Traffic redirection plans may increase traffic on Roman Road
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Threat of more traffic and danger to cyclists on Roman Road

New Superhighway redirection plans threaten to increase traffic on Roman Road, endangering the safety of cyclists and increasing congestion and pollution in Bow. Find out how to object here.

Cyclist surrounded by cars on highway
Traffic redirection plans may increase traffic on Roman Road

Traffic on Roman Road

You might have seen the Barclays Cycle Superhighway plans from Transport for London to install much safer cycling lanes along the length of Whitechapel Road/Mile End Road/Bow Road from Aldgate to Bow Roundabout. With so many cyclists having been killed or injured along this route, this can only be a good thing.

However, we are concerned around one of the proposals in Bow, and its possible impact on the Roman Road.

Section Five of the Barclays Cycle Superhighway plan includes a proposal for the Mile End Road/Grove Road/Burdett Road junction that would ban all right turns from Burdett Road onto Mile End Road. We are really worried that the effect of this will be that lots of cars will end up travelling up Grove Road and turning right onto Roman Road to continue their journey eastwards, either heading to the A12 or back through residential streets to the Bow Road.

Traffic on the Roman Road can already be awful at peak times, making it a much less pleasant place to be. We don’t want to increase the traffic even more.

Cyclist groups aren’t happy with the proposed ban here: both Tower Hamlets Wheelers and the London Cycling Campaign are opposing it, as pushing traffic into residential streets is only likely to increase problems for cyclists.

Have your say

If you share our concerns, please add your voice to the objections about this particular section of the Barclays Cycle Superhighway. You have until Sunday 2nd November to do so, and here’s how:

1. Go to the TFL Consultation Comments page

2. Scroll down to Section 5 (Burdett Road/Mile End junction)

3. Select option from multiple choice that best describes your level of objection – ‘no’ or ‘partially’.

4. Add a comment that says you ‘object to the proposal of no right turn at the Burdett Road/Mile End Road junction because of the likely impact on traffic volumes on Roman Road and the surrounding areas’

Any questions, do let us know.

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Tabitha Stapely

Tabitha Stapely is the founder of Social Streets C.I.C, a not-for-profit media company using journalism to strengthen communities, particularly those in disadvantaged or neglected areas. Prior, Stapely was a writer and editor for national titles including The Telegraph Saturday Magazine, Elle and Red magazines.

6 thoughts on “Threat of more traffic and danger to cyclists on Roman Road

  • Hi Tabitha – I left this:

    Traffic heading north on Burdett Rd will proceed up Grove Rd if it cannot turn right. The first right turn will be the narrow, shop filled Roman Road, a residential area. This road is quite unsuitable to take this additional traffic.

    The next right turn option, Old Ford Rd, is narrow and being well used by park users is also unsuitable as a replacement for Mile End Rd.

    but it won’t let me ‘finish’ says I have unanswered questions. Do you know what they might be? I failed to spot them.

    Reply
    • Hi David. I know where the problem is. After leaving the comment it then takes you to a page with a button saying ‘Finish’. You can’t press ‘Finish’ just yet. You need to click on the link that says ‘Overall Proposals and About You’. In that section it asks you what you think about the cycle superhighway plan in general, and asks for your name, email address and whether you are a local resident. Once you’ve filled that in, you can press ‘Finish’. Hope that helps.

      Reply
  • Thanks for flagging this. I’ve responded to the consultation accordingly.

    Reply
  • I too recognise this as an issue if no right turns are applied at Burdett Road and I responded yesterday to the CS2 consultation also saying east bound traffic will inevitably be diverted also along the B140 St Pauls Way and Devons Road.
    This is also a densely residential area unsuited to heavy traffic. As cyclist (and motorist), I fail to see safety issues at the Bow Road junction with the phasing of signals as it is today, and asked what is possibly to be gained by banning right turns.

    Reply
  • This proposal will just push more & more traffic through the roads in central Bow. Places like St. Stephens Rd. & Tredegar Rd are gridlock now, in morning rush hour & again in the evening. Ray Gipson.

    Reply
  • I am a cyclist and in general I welcome the proposals of TFL for a segregated Superhighway. However, I live on Tredegar Road and unfortunately I have to endure the daily traffic of vehicles that have found this a convenient shortcut through Bow – especially since Roman Road was turned into a one way system and the junction with St Stephens Road and Roman Road was re-designed. We suffer each time there is a closure of the Blackwall Tunnel or an accident on the A12 in Leyton, and things are getting worse by the day. This has been raised with the Council on many occasions, but nothing has happened and the latest road works in the area have, if anything facilitated the passing of daily traffic. It’s a pity that the Roman Road Resident and Business Association is again looking after its own interests, only raising the matter of the traffic that has affected residents of Tredegar Road and St. Stephens Road for a decade, now that there is a TFL consultation. Personally, I think that the section of Roman Road – St Stephens Road – Tredegar Road has already reached saturation point and any changes on Burdett Road or Grove Road will have an insignificant impact on this. Bow is long overdue a review of the viability as it’s not fair that St Stephens Road should bear the brunt of over 10,000 vehicles passing each day, while other roads have measures in place to curtail passing traffic. For starters, why not reverse the one way system, so the evening traffic (when the market is closed) can avoid driving through St Stephens Road – which is classified as a residential road – and can continue eastward along Roman Road – the official ‘B road’ of the area – and maybe even the shops can benefit from passing trade?

    Reply

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