Towards child-friendly cycling in north Lambeth

The following is my submission in response to the consultation by TfL on the Quietway junction of Cornwall Road and Stamford Street

These are blue-skyish thoughts of mine on ways to meet Lambeth Council's Cycling Strategy on the South Bank

Lambeth wants to encourage more cycling and believes that the only way to do this is to make cycling safe and attractive for a broader cross section of people. Anyone who wants to cycle should be able to – women, children, parents, older people – as happens in Denmark and the Netherlands. Our vision therefore is that:

Lambeth will be the most cycle-friendly borough in London where 1 - 100 year olds feel safe enough to cycle.

To get a child friendly cycling (and walking) environment in the South Bank area there will, in my view, need to be some impact on the immediate convenience pf some other road users .

How can the South Bank be made child cycle-friendly while also allowing deliveries of goods and building materials, taxis to drop off theatre-goers, and people with blue badges or an aversion to public transport to drive to the area?

I've put some starting thoughts on a map. They are moderately large changes, which I think are what is needed to achieve the goal; there will certainly need to be refinements, but I think these could be the bones of a child-cyclist friendly area. They're not based on any existing plans and I welcome comments and suggestions.

Key points with regard to the Belvedere Road / Upper Ground spine are:

• Improve conditions for pedestrians and cyclists through cutting out as much motor traffic as possible
• Stop traffic rat-running along Belvedere Road / Upper Ground spine through bollarded closures that allow pedestrians and cyclists through. 
• Use raising bollards in some places to enable access by residents and for business deliveries
• Have taxi drop off, pick up and turning points by the London Eye and the Southbank Centre / Royal National Theatre - but no option for taxis to travel along the spine.
• Replace the huge RV1 bus with a free, child-cycle friendly, easy pick-up and drop-off Fun Land Train (priority to the elderly and infirm; with wheelchair access) - or have the RV1 run along York Road and Stamford Street, supplemented as needed on the spine with electric mobility shuttles as used in airports

It may be worth checking out the Swansea/Mumbles land train / cycle route 

• Retain access to purpose built car parks; especially maintain blue badge parking.
• Have a family and tourist friendly two-way, smooth, segregated cycle track along the Belvedere Road / Upper Ground Spine that links to the North-South Superhighway and then turns to continue to Tate Modern and beyond. Going west it can continue to Vauxhall, Nine Elms, Battersea allowing children to follow the river along to the South Bank and Tate Modern.
• Alongside the segregated cycle track, have a two-way single lane road with passing places for the few vehicles that are entering and leaving the South Bank area.
• Bring the two parts of Bernie Spain Gardens closer together, with a pedestrian footpath and cycle/fun train track passing through rather than a constant flow of taxis, vans, lorries and minicabs. 
• Nurture a motor-reduction culture in local businesses - consolidated deliveries; air driers not paper towels etc. 
• Cornwall Road north of Stamford Street to be a No Through Road, Except Cycles - access to Doon Street, for properties and to the public car park is retained. No loading or parking in this stretch of Cornwall Road (use Doon Street). The layout of the road making it visually predominantly a cycle track while still having access/egress by motor vehicles.
• Bollards at Cornwall Road south of Stamford Street; access and exit for motor vehicles to the area via Exton and Alaska Streets. Again Cornwall Road appearance as a cycle track, with 'guest vehicles' and the minimum of parking/loading.
• In the bigger picture, the Elizabeth House etc. redevelopment allows for opportunities such as a segregated cycle track on Waterloo Road for fast commuters using Waterloo Bridge.

Oppose planning application for new Merlin Entertainments attraction at County Hall

Merlin Entertainments have a planning application for a new commercially-sensitive-so-undisclosed attraction to open at County Hall (already home to Merlin Entertainments existing London Eye and Aquarium, oh and the recently moved London Dungeon) which they expect to attract 600-700,000 visitor a year, whereas the Movieum it will replace attracts c50,000.

The proposed new visitor attraction is predicted to generate an additional 3-4% of the existing visitor numbers.

To the best of my knowledge no meaningful measures have been taken to make cycling better at County Hall (particularly the cycle route on Belvedere Road) with any of the previous developments. However, to the detriment of people on bikes, the large number of pedestrians on the river front has led to County Hall inhibiting cycling along the Thames Path.

