Hammersmith Set To Get Two Cycle Routes

A4 lane for 'more experienced' cyclists, as well as CS9 on King Street

Artist's impression of cycle lane along King Street (H&F)

Hammersmith is set to get not one, but two new cycle routes following an agreement with Transport for London (TfL).

The cycle highway currently known as CS9 is to run from Olympia to Brentford, from Kensington to Hammersmith and along King Street towards Chiswick High Road and TfL are continuing discussions with local councils on a revised route.

Hammersmith & Fulham (H&F) Council Leader Cllr Stephen Cowan has negotiated with TfL to also fund a complementary scheme to CS9 along the A4, which the Council says is 'for faster and experienced commuting riders.'

“The improved cycle highway alongside the A4 will be a much better fit for those riders who simply want to get from A to B as quickly and safely as possible," he commented.

“We listened to residents and cyclists and have since worked very closely with TfL on their behalf to agree a safer cycle route along King Street for riders of all abilities.

The borough’s resident-led Independent Disabled People’s Commission is being asked to review this scheme.

The announcement seems to rule out speculation that a route along the A4 was being considered as an alternative to CS9. The Mayor recently alluded to talks about an A4 route which raised the hopes of those advocating a cycle lane there rather than along the A315 (Chiswick High Road and King Street). Close observers of the scheme have claimed that negotiations with H&F Council have been the most problematic and this development means that a key stumbling block to the project has been removed.

A TfL spokesperson said, “We will be announcing the next steps for the planned cycle route between Olympia and Brentford shortly.

“We have taken on board feedback from everybody, including local residents, visitors and others. We will be moving forward with our plans for a new cycleway along King Street and have also been in discussions with Hammersmith and Fulham Council about how to improve the environment for cyclists along the A4, between Hammersmith Town Hall and the Hammersmith gyratory.

'Improvements along the A4 would be additional investment in Hammersmith and would enable even more people in the area to walk and cycle.”

TfL has confirmed they plan to start work on the new safer cycle pathway along King Street later this year, with full details due to be released by TfL in early 2019.

The Hounslow Cycling Campaign have published a detailed study of why they are opposed to this option or routing a cycle highway along the A4. Opponents of this option have pointed out that it would expose cyclists to much higher levels of pollution and say that there are a number of problematic junctions that make the route less desirable than the King Street/Chiswick High Road option along the A315.

An artist’s impression of the proposals, looking north-east along South Circular Road from Kew Bridge Road

H&F Labour councillors had previously said that they would lobby the Mayor to run the cycle route down the A4, not King Street or Hammersmith Road. The council was opposed to the loss of pavement to cyclists and was advocating more pedestrianisation of King Street. The Labour election manifesto in H&F said, "We will oppose the reduction of pedestrian space for cycle lanes."

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan recently hinted that a significant rethink of CS9 was possible when he admitted that discussions are taking place about rerouting the scheme. During a question and answer session following Mayor's Question Time on 20 December, he told local Assembly Member Tony Arbour that "there is potential rerouting of CS9, which is what the discussions with the Council are about." Mr Arbour is in favour of the cycle superhighway being routed away from Chiswick High Road and along the A4.

Hounslow Council has not given its official comment on the cycle highway route but it is known that its transport department has reservations about traffic management around junctions in Chiswick. The most likely modifications to be sought concern the area around Our Lady Of Grace Catholic Church and British Grove.

Cycle Superhighways are to be rebranded this year with TfL saying that the Cycle Superhighway and Quietway brands are misleading and confusing to many people and that they need to move towards 'a more inclusive' identity. A new branding for the network will be announced next year. TfL announced it would be dropping the ‘Cycle Superhighway’ and ‘Quietway’ names for schemes last December.

TfL's recently published Cycling Action Plan states, "We are also committed to completing delivery of the high-quality routes currently under development by TfL and the boroughs, including routes conceived as part of the former Cycle Superhighway and Quietway programmes."

January 17, 2019