Ten years ago, Transport for London published an ambitious report setting out their vision for an integrated cycle network in central London. It was called the Central London Grid (CLG), and although is now largely forgotten, to this day it continues to be developed.
The cynic may look at this and understandably say, surely this should be complete by now. This is a perfectly justifiable view, especially considering that much of CLG is made up of small interventions. However, before jumping to this conclusion, it should be remembered how bad cycling in central London was a decade ago and therefore how big the task was. It should also be noted that infrastructure has been built in central London that was never part of the 2013 plan, such as the Gray’s Inn Road cycle tracks and Mansell Street Cycleway.
Looking at what the plan included, it primarily focussed on Quietways, although the nine proposed Cycle Superhighways that entered central London also featured. Other things that were included (although not considered as separate categories), were projects that later formed part of the Safer Junctions and Protecting London’s bridges programmes, both essential to making central London a safe place to cycle in.
Progress has certainly not been easy. This is down to a number of reasons, although the fact that the CLG primarily runs down council roads (who own 95% of London’s streets) is the biggest one of all. Not only does each borough have different ideas of what a safe cycle route is, but they also work at different speeds and to different budgets. This means that while some local authorities, such as the City of London, LB Hackney and LB Lambeth, have made large strides in delivering their sections of the CLG, others such as the City of Westminster and RB Kensington and Chelsea have dragged their feet. Moreover, it is worth noting that the sections that the latter two have delivered have often been of a poor quality (see Cycleway 27 across those two boroughs compared to the sections delivered by LB Camden and LB Islington).
Other than reluctant councils, money has been a constant issue, with the CLG having to compete for funding with outer-London Cycleway schemes such as the Mini Holland programme, as well as wider TfL projects like the Elizabeth Line. Moreover, some of the more complex projects can be incredibly expensive to deliver, such as Old Street Roundabout, which was only possible if Old Street Station’s ticket hall underneath was completely rebuilt. The final issue is the sheer amount of time it can take for some of these projects to be designed, with some schemes having particularly complex challenges, such as the segregated lanes across Westminster Bridge, which had to meet the design standards of a Grade II* listed structure and thus receive Listed Building Consent from both LB Lambeth and the City of Westminster.
All of these issues together mean that after a decade, the CLG is sadly only around 50% complete. However, with TfL’s finances now in better shape, schemes that had laid dormant for a number of years have now come back to life. On top of this, the City of Westminster (for the first time since the CLG’s publication), now has a cycle-friendly administration, who will hopefully not only push forward existing proposed CLG routes (some of which had their first consultations in 2016), but also improve the quality of their designs. Lastly, the push since the pandemic to create LTNs across the capital will improve the quality of many existing and proposed routes. A great example is the proposed CLG cycleway along the South Bank (Upper Ground/Belvedere Road) which will simply need wayfinding once the South Bank LTNs are live.
This is all great news and one would hope that the CLG will eventually be complete by the end of this decade (although ideally to a far better quality that first envisaged). This will require however, that councils take bold moves and install LTNs across much of central London, which would not only be quicker, but far cheaper than constructing physical segregation on unfiltered roads. Other than this, local authorities must speed up the delivery of the small interventions that make the CLG possible (e.g. safe crossings, early-release traffic lights and contraflows).
For TfL, they must continue their drive to make sure London’s junctions are safe and that the main-road segregated cycleway network is fully integrated. This means, amongst many other projects, taking Cycleway 8 to Parliament Square, bringing back Cycle Superhighway 11 (Oxford Circus to Swiss Cottage) and actually delivering the London Boulevard (a protected cycleway between Holborn and Shoreditch, via Old Street). Understandably this won’t happen overnight, but TfL and central London’s councils can’t allow this plan to be forgotten.
Some people at this point might by now be asking why? Surely a better option would be to create a completely new plan fit for the 2020s. My response to this would be:
- Creating a new CLG would not only take time for TfL to put together, but getting councils to then integrate it into their respective local plans could take years
- Coming up with a completely new plan might leave partially-built schemes unfinished, which is wasteful of both funds and the carbon emissions emitted through their construction
- As well as delivering more direct A-road schemes (the cycle network’s main arteries), the CLG also allows for the creation of the smaller routes (the veins and capillaries). They’re fundamental for creating a door-to-door cycle network
- It should be remembered that the CLG was only ever advisory, which means councils and TfL are able to improve on things proposed in 2013 (something the City of Westminster is currently doing with C43 and C51).
