High Street Ken bike lane scrapped

Kensington and Chelsea council have voted to scrap the High Street Kensington bike lane.

Seven weeks after installation of plastic wands along stretches of the iconic Notting Hill street, the council have announced that they are removing the £700,000 cycle path. Paid for by Transport For London (TFL) as part of the London Streetspace Plan fund the scheme faced resistance from a Conservative-run council that had previously unilaterally vetoed extending cycling paths and pedestrian crossings without waiting for the results of a public consultation.

The bike lane was used by around 3,000 a day, more than double the number of cyclists on the road before the path was installed.

Opposition by local residents is said to have scuppered the scheme with a council spokeswoman pointing to emails from 322 residents opposing the scheme compared with 122 supporting it. A petition that gathered 3,504 was also cited as additional evidence of local opposition. This petition has been devalued, however, by the news that signatories of the petition lived in countries including USA, Italy, South Africa and Venezuela.

Critics of the scheme have claimed that the cycle lane has slowed traffic, increasing congestion and thus pollution and prevented access by emergency vehicles. However, air quality on the road was found to already be dangerously high before the cycle lane was introduced. In addition, air quality readings at other London routes with comparable cycle routes did not see an increase in pollution after cycle routes were installed.

The council has also claimed to be acting in the interests of businesses on the street. One local commerce group said that 96 out of 126 members stated that they were against the path. Michael Stone, Chairman of Kensington & Chelsea Chamber of Trade & Commerce, said “The cycle lane in its current form is detrimental to business on Kensington High Street and beyond, and we support its removal. The pre-Christmas trading period is vital to many businesses and I encourage everyone to stay safe, shop locally, and support your local business community.”

Supporters of the bike lane say that blaming poor trading conditions on the bike lane is unfair as government restrictions in November forced many to shut.

Protests against the removal have not been successful. Extinction Rebellion protestors have acted to try to prevent the removal of the path, gluing themselves to work vans removing the protective bollards. A local school also organised a protest ride along the route last Thursday.

Transport campaigner Leo Murray has said that he believes that the council could end up in court. “The Mayor [ of London] could use his powers to take over [RBKC’s] roads preventing the cycleway being removed.”

BBC presenter and keen cyclist Jeremy Vine has also opposed the removal of the cycle path calling it “devastating”.
High profile opponents of the High Street Kensington cycle path include television presenter Jeremy Clarkson, actor Felicity Kendal and the local MP, Felicity Buchan, who said “It hasn’t worked for pedestrians; it hasn’t worked for the elderly; it hasn’t worked for the disabled. So very reluctantly, I am asking the council to take out the cycle lane on Kensington High Street.”