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news
Constitution Hill 03 (copyright Simon MacMichael)Queen’s Platinum Jubilee forces six-week closure of key London cycleway
Update: On Tuesday, The Royal Parks issued the following statement on the temporary suspension of Cycle Superhighway 3 in the Green Park, which will be closed for six weeks to allow for the construction and dismantling of infrastructure related to the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in early June:
Due to the build for ceremonial events taking place in May and June cyclists, motorists and pedestrians will be impacted by significant disruption in The Green Park and St James’s Park.
The decision to implement the necessary closure of roads, cycleways and pathways was made by the multiple agencies involved in planning for the upcoming events with the safety of all park users in mind. Please check https://tfl.gov.uk/platinum-jubilee for up-to-date information on the affected areas.
Cycle Superhighway 3 is temporarily suspended in The Green Park. For the safety of all park users, we ask that cyclists dismount and walk through The Green Park. This walk takes roughly eight minutes.
Our original story, published on Monday, appears below.
A key cycle route in central London will be closed for six weeks due to the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations at the beginning of June – although there is scant information online about exactly which parts of the route will be closed.
Sections of Cycleway 3 close to Buckingham Palace and which fall under the responsibility of The Royal Parks were already closed this weekend due to the Vitality London 10,000 athletics event, with signage in place to warn cyclists of the closures.
Separate signs in locations including Constitution Hill – which runs from Hyde Park Corner to the Mall and forms part of Green Park – were put in place by last Friday and warn of the cyclepath being closed from “3 May to Mid-June,” a total of six weeks.
Of course, temporary road closures for events such as Trooping the Colour are a regular feature of central London, but as this Twitter thread points out, what is unusual in this case is the length of the closure, plus the absence of any signed alternative route for cyclists.
So the Royal Parks are closing key safe cycle routes into Central London for 6 WEEKS for jubilee prep. No hint of alternative safe option. No attempt to minimise disruption. On past form will be overpoliced. pic.twitter.com/ZhraHGH140
— Jill Rutter (@jillongovt) April 29, 2022
It is not clear at the moment whether it is just the section of cycleway on Constitution Hill that will be closed, or whether it will also affect other locations in the area. Nor does there appear to be any signage advising cyclists of alternate routes.
However, given the four-day programme of events over the four-day Platinum Jubilee weekend itself from 2-6 June, they seem inevitable during that period at least in locations such as Birdcage Walk and the area to the front of Buckingham Palace around the Victoria Monument.
The RideLondon festival of cycling returns this month after a two-year absence, with this event, to be held over one day, moving its finishing location to Tower Bridge rather than the Mall, which has hosted the end of all previous editions.
It’s unclear whether that reflects a permanent move or is simply due to the proximity of the Platinum Jubilee events, but the closed-road family-friendly RideLondon FreeCycle ridevente will not be taking in the Royal Parks this year with its route instead going along nearby Whitehall and Pall Mall.
While the Transport for London (TfL) website does have a page providing travel advice for the Platinum Jubilee weekend itself, there is no specific mention of any cycle routes being closed.
“Cycling is a good way to get around central London, particularly if you are not attending events or passing through areas where they are being held,” TfL says on the page.
“Some roads will be closed and you may have to walk with your cycle if it's busy.
“There are security measures at events, so you may not be allowed to bring a cycle with you if you are attending – check beforehand.”
Nor does there appear to be any specific information regarding closures on the website of The Royal Parks, nor the website set up specifically for the Platinum Jubilee. Should we get any clarification, we will of course update this article.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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33 comments
They should close the road to motor vehicles - they get in the way far more than cycles.
It is closed too.
I can't help thinking that if their plans for the jubilee will impact upon the safety of park users then they ought to reconsider their plans...
Second point - it says, "Well, you can get off and walk" to users of the cycle superhighway. Local knowledge question - is that just walking along the same route, or is that an actual diversion?
Third point - are they planning to ask motorists to get out and push?
On Constitution Hill the separate carriageway, cyclepath and footpath all run parallel to one another, so walking won't be too much of a hardship for me in flat shoes, but it wouldn't be much fun in cleats: https://goo.gl/maps/HntDbKvRJKK5q7BR8
They were closing everything yesterday, road, cyclepath and footpath. The road is taking all the lorries delivering stuff, then being moved across the cycle and footpaths to get it into the park. All closed off from The Mall to Hyde Park Corner, not just Constitution Hill.
You can cycle about a 1/3 of the way around the north side, or walk across the middle of the park. However having had to do it once before (Trump visit) I can say you can't walk it in just 8 minutes while wheeling a bike
Sigh. Thanks for the warning. Only in London once a week now, but that's my usual route, so will leave early to get back to Paddington!
I know its probably not much consolation but having the parallel roads and footpaths closed as well at least makes it clear that cyclists arent being singled out. Albeit that both Pedestrians and Cars will have better alternative routes than us.
You're not kidding, the alternative route for pedestrians is to take the next footpath across the park and turn right, this adds about 70 m to the journey. There are in fact at least three viable footpath routes across Green Park from the Victoria Memorial to Hyde Park Corner, the sensible solution would have been for Royal Parks to designate one of those as a temporary cycle route, but I haven't seen any pigs flying over Buckingham Palace recently…
Presumably we can also wheel bikes along this footpath. So no great increase in distance, just slower and (especially in cleats) more awkward.
Rode this way this morning. Marshals at Hyde Park Corner were directing cyclists to ride slowly through Green Park, which seems sensible. Unfortunately some didn't seem capable of that, and there had evidently been an incident with someone lying on the floor awaiting medical attention.
