Consultation Results
Overwhelming support for new Westminster cycle lanes
Council's new report shows over 80% in favour of eleven new schemes across the borough
Westminster Council's consultation of residents and road users regarding its recently installed temporary painted cycle lanes has revealed overwhelming support for making them permanent – and physically separated from motor traffic. Yet despite the support, their long-term future remains uncertain.
Background
While many London boroughs provided ‘pop-up’ bike lanes protected by wands or bollards during the pandemic to give people a safe alternative to buses and tube, Westminster City Council opted to mark their temporary cycle lanes with paint only. While this increased space for cycling on 11 separate routes is welcome, our Cycle Safe Westminster campaign has been calling on the council to make these lanes both permanent and protected, to allow more diverse people feel safe enough to cycle. This consultation report shows that many residents agree.
The month-long consultation, which took place at the end of last year, received 1500 responses, the majority from local residents. Among all respondents, support for the schemes – which range from Paddington and Harrow Road in the north of the borough to Northumberland Avenue and Lupus Street in the south – averaged just over 82%, while just 14% opposed. Among residents, average support was slightly lower at 77% and opposition slightly higher (19%).
The most popular schemes were Buckingham Palace Road and Abingdon Street with 84% overall support each, closely followed by Harrow Road, Northumberland Avenue and Paddington Royal Oak. The least popular was Portland Place, which still registered support of 80%.
Comments for and against
Among those who left a comment on the survey (as opposed to simply answering a closed question), a substantial majority were in favour of the schemes. Reasons cited included improved safety and convenience and the improved perception of safety. "It's notably safer since the introduction of the cycle lane," wrote one respondent about the Paddington area scheme. About the Buckingham Palace Road, another respondent wrote "The creation of this route has made a huge difference to cycling safety in this part of Westminster."
A common thread across all the schemes was the need to make the schemes not just permanent, but segregated. "Without physical segregation," wrote one respondent about the Portland Place scheme, "I really don't think these cycle lanes will make people feel safe enough to cycle more." For the Buckingham Palace Road scheme, "a mere painted line on the street is definitely not enough," wrote another.
Among those who were against the schemes, objections included that the cycle lanes appeared under-used. "On the occasions I have driven down Portland Place," wrote one motorist, "I have rarely if ever seen a bicycle in the lanes." The Paddington Area scheme attracted similar criticism. "As the picture shows, the cycle lane is empty most of the time," wrote another respondent. Others questioned whether the schemes were even necessary at all. "No need for a cycle lane here," wrote one Paddington Area resident.
Other concerns included increased pollution and congestion. "The existing scheme creates more traffic and therefore more pollution," said a respondent about the Portland Place
What’s next?
Yet despite the clear support for these schemes to be made not only permanent but segregated, there is no guarantee that the council will do either. Their recently published report on the survey contains only the commitment to retain the temporary schemes in their current form while permanent schemes are designed. These permanent schemes will then themselves be subject to further consultation. There is therefore the risk that some of them may fail to reach government minimum standards or may even be scrapped altogether.
And a failure to make these routes permanent and protected would be a failure to act on the climate emergency. Westminster City Council has factored these routes into its Climate Action Plan pledge to build 26km of new cycle routes across the borough, so it must make them permanent to meet that pledge. And it needs to make them protected, to achieve the urgently needed shift away from motor vehicles towards zero emission active travel on Westminster’s roads – most people won’t cycle if they don’t feel safe. This is why we are calling for safe cycle routes across Westminster as part of our Climate Safe Streets campaign – find out more here.