Concerned citizen encourages vehicles and cyclists to share the road

Works on the East London Line on Kingsland Road, a major thoroughfare for cyclists in Shoreditch, recently brought the return of a sign which  local cyclists hoped they'd seen the back of - a 'cyclists dismount' sign positioned at a temporary narrowing of the Kingsland Road for works being conducted by the East London Railway extension project.

The sign arguably puts cyclists in danger by instructing them to dismount where the road narrows down to one lane, and is unnecessary: the works simply require cyclists and vehicles to share the space as they do at any other road narrowing.

The 'cyclists dismount' sign was successfully lobbied against by the LCC in Hackney last summer in a nearby location. LCC in Hackney were reassured that the engineers (again the East London Railway team) had been informed of the issue and the problem would not recur.

Share the Road

At the return of the sign, LCC in Hackney co-ordinator Trevor Parsons contacted the East London Railway team to be told that decisions regarding signage surrounding their bridgeworks are the responsibility of Transport for London Streets.

However, a concerned citizen stepped in to promote the 'Share the Road' concept in the single lane.

The sign has now been removed, although the bus lane sign remains, meaning that approximately 12,000 cars, vans and motorbikes break the law every day.