London to get new mega-cycle lane that will run from city wall to city wall

Plans have been unveiled for a new £4,500,000 cycle lane that will cross the City of London.

The route will stretch from Aldgate Square in the east to Blackfriars in the west – roughly the furthest points apart from where the London Wall once stood.

Campaigners have welcomed the plan, saying there is a clear need for it, but they want it to be finished earlier than the proposed date of 2028.

The route passes down St Bodolph Street, Leadenhall, Cornhill, across Bank Junction and Queen Victoria Street.

Where the City new cycle lane would run

It would run further north almost parallel to the cycle lane from Tower Hill to Victoria Embankment and connect to the TfL Cycple Superhighway 2 at Whitechapel High Street, the Cycleway 6 at New Bridge Street and the Victoria Embankment junction area.

But the London Cycling Campaign has said the plan needs ‘far more work at both ends to truly connect it up.’

Only part of the Queen Victoria Street and roads around Aldgate require protected cycle lanes as these sections exceed 500 vehicles per hour during peak times, the documents presented in October said.

Only Queen Victoria Street between New Bridge Street and Queen Street and the roads around Aldgate are above this threshold.

However, the cycle lane would divert around Aldgate High Street via St Botolph Street as ‘it is not feasible to introduce protected cycle lanes on Aldgate High Street’ because of bus stops, kerbside loading, road widtd and capacity and closely spaced side road junctions, the document noted.

Work on the cycle lane is expected to start in the summer of 2026.

How cycling campaigners have reacted

Simon Munk, the LCC’s head of campaigns and community development, said the plan is ‘very welcome’ but it is ‘too slow’ as it is not due to come for a couple of years.

‘If you want a much wider range of cyclists, you need a connected route. People need to get from place A to B without hostility. It will get more women and children cycling,’ he said.

The new cycle lane ‘should be in next week to be honest,’ he said, adding that the City and TfL ‘need to hurry up.’

He said he had concerns over how the cycle lane junctions would be designed.

‘We have great design examples in London, but it seems incredibly difficult to deliver good junctions,’ he told Metro.

He said the design also needs to factor in the number cyclists and people’s behaviour.

‘In central London where this route is, we’re seeing similar routes – Embankment and Blackfriars – over capacity, it is chaotic and crowded.’

He said the proposal appears to ‘give up’ at Blackfriars where cyclists encounter a ‘really hostile junction’ and have to merge into ‘already crowded cycle lanes.’

However, he praised the City Corporation for ‘its massively ambitious strategy for cycling.’

‘They recognise there’s a lot more potential for cycling. To get there, this route will be over capacity within weeks. And it is not due to open for years, so we need more and faster,’ he said.

The new cycle lane is part of the Corporation’s Cycleways Programme aiming ‘to make the Square Mile a safe, attractive and accessible place for people to cycle.’

A TfL spokesperson said: ‘TfL supports the City of London in delivering this new cycleway between Aldgate and Blackfriars. This project is being led by the City and we encourage Londoners to share their feedback through the forthcoming public consultation.

‘TfL is determined to ensure that travel in London is safe, healthy and sustainable, which is why we are continuing to support many London boroughs with their proposals to expand London’s cycleways network.’

What happens next?

Metro understands that a public consultation will launch within days.

Residents, businesses and any other stakeholders will get a chance to have their say on the proposal.

With a chunk of funding coming from the TfL, the Aldgate-Blackfriars cycleway project was ‘substantially delayed’ because of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on TfL’s finances, the document said.

While the original completion programme was by 2025, the latest completion date is now estimated to be 2028, the report added.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

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