Families Gather to Welcome Plans for Safe Cycle Route on King Street
Representing the newly formed W6 safe cycling families group
Photo by Paul James
A 52-strong group of local families braved icy winds and freezing temperatures on Sunday 27 January to welcome the announcement of safe cycle routes on King Street by Hammersmith and Fulham council.
They were representing the newly formed W6 safe cycling families group.
Hammersmith resident Leo Murray helped organise families for the gathering and to sign a letter of support to Council Leader Cllr Stephen Cowan and Cabinet member for Environment, Cllr Wesley Harcourt.
Leo said: "We warmly welcome the announcement by Hammersmith and Fulham confirming that protected cycle tracks will be built along King Street, the gyratory and Hammersmith Road. Our families and many others want to cycle to local shops, schools and other amenities, but the biggest barrier is safety.
"We’re now asking TfL and the council to implement their plans as soon as possible."
Here is the lletter to Hammersmith and Fulham Council:
Dear Cllrs Harcourt and Cowan,
We are a newly formed group of Hammersmith and Fulham families, with children aged from 3 to 10. We all want to be able to cycle safely in the borough and beyond - we want cleaner air and calmer roads, for our families and everyone in the borough to be healthy, happy and to prosper.
We wanted to congratulate you on your commitment to a 'fully segregated safer cycle pathway running across the borough from Chiswick, down King Street and Hammersmith Road to Kensington'. We’ve been waiting for this route for a long time - it will enable our families to make many more of our trips by bike.
We await the detailed plans and trust your commitment to deliver a high-quality, safe, continuous, segregated cycle track on King Street, across the gyratory and on Hammersmith Road - with priority for cycling and safe separation from pedestrians and motor traffic. It is vital that this properly separates those walking and those cycling - so that families like ours can cycle calmly and happily.
It is now almost three years since the original consultation on the Hammersmith gyratory, and 15 months since the Cycle Superhighway CS9 consultation so we call on both the borough and TfL now to proceed with urgency. We do not want to see people injured, or worse, as a result of delays to this project. Without this essential infrastructure, Hammersmith and Fulham’s noble aim to be 'the greenest borough in Britain' will just be empty words.
We look forward to the opening of this protected cycle route and we would love to share the first celebratory ride along King Street, with our families and you together.
Yours sincerely,
Leo Murray, on behalf of the W6 safe cycling families group
The announcement that Hammersmith is set to get not one, but two new cycle routes following an agreement with Transport for London was made earlier in January.
The cycle superhighway currently known as CS9 is to run from Olympia to Brentford, from Kensington to Hammersmith and along King Street towards Chiswick High Road.
In addition, H&F Council Leader Cllr Stephen Cowan announced he had negotiated with TfL to also fund a complementary scheme to CS9 along the A4 'for faster and experienced commuting riders.'
“The improved cycle highway alongside the A4 will be a much better fit for those riders who simply want to get from A to B as quickly and safely as possible," he said.
“We listened to residents and cyclists and have since worked very closely with TfL on their behalf to agree a safer cycle route along King Street for riders of all abilities."
This week TfL said it was moving forward with plans to start construction of CS9 later this year, with completion of the route set for 2021.
Artist's impression of CS9 on King Street
January 30, 2019