Welcome to News from the Streets, where we review the many cycling infrastructure schemes being built in Newham. Since our last instalment in February, there has been good progress on a variety of projects to celebrate. We can only hope that, with a change of Mayor and a significant shift in the political landscape of Newham after the elections, this momentum is carried forward in the coming months and years to turn our borough into the cycling powerhouse it deserves to be.
Romford Road
Moving west to east:
Sections B South (Radlett Close to Tavistock Road) and D South (Green Street to Woodgrange junction) have received their blue surfacing at crossovers:
There is good progress on Junction 3 (Richmond Road/Green Street), which will lead directly into Section D. There’s even now an information board on the hoardings telling you what the finished scheme will look like!
Kerblines for Section F (Balmoral Road to Station Road via Woodgrange Park station) continues to make progress steadily eastwards on the north side only at this stage.
Section H (Rabbits Road to Little Ilford Lane) is now lined and open for use in both directions, and has also received its blue surfacing at side roads. We are pleased to see this significant and challenging section opened, including Romford Road’s first inline ‘sparrow’ type crossing. This offers benefits for all users:
- When you are crossing as a pedestrian, you deal with cyclists and drivers separately, making the task of crossing the street easier to manage.
- If you’re cycling, you don’t need to stop when the general traffic light is red—you just give way to people using or waiting for the zebra crossing as normal.
- Shorter crossing distance for pedestrians means the pedestrian traffic light phase can be shorter, meaning less red time for buses and cars.
There will be an opening event for this new section on 19th May featuring a Dr Bike mechanic. Come down and celebrate!
Section I (Little Ilford Lane to Lugg Approach) is still in progress, and as we understand is being bundled with the works for Junction 7 (Little Ilford Lane junction.) This will include 2 new parallel crossings and, most excitingly, a protected T-junction at Little Ilford Lane. When complete, these will mean a big chunk of the scheme is effectively complete from Rabbits Road all the way to Lugg Approach.
Looking ahead, we hope that work will also be able to start in the coming months on Woodgrange Junction (junction 2, again connecting to Section D) and that Rabbits Road junction (junction 7) can see get in the ground this year.
Finally, we are aware of the topic of vehicles being parked in the cycle track, both for loading (which they shouldn’t be doing) and antisocially. While things are improving, it’s still not uncommon to see people loading or even with their cars fully parked in the cycle track. Please report these issues to the Romford Road team using the email address STRomfordRoad@newham.gov.uk, it helps make the case for measures such as bollards and block boulders to keep the cycleways and footways clear.
Water Lane parallel crossing
Work has now moved to the Manbey Grove side of the crossing. The footway rebuild on the eastern side is complete, with only the cycle track due to receive its final surfacing (which we assume will happen at the same time as the new crossing is raised.)
We particularly like the multi-coloured block paving—a simple way to jazz up the built environment. This scheme will make a big difference to the Maryland Cycleway link.
Leyton Road / Cycle Future Route 7
The cycle track is still waiting for its top surface, but the kerb lines are now extant as far as the future Decapod Street/Henniker Road crossing, the realigned Cycleway 16 route. The lamp post has also been removed from the cycleway. We hope that there will be further progress on this route in the coming months—it would be nice for our next ride with Colegrave School to use the new protected cycleway all the way!
Westfield Avenue
International Way and Olympic Park Avenue junctions are now both open for use. At time of writing, the Olympic Park Avenue cycleway received its markings in the last 72 hours—and the freshly-resurfaced bridge span is very smooth and a joy to cycle on (with the exception of short strips by the bridge’s expansion joints.) Work is still ongoing around the entrance to the construction site opposite Olympic Park Avenue—so be careful for the time being.
Work is now beginning in earnest on the new expanded footway on the last section to the Marshgate Lane junction—with a new footway on the eastern side of Westfield Avenue for the very first time.
The parallel crossing connecting to Anthems Way is also complete. There is still some outdated signage (including a battered and now incorrect ‘no cycling’ sign) to be removed.
Elsewhere in the Olympic Park
The main structure of the expanded Greenway ramp to Marshgate Lane is now visible, although there is still clearly a way to go until it gets its tarmac surfacing and the surrounding landscaping is complete. The end date of “Spring 2026” (already extended from Autumn 2025) seems very optimistic. Hint: if you’re in the area, be prepared to give visitors in sparkly garb directions to the ABBA Arena.
The (somewhat stop-start) cycle track on Pool Street is largely complete, and is being connected to the extended Carpenters Road cycleway at one end, and Montfichet Road’s legacy cycle track on the other end.
Beckton Corridor
The section of Jake Russell Walk (National Cycle Network 13) between Royal Albert Way bridge and Beckton Park has been resurfaced, to the same standard as the rest of the Beckton Corridor—the awful anti-cycling barriers are gone, and the surface is smooth asphalt. Some finishing work is still being done to the footway at the crossing to Beckton Park, which we feel should really be a parallel pedestrian and cycle crossing.
Royal Docks Corridor—City Hall area
The extended section of the Royal Docks scheme along Western Gateway to the bike bus stop continues. The rain gardens for the medians are now almost fully planted, and the north-side cycle track connecting to the bike bus is awaiting its top surfacing and its connection to the existing cycle track on Tidal Basin Roundabout. The footway is in the process of being reconstructed. The cycle track on the City Hall/Kamal Chunchie Way/cable car side is still to be constructed.
Keeping track of the many ongoing projects in Newham is a lot of work for our 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.