London Assembly Green Party member Darren Johnson has tabled two CS2 upgrade questions for Mayor's Questions at City Hall on Wednesday morning (21 Jan) and we are going along for a publicity photocall. Could you join us?

Time is 9.15am for about 30 mins, outside City Hall, SE1 2AA [location map].

TfL has watered down the upgrade to CS2 in the Whitechapel market area after heavy lobbying from the borough and the result is no segregation from motor traffic along this difficult stretch.  Read LCC's analysis of TfL's CS2U report.

We suggested to the borough and TfL that 'Copenhagen Paving' - stepped splayed kerbs  - would provide security for cyclists and enable loading vehicles to access the market.  As is commonly seen in... Copenhagen but also already in use in the UK.  Scroll down to last photo here for an example copenhagenize.com/2010/05/paving-way-for-cyclists.html

The questions specifically tackle the market area but we are continuing to lobby on other matters of concern.  The CS2U plans will be ratified at the TfL board on 4th Feburary.

Darren Johnson's formal questions to the Mayor are as follows:

Watering down of plans for CS2 safety improvements (1)
Question No: 2015/0066
Darren Johnson

Cyclists in Tower Hamlets are dismayed by your decision to water down plans to make cycle superhighway 2 safer. The section running by Whitechapel market has been downgraded so that, instead of benefitting from a fully segregated cycleway, people cycling along the eastbound side of Whitechapel Road will have to mix with buses in a five-metre wide bus lane that includes a two-metre cycle lane. These are the same design features that were incorporated into the original CS2 design. How can you justify watering down these safety improvement plans when there is a clear and urgent need for a radical overhaul of this route which has already claimed the lives of six cyclists?

Watering down of plans for CS2 safety improvements (2)
Question No: 2015/0067
Darren Johnson

It has been suggested that the main reason you have abandoned plans for safety improvements on CS2 is because Whitechapel market traders want to park their vans in loading bays next to their stalls. Other markets in Tower Hamlets such as on Chrisp Street and Watney Street do not provide this facility. In addition, the bays at Whitechapel market are loading bays only, but traders routinely exceed the loading times, thereby breaking the law. Why should east London cyclists be put at risk to facilitate rule-breaking in this way?