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Girl holding hands with dad on Cycle Superhighway (source BikesandBabies on Twitter).PNGE-W cycle superhighway extension won't be built until 2021
Those waiting for a protected cycle route in West London could be in for the long haul, as Transport for London documents reveal plans to extend the East-West cycle superhighway beyond Paddington Station have been shelved for four more years, until 2021.
A kerb-protected route was intended to extend from Tower Hill to Acton, and although much of the route has now been built, the section planned for the Westway flyover, a TfL-controlled road, was halted by London Mayor, Sadiq Khan last year, with the aim of rerouting it through borough roads.
Khan, and his deputy mayor for transport, Val Shawcross, have said they are committed to a West London cycle route, but the new schedule pushes its construction beyond the current mayoral term, which ends in May 2020. Campaigners say although they welcome a more convenient route than the Westway flyover, this delay represents an unacceptably long wait for those who want a safe cycling route in this area.
Westway cycle superhighway plans scrapped
In a report from the Programmes and Investment Committee, on 8 March, it was revealed £750,000 was spent on feasibility studies, surveys and data collection on the East-West Cycle Superhighway extension project. The same document states the project “will be complete by December 2021”. The document doesn’t set out the overall budget for the scheme as, it says, further assessment is required following changes to the original proposal.
Some may speculate the inclusion of the E-W extension studies in this report, which details schemes fast-tracked for funding via the use of delegated authority, means a new plan for the route could feature in the Mayor’s Draft Transport Strategy, due to be released for public consultation mid-May.
Although those calling for an East-West cycling link say a surface route would be more convenient, concerns have been raised over whether the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea, who own the surrounding roads, but have previously opposed protected cycle routes on their streets, would agree to such a scheme.
The London Cycling Campaign’s Simon Munk says a west London route is ‘massively overdue’, but says the campaign is in favour of a better option than the Westway. However, he believes four more years is too long for those who want safe cycling routes in West London to wait.
He said: “If they are serious that what’s going to come is a high quality route which is protected space and it’s not necessarily on the Westway, we are in favour of them taking a bit more time to get it right, but four years is too long.”
However, Munk said he would like to see Kensington & Chelsea involved in the cycling programme, and for the cycle superhighway routes being built to a high quality, linking up in Central London without gaps.
“The issue is which roads are they going to bring it in on, if not the Westway? Because Kensington and Chelsea absolutely rejected cycle tracks on their roads. Whoever comes in has to solve that issue.”
Former London cycling czar, Andrew Gilligan, appears to have correctly predicted the rerouting of the East-West cycle superhighway would cause delays, but his prediction was it would take at least two years, while new plans and consultations were drawn up and approved. In November the Mayor’s office said new plans would be available “shortly”.
Transport for London and City Hall wouldn’t give details of any plans, but echoed the same comments. “We are committed to extending this route further west, but some re-routing is required following the previous consultation,” they said.
Laura Laker is a freelance journalist with more than a decade’s experience covering cycling, walking and wheeling (and other means of transport). Beginning her career with road.cc, Laura has also written for national and specialist titles of all stripes. One part of the popular Streets Ahead podcast, she sometimes appears as a talking head on TV and radio, and in real life at conferences and festivals. She is also the author of Potholes and Pavements: a Bumpy Ride on Britain’s National Cycle Network.
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I voted for him but to me it seems Khan's got the modern left thing of perpetually acting like they're in opposition. Sitting at his desk tweeting about how bad the air pollution is and that something should be done about it. Yes it should! By you! You're the mayor, get on with it.
I have a dodgy theory about him. Which might be proved completely wrong by future developments (I hope so).
It's that because his background and status is almost the polar opposite of Boris Johnson's, it's made him super-cautious and nervous of rocking the boat.
Boris was so well-ensconced in the establishment, and elite in almost every way its possible to be elite, so he didn't feel particularly concerned by making enemies among powerful groups. So when his ego and desire for attention led him to do something, he wasn't put off by fear of opposition, because he's never had the experience of being marginal or vulnerable. He just blustered his way through everything, whether it was good or bad, with little thought to the consequences.
Whereas Khan seems to be extremely nervous of losing his position if he annoys anyone with power.
I still think Goldsmith would have been worse - having upper-class confidence isn't a plus point if what you actually want to do is completely stupid.
So, I'm the bloke what is quoted in the piece at LCC. Couple of quick things:
1. Yes, this does feel a bit kicked into the long grass. We will keep kicking it back out.
2. West London is woefully underserved by routes - but CS9 is coming this year.
3. Loads of other big schemes are on the way. They are. I know it's taking longer than we wanted, but a tiny bit more patience and stuff will come forward. We have concerns about the length of time some stuff is taking. And on the pace. But there is real commitment from the Mayoral team to shift people onto cycling and walking. So don't be too cynical... yet.
Willing to give the benefit of the doubt based on someone that has more knowledge on this than I do, but the Mayor should be aware that goodwill is both finite and running thin...
Why the secrecy? Why not treat citizens with respect and clearly state what the plans are?
Are you that naive? Of course there's a "real comitment" in words, but in deeds the Khan administration has backtracked, and delayed, and shelved. Politicians need to be held to account by effective campaigns, not taken at their word.
These schemes that are coming are "quietways" - they are a step backwards, to the type of infrastructure that we had before the superhighways. It is a type of infrastructure that will not enable mass cycling. Well done, Sadiq has taken us back to the pre-Boris era, and you want to tell us to be a bit patient. FO
I want to believe...
But he's delivered nothing of value to justify optimism, in a year. One year.
Meanwhile, he's picked a Nike marketing flapping head out of a bunch of excellent candidates to be his commissioner and delayed the Regent's Park solution that was ready to go by inviting some angry moton rat-runners to shout their non-argument at him because he needed to hear it again, or something.
He's confusing seeking consensus for decision-making and is achieving the square root of jack shit. Unless his commitment was for dithering, what is your optimism based on?
Good for you Laura and London Cycling Campaign for keeping on the case.
Regardless of Zac Goldsmith, it does now seem that Khan's commitments to cycling before the election can accurately be described as lies. He is incredibly timid and ineffectual - what a disappointment.
So the mayors office is committed to the extension, so long as it happens in four years time when it'll be someone else's problem...
Well done to Siddique Khan but especially well done to all the idiots who voted for him after believing all his lies about cycling: you are to blame for this.
I'm under no illusion that Zac Goldsmith would have been any better than Sadiq.
Yeah right, because the existing E-W Superhighway is so good, with the top photo showing how two riders being as close as posible can block the way for any riders in the other direction!
Care to predict when any widening works will happen?
Of course it's not rocket science to consult with the designers of continental European infrastructure, but . . .
"Transport for London and City Hall wouldn’t give details of any plans, but echoed the same comments. “We are committed to extending this route further west, but some re-routing is required following the previous consultation,” they said."
This scheme has been shelved. Nothing more, nothing less.
First of many it seems...