London Bridge and Tower Bridge temporary cycle lane to stay

By Joe Talora, Local Democracy Reporter

Temporary segregated cycle lanes linking London Bridge and Tower Bridge are to be made permanent following a public consultation held by Transport for London (TfL).

The cycle lanes, along with a raft of other changes in Tooley Street and Duke Street Hill, were introduced early last year as an “experiment” to see if walking and cycling could be encouraged without causing delays to traffic.

The changes also saw a left-turn ban into Queen Elizabeth Road for vehicles excluding buses and taxis, and the removal of on-street parking near the Unicorn Theatre to make room for a section of cycle lane.

Following a review of the data during the six-month consultation, TfL revealed that the changes would be made permanent having resulted in a 25 per cent increase in the number of people cycling along the route, without leading to significant delays for buses or other traffic.

Vehicle numbers along Tooley Street were also found to have fallen by a third, which TfL said has led to a “much more pleasant environment for people using the street”.

In a report following the trial, TfL said there was a “clear increase” in levels of cycling along Tooley Street on weekdays, not dropping below an average of 5,000 cyclists per day during the spring.

According to the report, the changes led to “quicker and more reliable” bus journey times westbound along Tooley Street, while eastbound services remained consistently “in or around” journey times seen previously.

TfL said: “Prior to this scheme, measures for cyclists consisted mainly of advisory line markings, with no physical separation from general traffic on what is a relatively busy corridor where a high number of vulnerable road users have been hurt in collisions.

“In the 36 months ending June 2020, there were a total 27 collisions in Tooley Street and Duke Street Hill, and of these 15 involved people cycling being injured.”