Members of Southwark Cyclists had a meeting last week (May 3rd) about the Southwark Spine route with project manager Albert Ang and design manager Hugh McCarthy.

The short-term proposal is for the Spine to link up with the proposed Quietway 7 (which goes north on Portland Place), and with Quietway 8, through the western end of Burgess Park. They’ll see how that works out, and maybe other routes north will be considered in the longer term. Anyone interested in helping agitate for that, please get in touch.

The preferred Southwark Spine proposal they’re investigating will connect up to Quietway 7, Quietway 8, and Quietway 83 to provide a network of useful routes. As TfL’s cycling data shows, connecting routes creates a disproportionate increase in cycling as your number of reachable destinations goes up. This dense network of safe cycle routes is especially important in enabling the kind of local trips that bikes are perfect for.

We were happy with the options presented for improving St George’s Way, and agreed with their assessment of how preferable each one would be. The designs we are seeing from Southwark have clearly taken on board the principles of designing for 8 – 80+ and non-standard cycles, and for expected growth in cycling numbers.

There should be a consultation on this section of the Spine route in mid summer.