A row had broken out over a £1.5m cycle lane that would help cyclists to ride more safely through central London – including when they are banned from Oxford Street.
Westminster council’s labour leadership has approved plans to build two east-west lanes in George Street, a couple of blocks north of Oxford Street.
Transport for London is due to publish next month a second consultation on Sir Sadiq’s Oxford Street scheme, which will provide more details on how he proposed to ban buses, taxis and cyclists from about a mile of the road, between Orchard Street and Great Portland Street.
The Cycleway 43 route is proposed to run via Stanhope Place, Connaught Square, Connaught Street, Porchester Place, Kendal Street and George Street.
It is part of the council’s efforts to encourage cycling and would become part of TfL’s Londonwide cycle network.
The cycle lane has been under consideration since 2016. The section between Bayswater Road – the road on the northern boundary of Hyde Park – and Gloucester Place was approved in 2021.
The decision to implement the scheme was made by Cllr Max Sullivan, Westminster’s cabinet member for streets, on September 25 but was “called in” for scrutiny by the Marylebone ward councillors, Barbara Arzymanow, Ian Rowley and Karen Scarborough, on October 1.
Cllr Arzymanow said the cycleway was one of three being proposed in central London – the others are the C51, a north-south route between Kilburn and Marylebone, and a cycle lane along Portland Place.
In a message to constituents, she and her colleagues said: “This decision comes even though the Mayor of London’s traffic plans for the pedestrianisation of Oxford Street remain unclear.
“It is irresponsible to build segregated cycle lanes before the consequences of the traffic displacement caused by the closure of Oxford Street are known.”
A council consultation on the George Street cycle lane attracted 1,374 responses in 2023, with 60 per cent in favour and 36 per cent opposed.
The proposal is for two 1.5m-wide lanes – one for eastbound cyclists and one for those heading west. The cycle lanes would be “stepped”, with a kerb offering cyclists a degree of protection from passing vehicles.
Opponents have criticised the loss of 32 on-street car parking spaces that would be required to build the lanes – though the council says there are 95 “under-utilised” spaces in adjacent streets. The main carriageway on George Street would be narrowed to a minimum width of 5m.
Sir Sadiq Khan wants to pedestrianise Oxford Street between Selfridges and Ikea
GLA
Road safety data published by the House of Commons Library on Monday revealed there were 1,174 casualties in the Cities of London and Westminster parliamentary constituency in 2024, including four pedestrian fatalities.
Cllr Sullivan told The Standard: “This Labour council was elected on a platform of making walking and cycling safer and more pleasant. And it’s desperately needed — Westminster has the highest number of deaths and serious injuries of any London borough.
“Within Central London, which includes George Street, 90 per cent of all people who are killed and seriously injured in collisions are on foot, bike or motorbike.
“Safer pedestrian crossings and the protected cycle track will make it easier and safer for people of all abilities to walk and cycle.”
Cllr Sullivan recently decided to approve the handover of Oxford Street to Transport for London, meaning its control passed from the council to the mayor.
The council says Cycleway 41 will “enhance connectivity between Hyde Park and Marylebone”, and there is “no basis in fact” to suggest that the decision is unsound due to the mayor’s plans to pedestrianise Oxford Street.
Documents presented to Tuesday’s meeting state: “The potential prohibition of cycling along the pedestrianised section of Oxford Street necessitates the enhancement of alternative east-west cycling routes which the council and the mayor are working together to provide to both the north and south of Oxford Street.
“George Street, due to its proximity and connectivity, is likely to become one of several important alternative routes for cycling, reinforcing the importance of high-quality, continuous cycling infrastructure along demand corridors.”
