Commenting on the recent press story on Quietways in the City of London, the City of London Corporation responds: 

"Contrary to the impression being given in the press, the Square Mile is absolutely committed to improving road safety in the Square Mile and to the delivery of a safe and effective Quietway network. Officers have spent considerable time in developing and consulting upon a viable Quietway network that will encourage the new, slower and more cautious cyclists that the Mayor has in mind. To achieve this, design and safety considerations are paramount and it has become clear that, on this basis, not all of the original proposed routes can currently be delivered. Where we can, we have produced modifications such as those to avoid dangers associated with Smithfield Market, although this has not proven possible in all cases.

"On Tuesday, while the City’s Streets and Walkways Committee did agree variations to the original Quietway proposals, they also reaffirmed their commitment to building on the City’s existing wide range of cycling safety measures. These include our 77 contraflow streets and our ‘Road Danger Reduction programme’ that includes plans for Aldgate East and Bank Junction, on top of what’s been done in Cheapside and Holborn. We have also suggested an alternative route to TFL to overcome some of the difficulties we have with delivering a Quietway in the east of the City. If this could be agreed we would be keen to proceed but if not we will frankly have to wait until after Crossrail have finished their works at Liverpool Street before we can complete this part of the Quietway route.

"Hopefully the facts set out above paint a clearer picture of where we are with the Quietways. So please don’t confuse our determination to deliver a safe and workable Quietway network with either a lack of commitment to deliver our Quietway programme, nor the considerable importance we place upon reducing road danger on city streets."

Background

It is important to understand that all of the problems and proposals associated with the Quietway network have been considered in detail by a Programme Delivery board comprising Senior TFL representatives and Traffic Planners from the affected Central London Authorities. This Board has considered and signed off all of our proposals so this is not simply a case of the City coming up with spurious difficulties.