Lewisham Council and Cycling

Introduction
Lewisham's Cycling Policies
Facts and Figures
What is Lewisham council doing for cyclists?
Lewisham needs a dedicated cycle officer – now!
Room for improvement
Summary
Contacts

What is Lewisham council doing for cyclists?

The London Cycle Network (LCN+) extends all over London . In Lewisham there are several routes that pass through the borough (see map), some providing safe or quiet alternatives to busy roads and rat-runs. Traffic calming initiatives are now coming into effect across the borough – hopefully by reducing speed limits, this will lead to safer roads for use by cyclists and others (although road surfaces are still appalling).

The LCN is signposted with blue and white signs, or with painted white cycles on the road. An example of a successful and well-designed cycle route through Lewisham is the Waterlink Way , set up with the help of Sustrans. Although the number of routes in the borough appears impressive at first glance, many routes are not direct, have obstacles, are not well maintained and are often poorly signposted. We have alerted Lewisham Council about incorrect signage throughout the Borough since May 2003 (11), and still no direct action has been taken.

There is a colourful LCN+ cycle map available for Lewisham, downloadable as a pdf. and available by post from the Sustainable Transport Officer (contact below).

Cycle Map PDF

A ‘safe cycling' programme is run by Lewisham's Road Safety Team, (contact Liz Barkwith ), providing cycle proficiency courses for ‘anyone over 9 years old'. Training does not yet extend to adults, but hopefully will in the near future. Improved provisions for Safe Routes to Schools, and cycle confidence training for adults would be welcomed, especially given their success in other boroughs (see ‘success stories' in Room for Improvement ).

(11) http://www.rstocker.freeserve.co.uk/waterlink.htm

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