Newham Council are consulting on a long-term plan for cycling in East Village (the ex Olympic athlete’s village on the “new” side of Stratford). The designs are a step-change for the Olympic Park, an area whose cycling infra has been outdated from the moment it was built. The proposals include safer cycle tracks, continuous pavements for most of the streets in the area, and fixes for dangerous junctions.
We support the scheme, but would like Newham to do a little more to make sure everyone can benefit from it—particularly children cycling to school at Chobham Academy.
The consultation is open until Sunday 17th March: we recommend you support the scheme, but ask Newham to:
- Deliver the scheme quickly, obtaining funding from the many housing and commercial developments in the area to do so.
- Find a way for kids to cycle safely to school on Liberty Bridge Road over the railway line, where the designs currently dump people cycling out into the carriageway due to a width restriction. We’d like to see a bus gate, or an extension of the school street on Cheering Lane. Doing nothing is not an option.
- Fix the Mirabelle Gardens-Elis Way-Cheering Lane rat run. Drivers leaving Westfield often use this as a shortcut to avoid the traffic lights on Celebration Avenue.
Remember: your own views and experiences will carry the most weight in consultations.
Newham-Cyclists-March-2024-East-Village-Connections-response