Scrap blue paint if CS2 cycle lane can’t be segregated, summit urges

Cycle Superhighway 2010 Getty Images

The blue paint along east London’s CS2 ‘cycle highway’ where four riders have died this year should be removed where cyclists have to share road space with other traffic, a public meeting has heard.

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CS2 cycle route along the A11 CS2 cycle route along the A11

The paint gives a false sense of security because it has no legal status and confuses road users about who has right of way, City Hall’s cycle summit at was told.

The call was made in response to the deaths on the busy A11 between Aldgate and the notorious Bow Roundabout, three of them all last month.

The London Assembly’s John Biggs, who chaired the summit, has been campaigning to remove the blue paint where the CS2 route can’t be segregated because it “makes cyclists feel safe when there is still danger” from large vehicles.

“The tragic death of cyclists on our streets should not have happened,” he said.

“We need to make sure cycling routes are uniform across London so riders know how to approach junctions and that road layout is predictable for them.”

The Mayor of London’s Cycling Commissioner Andrew Gilligan set out the three options at the summit for segregating the A11 cycle route from other traffic. These include separate lanes in the middle of the road and even taking down the flyover built 40 years ago above the roundabout.

But John Biggs, whose constituency includes the cycle route, warned: “It’s important that accommodating cyclists doesn’t lead to roads seizing up. Improvements to the cycle highway should benefit motorists and pedestrians as well as cyclists.”

Those who regularly use the CS2 route found it “substandard and in need of segregation,” he added.

There were also concerns over changes Transport for London has made to the Bow roundabout junction where the A11 crosses the A12 Blackwall Tunnel Approach, following the deaths of two cyclists there within days of each other in 2011.

Professionals who run cycle awareness courses complained at the summit that they hadn’t been consulted when the changes were made.