In previous London Mayoral administrations, Quietways and Cycle Superhighways were developed as two different cycle networks. Under Sadiq Khan’s administration this will all be dealt with together as Cycleways.
A21 Lewisham Spine Cycleway
After campaigning from LC, plans for segregated cycle lanes along the A21 Spine were first included in the Lewisham Cycle Strategy approved by Lewisham back in 2017. In his 2018 election manifesto the Lewisham Mayor Damian Egan reconfirmed the council’s commitment to progressing these plans. The proposed route will run on the A21 from Downham to Lewisham Town Centre and then onwards via borough roads to meet CS4 in Deptford. In late 2018 TfL (the A21 is a TfL ‘red’ route) and Lewisham Council funded an initial Outcome Definition project to look at these proposals.
We wrote to the Lewisham Mayor here on 15/4/20 requesting the commitment of council funds to the design and build of a cycleway on Deptford Church St (DCS) to connect Cycleway 4 to the Waterlink Way and as a first stage of the Lewisham Spine. This project has now been approved & funded and is due to start construction in summer 2024. For ongoing updates on the DCS Cycleway project check the News sections of this website.
In 2021/22 under the London Mayor’s Streetspace schemes Molesworth St and Lewisham High Street, past Ladywell Fire Station, there are temporary segregated cycle lanes, hopefully a pre-cursor for a future permanent Lewisham Spine scheme.
Cycleway 4 (previously known as CS4)
This segregated route from Tower Bridge to Greenwich route is now fully open, the Lewisham section having been completed in Spring 2022. The remaining Southwark section around Surrey Quays was completed in early 2024. Consultation on the detailed plans happened back in 2018 and our response to that consultation is here. We discussed this project with TfL for around a decade before final completion. Here is an update from 2017 on various issues we pursued then with TfL, including the delay on Cycleway 4.
Cycle Superhighway 5 (CS5)
When the previous Mayor first introduced his Cycling Vision for London, this route was designed to run from Lee to Victoria. The Lewisham section was whittled away with the route exiting Southwark and barely scraping into New Cross. Then the low quality of the built route meant it wasn’t even designated as a Superhighway. At the time TfL discussed with us a kind of consolation extension of CS5, avoiding the New Cross gyratory which would have run through Fordham Park and Deptford to join the Waterlink Way. Elements of this route were again recently mentioned in the New Cross Area Framework plan (see our consultation response here) which includes a new bridge over the railway at New Cross Gate. The route has since been mooted again in TfL’s Strategic Cycling Analysis as part of the TfL Cycling Action Plan to form Future Route 14, running from Oval to Deptford. It remains to be seen whether this will be progressed.
Other cycleway developments
Catford to Forest Hill Cycleway. This Cycleway is a Lewisham Cyclists/Elm Lane Users Group joint initiative. It is planned to provide a safe cycling and walking route where one does not exist at the moment. See here for a map of the route. In late 2021 we applied for NCIL Ward funding for this project in Bellingham and Perry Vale wards. With the funds received from NCIL Ward funding in 2023 we commissioned Sustrans to prepare a Feasibility Report which can be found here
Literary Heritage Trail – this is a very pleasant, predominantly off-road green cycling trail recently developed by the Lewisham Cycling Champion and LC. Starting at Downham (west end of Oakridge Rd) and ending at Grove Park (Baring Rd) it incorporates Railway Children Walk (famous because Edith Nesbit lived nearby and was inspired by the adjacent railway to write that famous book) and runs past the Grove Park Nature Reserve.
Molesworth St Cycleway – back in 2015 we returned a response here to TfL plans for upgrading this cycle path . The plans are here Eventually this section should become part of the proposed A21 Spine Cycleway.
Cycleway 10 (formerly Quietway1, Q1)
The first Quietway opened in 2016 was Quietway 1 which runs through Lewisham from Greenwich to Waterloo. It has since been rebranded as Cycleway 10 (C10) with new signage throughout.
Work on the southward extension of C10 through Greenwich and Blackheath to Kidbrooke is ongoing, with improvements across Blackheath Common complete. LC have responded to several consultations on junction improvements along this route. Proposed works at the southerly entrance to Greenwich Park to improve the crossing of Charlton Way were delayed by the pandemic.
Lewisham Cyclists worked with the London Borough of Lewisham (LBL) to ensure a safe, quiet route that can be used by all cyclists. You can read our original response to LBL’s consultation on the Q1 section in the borough here. LBL’s original plans for the route can be found here.
An Excel spreadsheet with details of the responses to LBL’s consultation on Q1 can be found here. Our post-implementation review of the LBL section of Q1 can be found here.
Cycleway 10 also runs through Southwark to Waterloo Bridge. Southwark Council’s original proposals for Q1 are here.
CYCLEWAY 14
A short section of Cycleway 14 (C14) remains to be completed in north Deptford. A shared crossing of Grove Road will connect C14 to Dragoon Road and Cycleway 4.
CYCLEWAY 18 (Covering parts of the WATERLINK WAY and NCN21]
This is the upgrade of much of the Waterlink Way (NCN21) to Cycleway standard. This route is planned to run from Kent House station to Greenwich generally following the Waterlink Way in Lewisham, crossing over into Greenwich at Elverson Road station. Work on this upgrade started in 2018 with the work being done in bits and pieces. The two major elements in the construction works in Lewisham will be a new bridge (to replace the existing narrow wooden one) south of Catford and a signalised crossing of Southend Lane (work started on this in mid-2024). By early 2022 Bromley had completed most of the enhancements on their section including a long section of widened shared pavement south of Lower Sydenham station. In Greenwich the completion of several enhancements has also been delayed by the C19 pandemic.
Cycleway 35 (formerly Quietway 83, Q83)
This is the upgrade of part of LCN22 (Bermondsey to Catford) to Quietway standard. In mid 2017 this was in the outline planning stages. Go here to view Lucia Quenya’s summary of the 19/5/17 ride-over of the Southwark section of the proposed Q83.
No significant enhancements are currently expected for the Lewisham section of the route.
Quietways (now Subsumed in the TFL Cycleways Project]
Quietways were quiet routes through London that formed part of the 2013 Mayor of London’s vision for cycling. They have since all been rebranded as Cycleways.