Good news: CS9, between Olympia and Hounslow in west London, looks like it will go to public consultation, at least in part, soon.
In 2010, a cycle superhighway between Hounslow and Hyde Park was one of the twelve radial routes proposed as the original “Cycle Superhighways”. Hounslow Council supported the idea, with officers putting considerable work into designing key junctions on the route. London Assembly members, including Darren Johnson, were also vocal in supporting it. But by 2013, plans were on hold – with TfL unable or unwilling to provide proper safe #spaceforcycling rather than “blue paint” designs; and Kensington and Chelsea’s Councillors also rejecting any Cycle Superhighway in their borough.
Now, however, there are signs that CS9 is back on the table – Hounslow Cycling Campaign has seen a design for stepped tracks on the A315. These tie in to the recently consulted on TfL designs for Hammersmith Broadway, and upcoming consultations on Kew Bridge junction – as scheduled by TfL for this year.
As far as we understand, current CS9 plans still stop at the borough boundary with Kensington & Chelsea. This isn’t good enough – and we want new Mayor Sadiq Khan to send a strong message to the borough to knuckle down and accept proper #spaceforcycling on roads to West London. We also want an extension, as Andrew Gilligan envisioned in “Human Streets”, out to Heathrow for employees.
The need for CS9 is not hard to see. Between 2008 and 2011, Hounslow and Richmond had the highest proportion of journeys made by bike of all outer London boroughs. West London employers such as GSK and Discovery are actively pushing for better provision for employees cycling to work. And Heathrow Airport are under pressure to show that their employees’ commutes are not making air pollution issues worse.
The route follows the A315 through Hounslow, Isleworth and Brentford then across the A205 South Circular south of Chiswick roundabout. It is then planned to run along Wellesley Road to Chiswick High Road, using a Quietway-style design (and hopefully modal filtering to remove through traffic). From there, the route passes through Hammersmith and Fulham using King Street, Hammersmith Gyratory and Hammersmith Road to the borough boundary at Olympia. Where it stops – unless the new Mayor and Kensington & Chelsea sort out proper provision.
The following borough groups are campaigning for CS9 to come through their area - please do get in touch with them if you live or work in their borough and want to get involved in helping bring Cycle Superhighways to west London!
Hounslow Cycling
HFCyclists: London Cycle Campaign in Hammersmith and Fulham
RBKC Cycling: Kensington and Chelsea London Cycling Campaign
Richmond Cycling Campaign