I urge you to spend five minutes on Lambeth's website opposing the plans until a substantial improvement in the cycle route behind County Hall and cycle parking on site is undertaken. Please do it now if you can - there's only until February 18th. (I'll stick some photos in the blog when I have time, but don't delay acting until I do!)

The application is number 13/06055/FUL on planning.lambeth.gov.uk and once you have signed in to the site you can comment. Feel free to cut and paste bits from my objection (publicly viewable) or from this blog, or if you're a planning expert, make comments on my blog for people to include in their objection. Below I detail the policy areas that I consider are not being engaged with in this application.

The Transport Assessment, written by Atkins, for the new attraction confirms that the privately owned part of Belvedere Road behind County Hall is a cycle route - National Cycle Network route 4 as it happens. It is also a London Cycle Network route and a planned part of the Mayor's new central London cycle grid.

The owners of County Hall choose to make it a difficult area to enter and exit, and recently tried to make it even worse than it is.

They also provide no public cycle parking in their grounds. There is none on their section of Belvedere Road and none on Forum Magnum Square.

The Transport Assessment states (my emphasis):

4.15. Cycle parking stands are provided to the south of the concourse area of the London Eye located adjacent to Belvedere Road as well as numerous other locations around County Hall. In addition, cycle parking is also provided at Waterloo Tube Station a seven minute walk from the new visitor attraction and also adjacent to Royal Festival Hall on Belvedere Road a five minute walk from the site. 

8.10. No additional cycle parking is proposed as part of this planning application.

The absence of cycle parking within the grounds of County Hall is glossed over and nothing is said at all about the dreadful quality of the cycle route access / egress at County Hall, nor are any measures proposed to improve it.

So, let's see how this stacks up to policy that's cited within the Transport Assessment. Let's start with the big one, National Planning Policy Framework: Transport:

2.1. National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), published March 2012 sets out the Government’s planning policies for England and how these are expected to be applied. There are 12 core principles that underpin planning and decision-taking and the key one for transport is the promoting of sustainable transport, namely:
 actively manage patterns of growth to make the fullest possible use of public transport, walking and cycling, and
 focus significant development in locations which are or can be made sustainable.

In my view, no improvements to a poor quality cycle route coupled with no more cycle parking seems to fly in the face of that.

2.2. A key planning objective is to ensure that jobs, shopping, leisure facilities and services are accessible by public transport, walking and cycling. When preparing development plans or considering planning applications, local authorities should:
 accommodate the efficient delivery of goods and supplies;
 give priority to pedestrian and cycle movements, and have access to high
 quality public transport facilities;
 create safe and secure layouts which minimise conflicts between traffic and cyclists or pedestrians, avoiding street clutter and where appropriate establishing home zones;
 incorporate facilities for charging plug-in and other ultra-low emission vehicles; and
 consider the needs of people with disabilities by all modes of transport.

I would suggest that the transition from the road to the cycle path here exemplifies pedestrian / cyclist conflict and street clutter.

Now, what about regional level? The Mayor's Transport Strategy 2010 includes:

2.5. The Mayor’s transport vision is: ‘London’s transport system should excel among those of world cities, providing access to opportunities for all its people and enterprises, achieving the highest environmental standards and leading the world in its approach to tackling urban transport challenges of the 21st century.’
and
2.8. In October 2013 Revised Early Minor Alterations were published. A revision which is applicable here
is:
 New developments should provide cycle parking and cycle changing facilities to encourage more cycling. Cycle parking provided for staff should be suitable for long stay parking. 

Quite clearly the cycle route access and egress at County Hall falls far short of world leading infrastructure, as does an absence of public cycle parking on the site.

At borough level, the Lambeth Local Development Framework Core Strategy 2011, section 4 includes

(g) Promoting walking and cycling, including through improvements to existing provision and
provision in and around new development for cycling, cycle parking, the public realm and
transport and highway infrastructure. 

Move along, no improvement planned here

At local level there's the Waterloo Area Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) which states,

New developments should connect to and improve the cycle network with direct, safe and
well-lit cycle routes.

and, finally, let's not forget Lambeth's Transport Plan 2011

2.13. Lambeth’s Transport Plan objectives are:
 Promote sustainable healthy travel behaviour
 Improve the condition of principal roads
 Improve Air Quality
 Reduce the perceived and actual danger on Lambeth’s roads
 Reduce CO2 emissions 

The Transport Consultancy fails to cite Lambeth's Cycling Strategy 2013, with its target of 20% of trips by cycle by 2020, and the demand for partnership working to achieve this. I would suggest that the application shows a distinct disinterest in helping achieve this.

