Green light for Nine Elms to embrace new pedestrian and cyclist-friendly features

Transport for London (TfL) has confirmed it is moving forward with plans to make it easier and safer to walk and cycle in Battersea Park Road in Nine Elms.    

TfL says consultation with residents resulted in 60 per cent strongly supporting a new cycling infrastructure. 

Changes will bring a mix of cycle lanes to the area, as well as improvements to the Queenstown Road junction and improved pedestrian crossings. 

Wandsworth council and local developers will fund the scheme. 

The eastern end of the Nine Elms area has seen significant development in recent years, including a new Tube station on the Northern line, and the changes would help to connect the new and existing neighbourhoods in the west of Nine Elms to London’s growing network of cycleways.  

The plans for Battersea Park Road will deliver 150m of protected cycle tracks with physical segregation in response to feedback on earlier designs which had a mix of advisory and mandatory cycle lanes with no physical protection.  

The Queenstown Road junction improvements will include early release on all arms of the junction, so cyclists can move off before general traffic, and dedicated cycle lanes, plus new 20mph speed limits along the whole of Battersea Park Road     

Improved ‘straight across’ pedestrian crossings at the junctions with Queenstown Road and Prince of Wales Drive will be introduced, as well as new bus shelters featuring real time bus information for stops serving Battersea Park  railway station     

One-way entry to Meath Street from Battersea Park Road is another planned feature, as is the relocation of existing loading and parking arrangements from the main road to side roads. 

Feedback from people who responded to the consultation showed that 67 per cent believed the scheme would encourage many or some more people to cycle, with 53 per cent saying the same about walking and 60 per cent approving of a cycling scheme.

Pictured top: An artist’s impression of how the cycle-friendly roads will look (Picture: TfL)