This cyclist is making a prohibited manoeuvre!
As part of the diagonal pedestrian crossing scheme at Oxford Circus, cyclists have been barred from Oxford Street.
According to signs attached to traffic signals,
This cyclist is making a prohibited manoeuvre!
These restrictions came completely out of the blue: they were not included in the original proposals. We have not found them either in the traffic management order covering the Oxford Circus scheme. So we have asked Westminster's Director of Transportation for a copy of the relevant order. The LCC have also told him that it would be most regrettable if this pioneering and welcome scheme were to be undermined by being cycle un-friendly. And the council member responsible for cycling is raising the matter with him.
Westminster's Unitary Development Plan has a policy to "normally allow cyclists to turn at junctions and enter streets where certain movements by motor vehicles are banned as part of a traffic management or environmental scheme, where safety issues permit." But the council sometimes ignores this policy, for example in the recent exclusion of cyclists from Lisle Street and their forthcoming exclusion from the south end of Wardour Street.
The long-awaited cycle contraflow lane has now appeared in Covent Garden's Long Acre.
The lane, running from Bow Street to Drury Lane, allows eastbound cyclists to ride against the one-way westbound traffic flow. This facility opens up a new route from the Charing Cross Road to Lincoln's Inn Fields.
The contraflow lane is part of an environmental improvement scheme in Long Acre, which also involved moving car-parking bays to the south side of the street (to the right in the photos). Work is now in progress to replace the mini roundabout at the junction with Bow Street and Endell Street with a pair of T-junctions as part of the same project.
You should note that 'no entry' signs are still in place at the entrance to the contraflow lane. This may mean that it is illegal to ride along it!
Concern has been expressed that the contraflow lane is little more than one metre wide. We understand that the original design was for a 1.5m lane. We are seeking to find out how the width was reduced.
Cyclists would dearly like to have a westbound contraflow lane along the western end of Long Acre. This is more difficult, however, because of the need to modify the traffic signals at the junction with St Martin's Lane. Signals had conveniently been removed from the junction with Drury Lane, making the introduction of the cycle contraflow rather easier.
Transport for London may be changing its plans for a cycle route along Millbank so as to cater both for commuters and for less experienced and leisure cyclists.
Plans nearly 10 years old included:
There are now concerns that these facilities could not handle the growing number of cycling commuters. And the off-road cycle track would be awkward for northbound cyclists to use, especially since TfL believe they could not extend it south of Vauxhall Bridge. Another problem is that, after widening the riverside footway, the traffic lane would be only 3.55m wide at its narrowest, which could produce conflict between cyclists remaining in the carriageway and motor vehicles.
So TfL are now considering other options. Thanks to congestion charging, traffic volumes are not so high among Millbank. It might therefore be possible to restrict motor traffic to one lane, releasing space for cyclists and pedestrians.
Plans also include re-arranging Lambeth Bridge, replacing the existing sub-standard cycle lanes with a 1.5m cycle lane in one direction and a bus lane in the other direction.