A frustrated resident is pleading for change after saying he has ‘lost a day’s work a week’ waiting in traffic in Rotherhithe.
Mike Ranson, a self-employed handyman and railway signal engineer, said he’s reached his limit with the congestion – admitting to having had a ‘breakdown’ one day when it just got too much.
The Lower Road traffic has caused an uproar among businesses and residents alike – ever since the lanes merged into one when the new cycle lane was constructed.
Construction of Cycleway 4 – an unbroken cycle route between London Bridge and Greenwich – began in July 2019.
Since then, the route has gradually been built in phases, with the final stretch along Lower Road officially unveiled by Southwark Council and Transport for London (TfL) in March.
“As soon as they put the first shovel in the ground,” Mike told us. “When they closed off the lane – that’s when this started.”
It is all part of City Hall’s drive to get Londoners on their bikes and out of their cars, a policy pioneered by former mayor Boris Johnson and taken up by Sadiq Khan – which has seen cycle lanes quadruple to 360km since 2016.
But like many others, Mike is not convinced it is a fair policy. “I have to drive for my job – my car is full of tools and machinery.”
When asked how many hours he believes he typically spends waiting in traffic every week, Mike replied: “I’ve lost about a day’s work a week just trying to get in and out of Rotherhithe.”
Having lived on the Rotherhithe Peninsula for the last twenty years, Mike and his wife said they are ‘trapped’ on weekends – having to wake up at the crack of dawn on a Saturday just to be able to do a food shop.
“If we don’t make it out by 8 am, we are stuck. We can’t just have a leisurely weekend anymore.
“We’ve had to change our lives to suit the traffic jams.”
Mike is calling for TfL to ‘get it back to two lanes’: “Every junction is blocked because of a cycleway and the pavement is too wide for its use.
“This is a main artery with four major roads – there has to be two lanes.”
He added: “The other night I had a mental breakdown on the way home. I’m a strong person but it got too much for me.”
We asked TfL for comment on the issue, but they said they could not respond – citing the restriction in the ability to comment on anything deemed political during the run-up to elections.
However, when it opened, Helen Cansick, TfL’s Head of Healthy Streets Investment, said: “Our continued work in expanding the Cycleway network throughout the capital unlocks access to cycling for many more thousands of Londoners.
“The new section of Cycleway 4 is the final piece of the puzzle connecting London Bridge all the way to Greenwich.”
Southwark Council did not respond at the time of going to press.