With London heading into local elections today, it feels like a good time to take stock on how the capital’s various councils have performed in terms of healthy streets delivery and to look forward at what the next four years might bring.
The first amazing thing to point out is that, compared to May 2022, there is so much more under construction today than there was then. This includes key projects in both central and outer London, but also large schemes that have been in the pipeline for years, such as C4 (east) and Streatham Hill.
To start with the most impressive boroughs since 2022, LB Newham definitely takes top spot, having delivered the Royal Docks Corridor, much of Romford Road, the Becton Corridor, Westfield Avenue, West Ham Park low-traffic neighbourhood (LTN), as well as many smaller schemes. And this is all the more amazing considering their poor record before the last local election.
Coming joint second are LB Camden and LB Waltham Forest, and third, LB Islington. All three of these boroughs delivered a fair amount in the years before 2022, but have showed no sign of slowing down since, completing several great schemes, such as Haverstock Hill (Camden), Hoe Street (Waltham Forest) and Mildmay LTN (Islington). Alongside this, LB Lambeth should get a special mention for their amazing LTN delivery, which has been by far the best in London since the last election, delivering eight in total.
Other than Newham, the big turnaround has been Westminster, who’ve finally started construction on a number of schemes, such as Westbourne Terrace, Portland Place and George Street, with many more in the pipeline. This is great news, as the West End has barely seen any improvements to cycle safety since the completion of Cycleway 3 in 2018. The one criticism however, is how long the 2022 administration took to get their act together, with most projects only breaking ground from mid-2025 onwards.
The best performing outer boroughs were LB Enfield and LB Harrow. The first continued their great Mini Holland work, with big changes happening in central Enfield and along the New River. While LB Harrow are delivering their first piece of cycle infrastructure in years, the Harrow to Pinner Cycleway, which is currently under construction.
Looking at the disappointing boroughs, some are unsurprising like LB Bexley, LB Sutton, LB Tower Hamlets and RB Kensington and Chelsea, who never promised anything or even campaigned on an anti-healthy streets position. However some were expecting to do more like LB Wandsworth and LB Southwark, who both promised more than they delivered. For example, the 2022 administration at Wandsworth watered down the inherited Burntwood Lane scheme and delayed the Nine Elms Lane project, while LB Southwark have barely progressed on their promised cycleways (e.g. C17, C35 and the Southwark Spine) and LTNs (e.g. Camberwell Triangle).
Overall it’s been a hard four years in terms of funding (for TfL who pay for most of this), due to the post-Covid slump, although things do seem to be finally picking up. Nevertheless, for London to keep up with its European neighbours, the next four years needs to see even faster delivery.
Looking ahead, the West End’s two large pedestrianisation schemes (Oxford Street and Regent Street) will massively transform the West End, making journeys for pedestrians and cyclists safer (although this is dependent in part on good alternative routes for cyclists!) Alongside this, amazing trunk routes, first proposed back in 2009, will finally be completed, such as C2 (Aldgate to Ilford) and C4 (Tower Bridge to Woolwich), and if we’re lucky C9 (Kensington Olympia to Hounslow).
However, it should be remembered that much depends on who wins, and that doesn’t mean simply who wins the council, but also includes individual councillors, as some are particular champions on healthy streets (even if this may be the only thing you agree with them on!). Now local elections are about far more than just about healthy streets, but it’s still interesting to consider that the outcome of a small number of council seats will determine a great deal of what might be built in London over the next four years, but maybe that’s more of a problem of how local government and power distribution in London is structured than anything else!
Aydin Crouch
SafeCycleLDN 