Therefore, it is essential that, as well as designing and implementing LTNs, new main-road cycleways and new shared spaces, we must deliver the CLG in full. For it is only by sticking to and building on a central guiding vision that inner London can become a truly great place for cycling.
Delivery of the CLG since 2022 and upcoming improvements
As you’ll see below, delivery slowed right down during the pandemic and remained slow until the end of 2022. This year has seen a return to normal pace, with key new sections of infrastructure such as Old Street Roundabout being delivered, as well as improvements to existing routes, such as the filtering of Bath Street on Cycleway 11. The near future looks even better, with two whole new cycleways within the CLG set for delivery in the next year, along with the essential Lambeth Bridge project.
Recent progress of the Central London Grid
2022
| Scheme | Borough | Route/Cycleway number |
| Vigo Street crossing | City of Westminster | Hyde Park – Lincoln’s Inn |
| Vine Street pedestrianisation | City of London | Tower Bridge – Liverpool St |
| Contraflows | Various |
2023 and under construction
| Scheme | Borough | Route/Cycleway number |
| Old Street Roundabout | LB Islington/LB Hackney | London Boulevard |
| Bath Street filter | LB Islington | City – Angel (C11) |
| Leonard Street closure | LB Hackney | C11 to C1 link |
| Red Lion Street closure | LB Camden | Holborn – Somers Town (C41) |
| C41 to Euston | LB Camden | Holborn – Somers Town (C41) |
| Upper Ground/Belvedere LTNs | LB Lambeth/LB Southwark | Blackfriars Bridge – Westminster Bridge |
| C27 improvements: Torrington Place | LB Camden | East Acton – Walthamstow (C27) |
| C11 to Angel | LB Islington | City – Angel (C11) |
| York Way improvements | LB Camden | King’s Cross – Market Estate |
| Widened filter between Kenley Walk and Walmer Road | RB Kensington & Chelsea | Kensington High Street – Notting Hill |
| Arthur Street filter | City of London | London Bridge – C3 link |
| C10 to Euston | LB Camden | Euston – Waterloo |
| Contraflows | Various | — |
Upcoming progress of the Central London Grid
| Scheme | Borough | Route/Cycleway number |
| C43 | City of Westminster | Hyde Park – Fitzrovia (C43) |
| C51 | City of Westminster | Marylebone – St John’s Wood (C51) |
| Cleveland Street | City of Westminster/ LB Camden | Fitzrovia – Pimlico |
| Crowndale Road | LB Camden | Hampstead Road – C6 link |
| Lambeth Bridge | City of Westminster/ LB Lambeth | Westminster – Lambeth |
| Old Bailey LTN | City of London | Blackfriars – Smithfield |
| Aldgate to Blackfrairs cycle tracks | City of London | Blackfriars – Smithfield |
| Cycle tracks on St Martin’s Le Grand | City of London | Smithfield – Bank of England |
| Contraflows | Two active schemes in Westminster and RBKC | — |
Lastly, it should be noted that some routes that form part of the CLG are actually complete, but just haven’t had wayfinding put in yet. With TfL’s recent drive to signpost new routes across the city, they should make sure that these forgotten CLG routes get the same treatment. A few examples of these are:
- Borough (CS7/C10) – Tate Modern
- Waterloo (C5/C10) – St Thomas’ Hospital (C56)
- Monument (C3) – St Mary Axe
- Leonard Street (C1 to C11)
- Russell Square (C52) – Tottenham Court Road
Completed routes are highlighted in red
Upcoming related articles
I’m trying to keep track of all of the plans created by TfL for an integrated cycle network in London. These include the Cycle Superhighways Plan (2008), the Central London Grid (2013), Cycling Action Plan 1 (2017) and Cycling Action Plan 2 (2023). In the coming months, I’ll endeavour to create analyses on all of these programmes, as none of them have been officially scrapped (even if parts of them have been dropped/forgotten). Alongside this, there have been announcements of other groups of new cycleway schemes, namely the Six New Cycleways announced by Sadiq Khan in 2018 (which I wrote about in late 2022) and the Streetspace Plan (2020).
Aydin Crouch
SafeCycleLDN 