Child friendly cycle routes before construction lorries

I was horrified to read one of the reasons that both the British Film Institute and Southbank Centre have cited in their objections to a planning application (no 13/01797/FUL) being made for a further Barclays Hire Docking Station under Waterloo Bridge.

While both organisations state they are happy having bikes in the area, the BFI states,

6. There are already local stakeholder concerns about the increase in vehicle traffic by the major developments along Belvedere Road / Upper Ground over the next 5 years and that the TfL desire to increase docking stations on "quiet" roads is not suitable for this location as it will become very busy with construction traffic which poses a higher risk to cyclists.

and the Southbank Centre states,

10. Finally the general issue of locations of future docking stations/ expansions should be looked at firstly through the Spine route project for this area. Belvedere road will be a main construction road for the next few years so the rational that they want to increase availability in "quiet" streets really does not apply.

This is Sustrans National Cycle Network Route 4 that we're talking about. It should be a fantastic route running alongside the river away from the pedestrian throng of the river frontage. There are major A roads with no or dire cycle facilities the next road back (York Road / Stamford Street) so it's the only sensible option.

It surely cannot be accepted that, at a time when the importance of active travel is so clear and the support for cycling so strong within the council, this National Cycle Network route can be treated in such a cavalier way.

I hope there's a sensible plan to allow safe cycling for 8-80 year olds in the South Bank area and that the means of construction works within these parameters. The Dutch can do it, so I'm sure we can too.

Watch this space.

Ice Creaminals queuing up for lucrative pitches

You may remember that in February I questioned whether it was fair that the South Bank Employers Group gave the Piccadilly Whip ice-cream company a prime pavement pitch by County Hall on Westminster Bridge. It appeared strange to me that a company that routinely traded while parked on the red-route, bus lane and cycle lane should be allocated a proper pitch.

It would appear that another company, which has routinely flouted the parking regulations in order to trade, reckons that if they continue to contravene the rules they'll be rewarded with a legitimate pitch too. (I'm assuming, quite possibly wrongly, that the vans are unrelated to Piccadilly Whip)

Here's the first of the vans on the bridge the other day

and here's the second, just by the Piccadilly Whip on-pavement stall

I wonder if TfL could arrange for one of Boris's new Routemaster replacements to undergo a crash test here?

County Hall reconsidering the options in Belvedere Road

 Shirayama, who own the former County Hall and the part of Belvedere Road behind it, started to install bollards recently as their plans showed. It was unclear from the plans where cyclists are intended to be, though it seems likely it's the narrow road section you see being used by the pedestrians above, and the workers unloading the van below.

A week ago I wrote to Phil Ardley, who I understand to be the responsible person for Shirayama, and, on chasing him yesterday, was told that "we are currently in consultation and will update you on any developments." I believe work has now stopped on site. Let's keep our fingers crossed that the bollards will be removed.

Here's the letter I wrote. I'll let you know the answers I get.
I have been sent the illustration attached by Lambeth Council. Can you please clarify for me:
a) the approach from / exit to Westminster Bridge Road seems unalterered, though this is considered poor by local cyclists, particularly for a National Cycle Network route. Are there plans to improve this to avoid potential pedestrian/cyclist conflict on the County Hall side, and are there plans to improve the gap between the planters on the side nearer Yo Sushi and determine a way to avoid the necessity of cycling on the pavement there? The illustrations suggest there are not - if not, why not?
b) Where are cyclists expected to go in relation to the bollards being installed? If cyclists are intended to go in the 2m wide space (which seems very narrow if two way cycling is envisaged there) how will they emerge/get in at the Westmnister Bridge Road end? Will any of the bollards have chains between them? What is the purpose of the bollards? Will cyclists be permitted to use either side?
c) The approach from / exit to Chichley Street seems fundamentally unaltered in the drawing, though the barrier is shown down and bollards are shown on the pavement. Will the barrier generally be up? When it is down what is the approach/exit? Will the gap to one side of a planter nearer the County Hall side be maintained?
d) Are there plans to install any publicly visible and accessible cycle parking on the Shirayama owned land?

Work starts on new cycling provision at County Hall

Cyclists have long been unimpressed by the cycle route (National Cycle Network route 4)along Belvedere Road, which is owned by Japanese company Shirayama, owner of County Hall.

