Westminster City Council is consulting on making the temporary cycle lanes on Northumberland Avenue permanent, with some ‘light touch’ improvements.

It’s good that the temporary measures are being kept, and some of the proposals are very welcome - including ‘floating parking’ to protect one stretch of cycle lane, and the use of wands to keep vehicles out of the lanes near junctions. But the scheme will still leave a very patchy cycle route, interrupted by bus stands and some nasty junctions, ending in one of Westminster’s most dangerous junctions at Trafalgar Square. For such a strategic route for cycling that links to Cycleway 3 on the Embankment, we’d like to see much more done here in the medium term.

Please share your thoughts on the survey by 12 February. Here’s a summary of our response:

We like…

• The ‘floated’ parking spaces to protect the eastbound cycle lane - more of this in Westminster please!

• The wands on the approach to Trafalgar Square and other junctions to protect people cycling

Improvements we want to see:

• Junctions with Whitehall Place, Craven Street and Embankment Place all need to be addressed to prevent drivers turning across people cycling - can these junctions at least be made less wide and sweeping to slow drivers down?

• Bus stops and stands mean that the cycle lanes are constantly interrupted. This needs to be addressed in the medium term for this to be a route anyone would feel safe to cycle on

• Another interruption is the drop-off bay between two bust stops on the south side - it would be safer to relocate this

• Also in the medium term, the Trafalgar Square junction needs to be made safe for walking and cycling

Please take a few minutes and share your views with the council before 12 February!

Our group’s response can be found here.