Residents slam plans to remove Wick Road cycle route
Current Cycle Track - Credit: Archant
More than 200 residents have signed a petition against plans to sever a popular cycling route in Hackney Wick and replace the busy one-way street with a two-way system.
The proposal, which is estimated to cost £700,000, outlines changing Wick Road between Kenworthy Road and Morning Lane to a two-way traffic operation and show the removal of the cycling route on the footway.
But cycle safety activists fear that removing the cycle lane,
and providing no alternative, will put cyclists at increased risk
as well as creating more congestion and air pollution along the road.
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On its website, campaign group Hackney People on Bikes said: “Hackney Council should be radically redefining this part of the borough, and reducing the number of vehicles rat-running through these residential streets. There is currently no safe route for people to cycle across South Hackney from east to west.
“We call on the council to re-examine the plans and provide a new scheme which allows all people to safely and comfortably cycle between the lively centres of central Hackney and Dalston and the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
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“This is in accordance with the council’s own 2014-2024 cycling plan in which it is stated that Hackney should be ‘a place where it is second nature for everyone, no matter what their age, background or ethnicity, to cycle’.”
Dr Rachel Aldred, a transport academic who regularly rides on Wick Road, has also criticised the plan on her website, saying the “backwards” step will “predictably lead to injury”.
The new proposals also include plans to add more bus stops and inset parking bays into the pavement.
The council has confirmed the consultation for the proposal ended on July 10 and said all responses will be considered.
It has also said, depending on the outcome of the consultation and further feasibility studies, construction works would be expected to commence in 2016.
