Support a new cycleway in Westminster

Start of a new era

It’s a new dawn for cycling in Westminster! Having given our local group his pledge to make Climate Safe Streets before winning the local elections in May, Westminster City Council leader Adam Hug is now following through. The council are consulting on a protected cycle lane on Cleveland Street, Fitzrovia, which promises to be the first of many. Please respond to the consultation and support this brave first step towards a safer, healthier borough.

Support the scheme today

Cleveland Street is a key north-south route in Fitzrovia right on the border with Camden. The proposal is to make it two-way for cycling with a kerb-protected track for those heading south against the flow of traffic. This is great both for making Westminster safer for cycling and for offering more direct routes, as anyone who’s battled with its one-way streets will know. It’s not a long stretch of cycleway, and it’s not perfect, but it’s a great step in the right direction – so please tell Westminster that this scheme is wanted and needed.

The consultation form is very quick to fill in and you can show your support by simply ticking ‘Support’ in question 5. Click through now, or read on for our thoughts if you want to give a more detailed response…

The consultation closes on Friday 3 March so please fill it out today!

In more detail

Plans include a new parallel crossing for pedestrians and cycles and a continuous footway across the junction with Tottenham Street. The scheme doesn’t cover the whole of Cleveland Street, only the southern half. However, the north end connects with Cycleway 27 at Maple Street, and in the long term the cycle route will continue south along Newman Street and across Oxford Street into Soho. You can download the drawings from the consultation page. Here’s our take in more detail…

We welcome

• The kerb-protected cycle track
• Two-way for cycling to provide a more direct route
• The new pedestrian & cycle crossing
• The continuous footway (‘Copenhagen crossing’) at Tottenham Street
• Double yellow lines & no loading throughout.

Things to improve

• Turning right into New Cavendish Street by bike looks intimidating and risky – would a 12-year-old be comfortable to do this? We’d like to see cycling separated from motor traffic in time or space at this junction
• People cycling north won’t have protection from vehicles, and the road width is in the danger zone – too narrow for a driver to safely pass a bike, but wide enough to be tempted to try. This needs addressing
• Other junctions along the route would benefit from continuous footways, notably at Riding House Street as a school street.