The Cleveland Street cycleway heralds a historic moment for active travel in Westminster: it will be the first protected cycle lane of any significant length to be installed by the Westminster City Council (as opposed to TfL-installed cycle lanes, such as Cycleway 3 and Park Lane). This will be the first of many proposed cycle lanes in Westminster, as the new administration begins to fulfil its Climate Safe Streets pledge to create a network of safe and inclusive cycle lanes across the borough.

Cleveland Street provides an important two-way, north-south link between existing and proposed east-west cycle routes in Fitzrovia, a neighbourhood which can be challenging to navigate due to the network of one-way streets.

Safe, direct and accessible walking and cycling routes are important for improving air quality, public health, safety, and for London to become a carbon neutral city.

Find out more and support this scheme on the council website.

Please state your support on this questionnaire, alongside any suggestions for improvements.

We welcome:

• The physical separation from motor traffic 

• The contraflow, allowing a more direct north-south route

• The parallel crossing

• The continuous footway

• The early release lights for cyclists

Three points we would like to see addressed in the scheme plans are:

• We like the continuous footway across Tottenham Street, but we would like to see more of them for safer junctions on the route, in particular Riding House Street, given that this is a school street.

• We are concerned about the junction with New Cavendish Street. How will cyclists safely turn right into New Cavendish Street when travelling southbound on Cleveland Street? Is this a movement that less confident users would feel comfortable doing on a bike? We would like to see signal phasing to allow people on bikes to proceed at this junction without coming into conflict with northbound traffic.

• Northbound cyclists on Cleveland Street will be on a carriageway that is too narrow for safe overtaking by drivers but wide enough that drivers will be tempted to try when the southbound cycle track is in place. That needs to be addressed.

Our response to the consultation can be found here.