t hesitate to hold TfL to account for any necessary mitigations to ensure the safety of people walking and cycling.
This is where 2 general traffic lanes off the roundabout will become 1—which may make the painted lane feel even more vulnerable than it currently is.
The new series of BBC1’s Ambulance was partly filmed at London Ambulance Service’s control room at Dockside earlier this year, and features locations and events many will recognise (including the fire at Forest Gate police station.)
The Romford Road cycle track’s new planting helped inspire a firefighter to rejuvenate Stratford Fire Station’s own garden space.He was interviewed recently on Gardeners’ Question Time on BBC Radio 4. We think the rain garden past the fire station makes it one of the loveliest cycle lanes in Newham.
Other news across London…
While Newham Cyclists focuses on Newham, your cycle knows no bounds and many of our journeys start and finish outside our borough. Here’s some news from our neighbours that may be of interest…
Hackney Cycling Campaign have done an extraordinary job pressuring Hackney Council over their unsafe Pembury Circus design (largely consisting of magic painted rectangles & early release traffic lights.) The decision has now been called in for review, and they are hoping to involve Active Travel England as the project uses Levelling Up Fund money. If you walk or cycle through Pembury or Hackney Central, get in touch with HCC to see how you can help them demand better from their council.
Redbridge Council have launched a draft of their Sustainable Transport Strategy.Contact our friends at Redbridge Cycling Campaign if you’re interested in helping them. Of particular interest to us is Ilford Garden junction, which will connect to the end of the Romford Road cycleway. Deadline 5th January.
Keeping track of the many ongoing projects in Newham is a lot of work for our committee and volunteers. If you live or work near one of these sites, we’d really appreciate it if you would volunteer to tell us when things make progress. Email newham@lcc.org.uk or join our discussion group if you can help us, or want to get involved in our campaigning.
