Plans for a new cycle route through Woolwich town centre  include a new crossing to the Elizabeth Line station aimed at fixing safety issues with the current crossing.

The cycling plans, unveiled on Monday morning, include a new cycle route using Powis Street and Macbean Street, with a new segregated cycle lane along Beresford Street and Plumstead Road. 

But buried among the plans are proposals to move one of the twin pedestrian crossings between Beresford Square and the Royal Arsenal so it provides a direct link to the station.

The pair of crossings across the busy A206 were opened by Greenwich Council in 2018 to connect the Royal Arsenal with the rest of Woolwich. 

But the crossing nearest the station does not lead directly to it, meaning that anyone trying to take a bus from outside the covered market has to take a circuitous route. Since the station opened in May last year, many passengers have simply been walking straight across the road rather than using the crossing.

People crossing the road outside the junction
Many passengers improvise rather than use the official crossings to the Elizabeth Line. Image: The Greenwich Wire

Averil Lekau, the council’s deputy leader, had played down a quick solution to the problem when the issue was raised at a council meeting in October last year, saying that such a fix could simply shift the problem to the west.

However, TfL has included a new crossing in its plans.

With no space for a direct route along Woolwich High Street, riders would be able to use Powis Street as a two-way route as far as Macbean Street, passing Lidl.

There would then be a segregated route along the south side of Beresford Street and Plumstead Road, with a cycle track between the old Woolwich Public Market – due to become part of the Woolwich Exchange development – and the bus stops. 

At Burrage Road the track would split and feed into the existing cycle lanes that run towards Plumstead station, with a larger island for pedestrians crossing Plumstead Road. But the new traffic signals required for this could mean a delay of between three and five minutes for users of the 51, 53 and 291 buses heading from Burrage Road into the town centre.

New signals at Burrage Road would slow down some buses. Image: Transport for London/Google

A new westbound bus lane would also be put in place alongside Woolwich High Street, although bus stands that already use much of that space would remain in place. 

The new cycle lane and crossings would be built alongside Greenwich Council’s revamp of Powis Street and Beresford Square, TfL has said, raising the prospect that they could be built sooner rather than later. But one element missing from the plans is where cyclists would park their bikes if visiting Woolwich, with there already being complaints about a lack of cycle parking at the Elizabeth Line station.

The plans would eventually lead to a continuous cycling route – Cycleway 4 – between Tower Bridge and Plumstead station. The initial section, as far as Deptford Creek Bridge, is almost complete, with the opening of a route through the Rotherhithe one-way system believed to be imminent.

A temporary route between Greenwich town centre and Charlton opened in 2020, while plans to extend it from Charlton to the Woolwich Ferry roundabout got the go-ahead in October 2022.

Full details of TfL’s plans and a consultation open until February 25 can be found at haveyoursay.tfl.gov.uk/woolwich-plumstead