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If you’re one of the hordes of Londoners who finally sorted a cycle-to-work scheme bike and suddenly transformed into Bradley Wiggins during last year’s lockdowns, you’ll probably have noticed all the safety barriers that have popped up around the city’s cycle lanes over the last eighteen months.
Miles of plastic bollards started being introduced to roads around London during the first wave of the pandemic as a temporary measure, catering to the increasing number of commuters choosing to cycle instead of using public transport.
Now, campaigners are lobbying to keep the safety measures in place permanently, after 41-year-old paediatrician Marta Krawiec became the fifth fatality in eight years at a particularly dangerous junction in Holborn while commuting to work at St Thomas’s hospital last month.
More than 7,000 people have signed a petition started by the London Cycling Campaign (LCC) in response to the tragic accident, demanding rapid action be taken to prevent further fatalities at dangerous junctions across the capital.
Earlier this week, supporters of the campaign took part in a protest cycle between Old Street and Holborn, an area the LCC believes to be a priority for action owing to its heavy use by cyclists and numerous intersections that have proven lethal in recent years.
Transport for London awarded Camden council almost £9.5m in 2018 to introduce protected cycle lanes in place of the Holborn gyratory, however the plans have not yet come to fruition partly due to the pandemic. Let’s hope it gets its act together soon.
Fancy signing the petition? You can find it on the London Cycling Campaign website here.
Sadiq Khan has launched an online course to help you brush up on your cycling skills.