Work has just started on some changes here. The photo above shows holes being dug for bollards by Forum Magnum Square. The end result will look like this, viewed from County Hall:

The approach from Chichley Street (i.e. the London Eye end) will look like this:

and the Westminster Bridge Road end will look like this:

As the land is privately owned Lambeth Council has limited powers to get the kind of quality they'd like (and I'm damn certain they won't reckon much to this), even though a condition of planning consent was S106 funding (see below), to mitigate the impact of the development locally.

I can't work out exactly where cyclists are intended to be from the plans I have and have asked to meet the County Hall management to find out more. I'll let you know how I get on. In the meantime if you know directors of tenants or other people of influence on the landowner please consider discussing this with them. If you use the County Hall restaurants and visitor attractions you may wish to consider whether to continue to do so.

------ S106 detail ------

There are two relevant S106 obligations, both of which specifically mention cycling. I understand there was and still is an obligation on the developer of County Hall (Shirayama Shokusan Co Ltd) to submit and implement a scheme for Belvedere Rd, under the S106 Agreement signed in 1993 (Legal ref 342/L/S106):

A traffic management scheme for the closed section of Belvedere Road incorporating a) taxi drop off points, b) coach parking bays, c) a cycle lane, d) car parking restrictions, e) alterations to the junction of Westminster Bridge Road and Belvedere Road. Plus tree planting scheme for Westminster Bridge Road and Belvedere Road.

There is also a similar obligation on the developers of the North and South Block Belvedere (Frogmore Developments Limited – now Galliard Homes) signed in 1996 (legal ref 23/L/S106)

To formulate in conjunction with the adjoining property a traffic management and landscaping scheme for the closed section of Belvedere Road and its junctions with Westminster Bridge Road and Chichely Street incorporating a cycle lane on or immediately adjacent thereto. Once Final Scheme has been approved by Council, to implement along with neighbour.

Upper Ground Update

I emailed a link to yesterday's blog on the Upper Ground detour to Lambeth's Road Danger Reduction Manager, Norma Fender, and received the following detailed response:

Sorry you came across an unexpected diversion when you were cycling with a group of children recently.

There are currently major works on Upper Ground behind the Royal National Theatre, accommodating 5 utilities plus Lambeth's own works, which has meant that we have had to authorise a road closure for all vehicular traffic (including cycles) from Cornwall Road to the up ramp to Waterloo road from 10.10.11 until 05.12.11. The road will have to be closed again for another period for more works in the new year.

The provision made for cyclists during these works is that they should dismount and walk their bikes on the footway past the works site for the short distance involved and then remount to continue their journey. At the moment there is no signage to this effect, but this signage (asking cyclists to dismount) will be installed, and this will make it much clearer to cyclists what is expected.

I'm sure you are aware that Lambeth is keen to promote considerate cycling on shared space for pedestrians and cyclists where appropriate (such as on the Thames path) but this is not always appropriate in places where there is a very high density of pedestrians, for example, the Vauxhall foot tunnel, where cyclists are also asked to dismount.

This is not the ideal situation for cyclists or pedestrians, however, major roadworks do require temporary road closures and diversions and less than ideal road situations until the works are completed.

It'll be interesting to see how the road works develop over the coming months and whether, for most of the time, there would be space for a cycle path, rather than a requirement for cyclists to dismount.

Demand drinking fountains at Waterloo

94,000,000 litres of bottled water are sold in London each year with a clear knock-on effect on traffic volume and pollution that drinking fountains and taps don't have.

Lambeth Council has two planning/development policies for Waterloo Station and area out for consultation, both ending this Friday 22nd July at 5pm and you might consider dropping the council an email, such as the draft below, asking them to build in a requirement for prominent free drinking water fountains/taps to reduce the dependency on bottled water.


The email, with your name and address at the bottom, should be sent to  MTrevethan@lambeth.gov.uk


Please can the Draft Waterloo Area Supplementary Planning Document and the Waterloo Station and Interchange Draft Development Brief be amended to ensure the prominent and abundant provision of freely available drinking water (fountains or taps) within Waterloo to reduce the traffic, waste, pollution and expense associated with bottled water. It is appalling that Waterloo Station has no public water fountains/taps, given the number of tourists and commuters passing through. Equally the entire South Bank appears to have no working water fountains/taps for public use. Please build in a condition that these taps are not hidden away but are positioned and promoted to the standard that the bottled water manufacturers and retailers achieve.

