Hackney,
31
July
2015
|
13:53
Europe/London

Work starts on Cycle Superhighway 1 at Pitfield Street

cs120old20street20visual-2.png

Work has started in Hackney on Cycle Superhighway 1 which, when complete, will allow cyclists to ride between the City and Tottenham in around 30 minutes.

Stretching from White Hart Lane, in Tottenham, down the length of Hackney, to Liverpool Street Station, in the City, Cycle Superhighway 1 (CS1) has only eight traffic signals compared to 54 on the A10 alternative.

The improvement works, which intend to make the 11km route safer and more welcoming for cyclists and pedestrians, will include redesigned junctions, removal of through-traffic in some roads, upgraded traffic-calming measures, and road resurfacing. The scheme also includes new seating, trees and wider footpaths.

Construction started on Pitfield Street, Shoreditch, earlier this month, and will continue there until 18 December 2015. There will be significant improvements to the street, including the permanent closure to through-traffic at the junction with Old Street. The street will return to a two-way system for local access. There will also be parallel cycle and pedestrian crossings at the apex junction of Old Street and Great Eastern Street.

During the works, Pitfield Street will remain accessible for local traffic and cyclists will be able to continue using it northbound. Those travelling southbound are diverted at Hyde Road down Hoxton Street, into Hoxton Square and down Rufus Street to Old Street. There are signs to direct cycle traffic.

The Council is working in partnership with Transport for London (TfL) on the delivery of the route which will be completed by spring 2016 and forms part of the wider Cycle Superhighway Network that is being constructed around the capital.

 

 

Cllr Feryal Demirci, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods and Sustainability, Hackney Council
I’ve been delighted by the outpouring of support for the route and the demand to go further to create traffic-free streets.

We therefore intend to be more ambitious than we initially proposed. We will use this opportunity to create area-wide street and road closures and make the neighbourhoods through which the route passes genuinely cycle-friendly.

This will be the first time in London that we will be creating a safe haven for cyclists and pedestrians over so wide an area.
Cllr Feryal Demirci, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods and Sustainability, Hackney Council

VolkerHighways, which has been contracted to carry out the improvements, has set up a mobile cycle surgery that will move along the route as work progresses.

This facility will be available for cyclists to fix minor cycle maintenance issues such as punctures.