Active travel has fallen to pre-coronavirus levels after surging in 2020, according to new figures (James Manning/PA)
(Picture: PA Wire)As a resident of Kensington & Chelsea, I was really pleased to see that Centre for London recommends — in a report commissioned by the council — installing cycle lanes on Kensington High Street. With the protected bike lane in 2020, I noticed a surge in cycling including more women and children. I also started to regularly cycle to and from work, to avoid public transport and the risk of passing on Covid to my patients.
After seven weeks of blissfully safe cycling, the council abruptly removed the cycle path — a huge letdown when safe, active travel was and still is a priority. Cycle lanes on the high street have since been replaced with parked cars and traffic levels seem higher than ever, suggesting bike lanes weren’t responsible for congestion or pollution.
While other London boroughs are rolling out protected bike lanes at pace, we don’t have an inch in Kensington & Chelsea. It is one of the most hostile boroughs for cycling in London. One local headteacher told me that no fewer than three of his staff have been knocked off their bikes in the borough — and two pupils hit by drivers on pedestrian crossings — in the past year. This is unacceptable.
Our roads are not safe because cars are prioritised over human lives. A council should be able to act on road safety on the basis of an independent review in a timely manner. So I’m really frustrated to hear the council are causing further delay in waiting for ongoing processes into 2023.
Kensington & Chelsea — and Westminster too — need to find the silver bullet of political will and make cycling safe for everyone, or more collisions are inevitable. I dread hearing about the next fatality, brain injury or amputated limb. But there’s already a massive injustice in that perceived road danger prevents thousands of key workers, women and children from traveling by bike. When I encourage friends and colleagues to cycle the main barrier is safety. For my colleagues who don’t live in central London, public transport costs are punitive. Londoners need this cheap, healthy form of transport to be uniformly safe across the whole capital. One rogue borough should not be allowed to hold us up.