New Thames Path signage

That's an improvement!

Pop the cork, it's Champagne time!

This afternoon I received the following news from Lambeth Council:

A recent decision has been made to take down the 'No Cycling' signs along the Lambeth owned stretch of river walk and instead erect: Pedestrian Priority. Considerate Cycling Welcomed This will however take a couple of weeks to come into effect in order to get new signs made up and to replace the existing ones.


We are really keen to tackle aggressive cycling along this stretch; however want to achieve this through a mixture of education methods and PCSO's stopping those they feel are cycling too fast.

Cheers!

The Thames Path at 11am this Saturday morning

 A little busy outside the wheel but loads of space outside the Aquarium

 An empty tunnel

An almost empty Thames Path

There's plenty of space for considerate cycling

There's no subterfuge to my Thames Path campaign. There are photos on this blog of the Path from last August. Since November I've simply taken a photo as soon as I arrive at the Thames Path if I happen to be passing and stuck most up here. I've taken some around 8am on a weekday, some on a Saturday afternoon, some on a Sunday afternoon, some mid-morning. The area where 'No Cycling' signs have gone up has never been crowded when I've been there.

Here's Sunday 22nd January at 1pm:

 and looking the other way along the Thames Path

 I'm totally mystified why those who have concerns about cycling on the Thames Path haven't done a trial with signs such as the following that British Waterways use, backed up with action against reckless cyclists by the plentitude of PCSO's employed to walk along protecting parliament from terrorists :

Cyclist with disability ordered off tricycle on South Bank path

This week's London Cycling Campaign newsletter reports that,

"The charity, Wheels For Wellbeing, has complained to Lambeth Council after a lady with a disability was ordered off her mobility tricycle on the South Bank.

Anne Wright (pictured) was stopped by a Community Support Officer and told she should not be cycling along on the riverside path by Lambeth Bridge."

This is precisely the kind of collateral damage I anticipated would be caused by slapping a blanket ban on cycling rather than enforcing a policy of 'pedestrian priortity; considerate cycling permitted'.

You may remember that in November I spoke to a couple of cyclists I met on the Thames Path about the potential ban:
When told he would be expected to ride on the road he volunteered that he was 78 years old and suffers from Spinal Scelerosis, and that such a move would force him to switch from his bike to a wheelchair.

The alternative A-road express route, described as 'excellent' by Kate Hoey, the local MP, but which the Chief Executive of Walk England doesn't feel is good enough to actively promote, looked like this yesterday:

Greenway or Thames Path for Gran and the kiddies?

Oh, the fun we had cycling in Lambeth on the Jubilee Greenway Olympic cycle route this afternoon. First we jostled with the taxis while we tried to make sense of the big sign on York Road.

Then we chortled as we tried to work out which of the three lanes we needed to be in to continue to follow the Greenway into Lambeth Palace Road. You should have seen us split our sides when we tried to get into the middle lane. Just as well St Thomas' Hospital is near by.

Silly Grandad said we should have just ignored the signs saying 'No Cycling' on the Thames Path. But Gran's not one to ignore important looking signs on black bins. She was sure they wouldn't have been put up without good reason. It must be too busy for cyclists.

Grandad said "Just look at what it was like this afternoon."

Lambeth's Olympic route set to fail

Lack of funding is threatening the Jubilee Greenway, a 60km walking and cycling route connecting all nine of London’s 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games venues with many of the capital’s finest attractions, parks and historic landmarks.

At its launch, Boris Johnson said, "Few capitals of the world can boast such a superb asset for walkers and cyclists".

But the Chief Executive of Walk England, Jim Walker, has replied to my concerns about the route in Lambeth saying,
"We have marked a cyclable path for information on the map/text on our site but don't actively promote the cycling potential of the path because - as you say, on advice from several competent cyclists sadly there are limitations to the quality of the current experience in several places.

Sadly we don't have funding for improving the cycling offer either so we have some challenges."

Within Lambeth the cycling 'Greenway' (which is currently unsigned, unlike the walking part) is mainly on busy A roads that many families fear cycling on. It comes behind the Southbank Centre to York Road, swinging onto Westminster Bridge roundabout, then takes Lambeth Palace Road, before approaching the roundabout (above) onto Lambeth Bridge.

