The long-awaited and controversial Cycleway 4 is complete after Southwark Council and Transport for London (TfL) bosses celebrated its opening this week.
The 1.3km stretch along Lower Road was the “final piece of the puzzle”. Its completion means London Bridge and Greenwich are officially linked by one continuous cycle route as of Wednesday, March 6.
The latest addition to London’s cycle network is part of the Mayor’s drive to increase sustainable transport, which has seen cycle lanes quadruple to 360km since 2016.
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.”
However, a local business has long been concerned about its impact on traffic. Simon Dyer, owner of funeral directors F A Albin and Sons, previously said the cycleway was worsening motor traffic and “an accident waiting to happen”.
His brother Jon Dyer, speaking to the News, said the traffic along Lower Road had become “unbearable” since works began on the cycleway.
Whereas before there were four lanes of motor traffic, two northbound and two southbound, a southbound lane has been removed to accommodate a new cycle lane.
Much of the company’s clientele live in areas like Sidcup and Blackheath but drive in to visit The Albin Memorial Garden.
“People say ‘having my mum’s ashes here keeps them connected,” company owner Jon Dyer said.
He added: “But on a Saturday afternoon, it’s not even worth them attempting to come and visit and it shouldn’t be like that. It’s got to the point where it’s unbearable.”
Simon said the cycle lane was confusing with cyclists often going the wrong way down the road.
He said: “This cycle highway. If you watch the bikes, they go straight through the red lights. It’s crazy.”
The final phase of Cycleway 4 along Lower Road includes the installation of two-way cycle lanes and a new signalised pedestrian crossing outside the Southwark Park entrance.
Cllr Kieron Williams, Leader of Southwark Council, said: “In Southwark we’re doing a huge amount of work to make the borough more cycle-friendly.
He added: “In addition to our 700 cycle hangars, which provide 4,200 cycle spaces, we’re improving walking and cycling routes to schools and hope that together these efforts encourage even more residents to get on two wheels.”
As well as connecting London Bridge with Greenwich, Cycleway 4 links up with Cycleways 10 and 14.
During the next financial year, TfL will install more cycling schemes with £19.5 million of investment already announced.
This funding will complete Cycleways between Lea Bridge and Dalston, between Deptford and Deptford Creek and Hammersmith and Kensington Olympia.
I don’t think cycling routes, which after all afe part of the daily “rat run” should come at the expense of communities which just happen to be strategically placed along the route. Albins is a Bermondsey and Rotherhithe institution part of the local area’s heritage and should not be impacted unduly by commuters who after all are merely passing through.
In addition, A-B cycling may be attractive or feasible for a certain age group and section of the population, but far more people rely on London’s renowned red buses. The whole purpose of bus lanes was to assist the population both local and beyond to go about their business and now I see all this progress being undone by the impingement of cycle routes (which are mostly empty except at certain times) on buses and bus lanes. In Spain some local authorities have bent to public frustration and started to rip out cycle lanes which were implemented by left wing councils with EU “green” funding. It seems the cycle lobby has pixxed everybody else off, pedestrians, local businesses, bus and car users, residents and voters. This is not healthy for the genuine cause of leisure cycling and healthier lifestyles. The roads are no safer for cyclists than they were before and that other measures might have achieved.