Cycle safety campaigners have raised concerns over who was responsible for the decision to remove the protected cycle lane from the West Ealing Liveable Neighbourhood scheme.
Make Uxbridge Road Safe! says it sent an FOI request to Ealing Council and TfL to find out and were told the council claims it was TfL and TfL claims it was the council.
Concerns about safety for cyclists have been going on for many years. In October 2017 Claudia Manera was killed when she was knocked from her bike by the driver of a lorry near Lido Junction in West Ealing.
Road traffic incidents are still occurring since then with one recently in February 2024 where a pedestrian and a vehicle were involved in a collision near Lido Junction.
Speaking to EALING.NEWS, Andy Hillier, co-founder of Make Uxbridge Road Safe! said: “We’re determined to understand when and why plans for a protected cycle lane were removed from the West Ealing plans. Before the pandemic, we were told by the council that upgrading the junction for cyclists was a high priority of the Liveable Neighbourhood scheme following the tragic death of Claudia Manera. We were even given assurances by Julian Bell, the leader of the council at the time.”
Mr Hillier added: “Now we have been told by Sustrans, which is running the consultation process, that plans for a protected cycle route were removed at the request of Transport for London because of concerns over delays to buses.
“However, TfL’s response to our FoI enquiry makes no reference to concerns over delays to buses. Instead, it says that Ealing Council requested the removal of the cycle lanes, saying the council wanted to ‘progress a do-minimum option’.
“We have requested a meeting with the council and Sustrans to better understand the decision-making process and establish how they plan to take forward the proposals given the strong opposition.”
EALING.NEWS reached out to both Ealing Council and TfL.
A TfL spokesperson told EALING.NEWS: “Safety is our top priority and we are determined to ensure people can walk and cycle safely. Cycle lanes on the Broadway have never been part of the West Ealing Liveable Neighbourhood.”
They added: “The option was explored at an early stage by Ealing Council, who are leading the scheme, however following a robust feasibility assessment they decided not to include this in the proposed scheme. Segregated cycle facilities are proposed along Leeland Terrace and Singapore Road providing for cyclists along routes parallel to the Broadway.”
Speaking to EALING.NEWS, an Ealing Council spokesperson said: “The council used Transport for London data to look at what the impact of introducing a new segregated cycle lane on the Broadway would be. The data showed that this could only be done by removing the bus lane, which would lead to slower bus journey times.
The spokesperson added: “We aim to balance the needs of all road users, including those using public transport, so instead two new segregated cycle routes have been proposed on the quieter roads parallel to the Broadway, as part of the Live West Ealing scheme.”