If that's going to be the policy throughout this closure that is very good news, I haven't had a chance to go round that way this week. Unfortunately, as you have already seen, it's likely either some spanner will go speeding through and hit someone, or someone on their phone will step in front of a cyclist, and then they'll say they tried but it proved too difficult. I think the most sensible solution might be to redirect cyclists around the pavement on the south side of Picadilly – very wide and virtually nobody walks there – then down one of the north-south paths to Canada gate, there are three good paths all parallel to one another, perhaps one could be made a dedicated cycle path just for the duration of the Jubilee.
Who knows if the closures and routes will be consistent throughout, but in case of use to others, on my way in I was able to cycle through Green Park (not down Constitution Hill), The Mall and Horse Guards Road (both with minimal motor traffic) and then rejoin CS3 at Parliament Square. On the way back, I was able to cycle up Birdcage walk, but then had a bit of faff trying to work out how to get back into Green Park (the answer is by walking through the inside of St James's Park, nearest Buckingham Palace, crossing The Mall).
Cycled back about 5pm. Managed to get on to Constitution Hill towards Hyde Park but took a bit of wiggling, walking and waiting. Now blocked off completely the other way. Will either have to find alternative routes and fight with traffic, or resort to the Bakerloo.
"Why ain't you using the cycle lane?"
"Jubilee mate"
Just imagine how quickly the UK would become a republic if they closed the M25 for six weeks for the same reason.
Cycled down it this morning. Lots of signs and a lorry blocking the crossing, but no one stopping anyone go along it, so the usual number of cyclists still using it. Not sure how long that will last.
Constitution Hill also closed to traffic, and I think The Mall was too.
If it was between 10.15-11.45 that would be the standard daily closure for the changing of the guard, they ride down from Hyde Park through the Wellington Arch, Constitution Hill, The Mall and on to Horseguards.
It was about 8.45 this morning
This is the annoying thing with that cycle route going past the front Buckingham Palace with all the events that happen there.
Using the parks is a noce route and allowed TfL to avoid problems with Westminster Council blocking them, but there needs to be some routes that don't get closed for events.
It would be good if CS3 also had a route from Hyde Park Corner down Grosvenor Road - Lower Grisvenor Place - Buckingham Palace Road - Birdcage Walk (rejoining the route to Parliament Sq). There is plenty of space there, just the probably of Westminster Council.
does that mean the adjoining roads will be closed to motor vehicles for six weeks? What about Hyde Park Corner - which this route goes through. That, surely, should be closed to cars.
Can you imagine the outcry if a road were closed for six weeks with no detour signs put up?
Cs3 is my key route to work from Paddington (not fit enough to go from home to London just yet!) to bank so this going to absolutely suck.
The warning but no alternative route is typical of the parks.
This would be acceptable if, and only if, there has been consultation with the users of the path, and a consensus arrived at for alternatives. Indeed, I'd say it was their public duty to ensure that alternatives are in place, and they are tempting fate, both in the response they might get from disgruntled cyclists*, and for any cyclists involved in any collisions due to not being able to ride this route.
As far as warning about not bringing your bike to events, it begs the question why aren't they providing proper, secure cycle parking? If you were charged a quid to leave your bike somewhere and be certain it was there when you got back, most people would be happy to pay. Surely they should be encouraging people to ride to them, not discouraging them?
*Me.
Reminds me of the 2012 Olympics, I was pretty seriously ill at the time, certainly too ill to ride the 60k round trip to Box Hill from my home, never mind, I thought, I'll train down to nearby and I can manage the 3k from the station or whatever. Then I found that bikes were banned from all trains to, or passing through, any Olympic venue at any time for the duration of the games. For all the positive measures of the last few years it seems a substantial proportion of those in power are either indifferent to or actively dislike cycling. Can you imagine the Dutch having a big royal or sporting event and banning bicycles? They'd have a revolution!
Wow! Was there any explanation given for this extraordinary decision?
I did write and ask, email long deleted but from memory it was the usual old pony about "We are expecting peak-time levels of demand throughout the Olympics and so, as with all peak-time services, bicycle carriage is not permitted." They ignored my followup asking why, since we'd known they were coming from 2005 onwards, they hadn't got round to laying on a few extra trains or, heaven forbid, a few bike carriages.
Was travelling to Ipswich, where the better half was recovering from the big C, at the time, the journey normally had me getting on the Norwich train at Stratford, Friday evening. As if during the Olympics. Made a point on getting on at Liverpool Street, opening ceremony not too bad, loud drunken sweary police in the carriage, a week later, got a table seat on the HST, in a practically empty carriage, until Stratford when the multitudes got on, playing sardines until after Ipswich.
As failing grayling's attempt showed, adding extra services ain't always easy.
I think I got so used to travelling like that on that line, even today it's still like that as they run a reduced post Covid service, the Olympics never felt that exceptionally busy, the biggest thing was they halted all the engineering works,so we actually had trains running all the time for several months, instead of what's basically been a weekday train service, weekend bus service ever since and the buses dont take bikes.
I got so used to the replacement rail bus service on a Sunday, just accepted it.
As soon as they had sorted it she moved down here...
I can only assume they expected the trains to be sardine filled by fare paying people and didn't want to leave space for non-fare paying bikes. It is the same reason most Trains state no bikes on "rush hour" trains even if the train would actually have room for them.
Luckily for me, gwr only banned bikes on my commuter service (weirdly a complete opposite of the one I do these days) on the weekend of the road races.
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