Hammersmith Broadway to be Made Safer for Cyclists

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But Shepherd's Bush is not among 33 junctions being transformed

Hammersmith gyratory is among 33 of London’s biggest and nastiest road junctions to be transformed in a £300 million programme to make them safer and less threatening for cyclists and pedestrians, London Mayor and Transport for London have announced.

They say that at Hammersmith, along with other intimidating gyratories, safe and direct segregated cycle tracks will be installed, pending more radical transformations of these areas in the medium term.

Detailed designs for the first schemes will be published next month and work will begin in the second half of this year.

Shepherd's Bush is not included in the current plans. Hoewever, the area from Chiswick roundabout to Kew Bridge is also to get an upgrade, while other notorious gyratories, including Wandsworth and the Elephant and Castle will be ripped out and replaced with two-way roads, segregated cycle tracks and new traffic-free public space.

Mayor Boris Johnson says: " These road junctions are relics of the Sixties which blight and menace whole neighbourhoods. Like so much from that era, they’re also atrociously-designed and wasteful of space. Because of that, we can turn these junctions into more civilised places for cyclists and pedestrians, while at the same time maintaining their traffic function."

The programme commits around £300 million to the 33 major junctions, an average of £9 million per junction.

The money will come from the £100 million Better Junctions budget announced in the Cycling Vision, from the Vision’s Cycle Superhighways budget for those on superhighways, from the general TfL Major Schemes programme budget and from confirmed third-party and developer contributions in the order of £50 million. Most junctions will use a mixture of some or all of these funding streams.

In the last three years, more than 150 cyclists and pedestrians have been killed or seriously injured at these 33 locations. Yet many of them are unavoidable, without side-street alternatives.

There will also be improvements to many junctions not on the list of 33 published today, usually delivered and funded as part of specific new or upgraded cycle routes.

Leon Daniels, Managing Director of Surface Transport at TfL, says: " For over a year our designers and engineers have been working flat out to develop new junction designs for these 33 locations to completely change how they operate, transforming their areas for cyclists, pedestrians and the wider local community.

" They are some of the busiest traffic intersections in Europe, so this work has been complicated. But we are now fully committed to delivering these junction improvements as quickly as possible, making London safer and more inviting for all."

Hammersmith and Fulham Cyclists have given the announcement a cautious welcome on Twitter @hycyclist, saying: " This finally confirms Hammersmith Broadway as getting 'safe and direct segregated cycle tracks'. However, Superhighway 9 isn’t coming.

" We await further details of the actual fund for Hammersmith, new London Cycle Design Standards and designs to know more."

And they add: "So, Shepherds Bush?"

March 3, 2014