An obvious, and cheap, solution (with decent views) would be to combine the cycling and walking routes along the wide Thames Path except that, contentiously and contrary to Transport for London's opinion, local politicians recently arranged for 'No Cycling' signs to be installed on the Jubilee Greenway section (below on Saturday 16 Jan at 1pm) despite it having been a shared space for years and there being no Traffic Management Order banning cycling. Campaigners from Lambeth Cyclists and the local Living Streets groups would prefer to see signage emphasising pedestrian priority and considerate cycling, with enforcement activity focussed on reckless cyclists.

An alternative scenic option, sensible for the future development along the South Bank, would be to develop Guy's and St Thomas' service road (below) as a cycle path, running parallel to the Thames Path, linking Lambeth Bridge to Belvedere Road:

Fortunately our MP, Kate Hoey, is the Mayor of London's Commissioner for Sport, and should have the clout to get the necessary funding for the cycling part of the Greenway to be up to the standard of the walking part ready for the Olympics and as a legacy beyond.

She shouldn't face an uphill task. After all,
"The Jubilee Greenway is being supported by a partnership including senior representatives from central government, The Mayor’s office, Royal Parks, The Olympic Delivery Authority, Transport for London, British Waterways, Thames Water and all the relevant local authorities."

You may wish to write to Kate Hoey with your views on the best solution(s) at hoeyk@parliament.uk .

Email now to oppose cycling ban

London Cycling Campaign (LCC) today emailed this video to all its e-list members.

Considerate Cycling rather than No Cycling should be the policy on the South Bank and LCC ask you to email cycling@lambeth.gov.uk objecting to the recent signs that have been erected banning cycling.

Lambeth residents may also wish to email their local Councillors and MP whose contact details are here .

It's worth noting that support for a considerate cycling policy here comes from the local Living Streets (formerly Pedestrian Association) group too.

The Thames Path in the morning rush

Above, no traffic jam at 8.07am.
Below, no traffic jam at 8.41am, or below at 8.49am.
Two of the photos show cyclists pootling along the Thames Path ignoring the No Cycling signs. The PCSOs I talked to weren't going to make the cyclists get off - they weren't a problem and, as it turns out, there's no law against cycling there so they can't actually make you get off or  issue a ticket unless, of course, you are cycling in a Wanton and Reckless manner.

It makes me wonder whether it's legal for the authorities to put up a sign saying 'No Cycling' when there's no bylaw or anything to that effect? Maybe we can all put up signs - I favour 'No Meddling with Considerate Thames Path Users - be they cyclists, pedestrians, joggers, Segway riders or Motorised Wheelchair users'.

 

Pedestrians banned from Thames Path

 3.30pm today at the riverside of St Thomas' Hospital and the powers that be have seemingly banned walkers as well as cyclists from the Thames Path. 

Christmas Day on the Southbank

Returning from watching the swimmers in the Serpentine I visited the Thames Path at about 9.45am. Yet another occasion when it would have been splendid to cycle along it, if a ban hadn't been imposed.

Jubilee Greenway or Motorway?

The Jubilee Greenway is a path for walkers and cyclists linking the London Olympic and Paralympic Games venues with some of the capital's best attractions, heritage sites, parks, waterways and views.

Young visitors from the Netherlands over for the Olympics? Why not send them out for the day to ride our version of Dutch child friendly cycling infrastructure, the Jubilee Greenway, incorporating Kate Hoey's excellent cycle route past St Thomas' Hospital and crosses over Lambeth Bridge? All 60 km (35 miles) of The Jubilee Greenway is already fully open and available to walk and cycle.

Oh, hang on,  However, a recent audit by Walk England identified several areas which would benefit from further investment to primarily improve accessibility, signage and safety.

I wonder whether there are plans to create a motor traffic free cycle route along Lambeth Palace Road?

Boris Johnson, Mayor of London said: “The Jubilee Greenway will be a terrific way for Londoners and Games goers to get around the capital. Whether by foot or by pedal power, people that use the route will be able to enjoy some of London’s best parks and most wonderful waterways. Few capitals of the world can boast such a superb asset for walkers and cyclists.“

The Jubilee Greenway is being supported by a partnership including senior representatives from central government, The Mayor’s office, Royal Parks, The Olympic Delivery Authority, Transport for London, British Waterways, Thames Water and all the relevant local authorities. The Jubilee Walkway Trust is working in partnership with Walk England to coordinate the investment programme.