Work to extend the segregated Cycleway 4 to Woolwich has begun this week, with drivers and bus users warned of delays until early 2027 while construction takes place.

When finished, there will be an almost-continuous traffic-free route from Tooley Street, near London Bridge, to the Woolwich Ferry – with just a gap through Greenwich town centre left to fill.

Plans to build the route along Woolwich Road and Woolwich Church Street were outlined before the pandemic and approved in 2022. Timings were upended by the decision to install a cycle lane between Greenwich and Charlton during the Covid crisis, rather then waiting for the Woolwich section to be finished.

While the existing route runs on the north side of the road through Greenwich and Charlton, the new route will switch to the south side at Anchor & Hope Lane. Some sections of bus lane, particularly westbound on Woolwich Church Street, will be removed.

Overnight work to remove lights and install new ones, put in new cables began on Monday. Some trees will be removed, but Transport for London and Greenwich Council have pledged they will be replaced.

Once the preparatory work has finished in July, the main work will begin later in the summer. The cycle route is due to be completed by the beginning of 2027.

Designs were signed off last month, and the main changes include:

  • Additional pedestrian crossings, including at Mast Quay, Stone Lake Retail Park, and east of Anchor & Hope Lane – ending a situation that locals nickname the “dance of death” as people try to get from Charlton Church Lane to bus stops on the north side of Woolwich Road
  • A segregated lane will be built on Anchor & Hope Lane
  • Southbound traffic will be banned from using the Charlton Lane level crossing to reduce the number of cars crossing the cycle lane there
  • Right turns will be banned at the A206/Kingsman Street junction in response to safety concerns
  • Detailed maps are available on an obscure part of the Greenwich Council website

The council’s deputy leader, Averil Lekau, said: “The extension of Cycleway 4 will make it easier for residents to cycle, or opt for other modes of active travel – something that is key to not only improving their health and wellbeing but also to reducing our climate impact. 

“We want to make it easier and cleaner to explore our wonderful borough. That’s why it is vitally important that the cycling infrastructure is of a high quality that residents can actively travel every day – these works are a big step in the right direction to delivering that.”

A future extension from the Woolwich Ferry to Plumstead, which would run via Powis Street and Macbean Street in Woolwich town centre, is also due to go ahead, but no timescales have been announced.

Earlier this year Greenwich Council consulted on plans to fill in the gap in the cycle route in Greenwich town centre, although it would use an indirect route to the north of the Old Royal Naval College rather than the route that is signed now.

📩 Follow The Greenwich Wire on Bluesky, Facebook, LinkedIn or Threads. You can also sign up for WhatsApp alerts – or subscribe to our emails through the blue box above.