Petition details
Complete Cycleway 2
Cycleway 2 along Whitechapel Road, Mile End Road and Bow Road is a hugely valuable piece of transport infrastructure for Tower Hamlets residents, making cycling along a busy road accessible to all. However, it is badly let down by the lack of eastbound cycleway on Whitechapel Rd between Vallance Road and Cambridge Heath Road, which is still an intimidating place to cycle.
This Petition ran from 16/01/2022 to 27/02/2022 and has now finished.
281 people signed this Petition.
Council response
Thank you for your petition regarding the above matter at the Council meeting on Wednesday 2nd March. I have been asked to respond to you.
As set out in the Tower Hamlets Transport Strategy, the council is committed to making the borough one of the best places to walk and cycle in London. We are therefore working closely with TfL to identify opportunities for improving the local cycle infrastructure including along Cycleway 2 which is on TfL’s road network.
With regards to the cycle lane along the eastbound carriageway, (currently unsegregated, at the section of Whitechapel Road between Vallance Road and Cambridge Heath Road) feedback from the public consultation on the Whitechapel Road Improvement Plan (WRIP) highlighted some requests to consider improvements to this infrastructure. This is being lead by the council’s Regeneration Team.
These have been forwarded on to TfL for consideration as the landowner and highway authority, and the council’s Transport Planning and Regeneration Teams will be engaging in discussion with TfL to ensure that any proposals for the cycle lane work in line with the WRIP, ensuring they work for market traders and local businesses who currently rely on the loading bays to facilitate their business whilst also meeting TfL’s Cycle Route Quality standards.
The council is also keen to explore with TfL the potential to upgrade the section of Cycleway 2 westbound alongside Mile End Road by the Ocean Estate to segregated cycle lane. Changes to the road layout here may potentially impact upon TfL’s bus operations and also on adjacent housing land forming the boundary of the Ocean Estate, so would require a wide level of stakeholder engagement and support.
Currently there is no funding in place to deliver the suggested improvements along Cycleway 2. However, officers will continue to work alongside TfL in seeking funding to enable these improvements to take place.
Yours sincerely,
Dan Jones