A two-way cycle path could be put in place across Blackheath as part of revived plans to create a better route for riders between Greenwich Park and Eltham.
But Greenwich Council has backed away from earlier proposals to close roads to motor vehicles as part of the scheme.
A two-way cycle track would be installed across the heath between Shooters Hill Road and South Row, alongside the shared path that is already in place and passing the stone circle and the Prince of Wales pond.
Riders would then share with motor traffic along South Row, Kidbrooke Gardens, Wricklemarsh Road and Rochester Way.
Another two-way cycle path would be put in place on Rochester Way from Kidbrooke Way, before sharing with traffic again along Briset Road, Shawbrooke Road, Legatt Road and Keeling Road to the Yorkshire Grey roundabout.
From there, a two-way track would take riders across the corner of Eltham Green and up Eltham Hill. From Green Way, improved cycle lanes would continue as far as Well Hall Road.
Plans to stop through traffic on Kidbrooke Gardens have been scrapped, but the council instead plans to introduce turning restrictions from Wricklemarsh Road into Kidbrooke Park Road to stop the streets being used as a cut-through.
Both Greenwich and Lewisham councils have long tried to stop rat-running on the side-streets between Kidbrooke Park Road and Blackheath: in 2020 Lewisham physically blocked South Row as part of a Covid-era plan to make the area safer for cycling, but ran into objections from the Morden College almshouses because deliveries used this route to avoid a weak section of road above a railway tunnel.
The following year Greenwich proposed blocking Kidbrooke Gardens as well as Birdbrook Road and Shawbrooke Road as part of an earlier route to Eltham: this scheme was scrapped just before the 2022 council election.
The new route avoids Birdbrook Road and uses quieter backstreets to reach Eltham Hill instead. The scheme also features a direct cycle route to Thomas Tallis School.
It will need co-operation from Lewisham Council, which controls the south side of Blackheath, and Transport for London, which is in charge of the Yorkshire Grey roundabout.
Calum O’Byrne Mulligan, the cabinet member for transport, climate change, waste and streets, said the new proposals had been shaped by feedback from the previous scheme.
“We want to make it safer and easier for people to travel between Eltham and Greenwich by walking, wheeling and cycling, while creating better connections to schools, public transport and local services.
“We’ve listened carefully to concerns and have developed a revised design that reflects residents’ feedback while ensuring safe routes for everyone.”
A consultation at communityconversations.royalgreenwich.gov.uk is now live, while a series of drop-in events will be held in September.
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