Plans to allow cycling through the Greenwich foot tunnel have stalled

Transport for London has outlined its plans for a new cycle route from the Greenwich Foot Tunnel to Canary Wharf and Hackney.

Detailed proposals have been unveiled for the northern part of the route – from Westferry DLR station to Lyme Grove in Hackney – with a proposed route sketched out from the foot tunnel to Westferry.

TfL has long identified Greenwich to Hackney as a route with potential for attracting cyclists, and the new route would also connect in Hackney with its Quietway 2 route to Walthamstow.

The outline route from the foot tunnel to Canary Wharf would run northbound via Westferry Road, up the west side of the Isle of Dogs, to Westferry Circus, using Hertsmere Road to connect to West India Dock Road and the route north to Hackney. Southbound riders would use Byng Street, Millharbour, cross the Millwall Inner Dock at Pepper Street to Crossharbour DLR station before heading down East Ferry Road. TfL says “further feasibility work” is needed on this stretch, which also aims to connect to the planned Rotherhithe-Canary Wharf cycle bridge.

More detailed plans have been worked up for West India Dock Road and Burdett Road, which would see segregated cycle tracks put in, while the northern section of Grove Road, through Victoria Park, would be closed to traffic except buses, cycles and taxis between 7am and 7pm. TfL says construction work could start as early as this winter. Plans for the rest of Grove Road, through Mile End, have yet to be finalised.

A consultation has been launched and will run until 21 June.

While the full route aims to connect Greenwich with east London, plans to allow cycling through the narrow Greenwich foot tunnel – which is operated by Greenwich Council – have stalled amid objections from Tower Hamlets councillors.

Construction work on Cycle Superhighway 4 – between Tower Bridge and Deptford Creek Bridge – is due to begin this summer. TfL is working on designs for a further route onto Woolwich via the notorious Woolwich Road roundabout and Charlton, however, this is not due to be finished until 2023.

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