At last week's TfL Board meeting, their greenlighting of the East-West Cycle Superhighway rightly hit the headlines. But a subsidiary decision to give the go-ahead to the upgrade of Cycle Superhighway 2 went almost unnoticed, which is odd, because you'd think the replacement of a killer blue stripe would be more newsworthy. A couple of miles of paint is being replaced by a segregated lane, starting this week, and the disruption related to the necessary road works is going to take... how long?!
Cycle Superhighway 2 follows a major trunk road, the A11, and is one of not many main routes heading east out of town. Realigning junctions and digging up tarmac is going to be quite disruptive, particularly for drivers and bus passengers, not to mention those of us who actually live on the street. I've had a letter through my door urging me to check the details, which I suspect I'm rare in actually reading, and even I wasn't expecting the scale of what's planned.
CS2
Whitechapel
High St
Whitechapel
Road
Mile End Road
Bow Road
Feb 2015
Apr 2015
Jun 2015
Aug 2015
Oct 2015
Dec 2015
Feb 2016
Apr 2016
The summer looks fun, doesn't it? TfL are producing month-by-month maps to show the expected impact, the first three of which are now available, and are recommending that road users "avoid travelling during peak times (from 07:00 to 10:00 and 16:00 to 19:00)". If the construction work's as extensive as that for the extension to CS2 up Stratford High Street, I fear they may not be joking. This won't be fun for cyclists either, roadworks never are, as their blue stripe fades intermittently away. I also note that the whole thing should be ready just before Boris leaves office next May, assuming he hangs around that long.
My local roadworks start in August and continue for six months, after which I'll be able to 'enjoy' a narrower pavement outside my front door, fewer local bus stops, several chopped-down trees and longer waiting times at pedestrian crossings. Obviously the benefits for cycling are great, and we owe it to the memory of all those killed on CS2 to make the whole thing hugely better. But don't think the experience of getting there is going to be rosy.
