This is a call for the cycle lane recently erected along Honeypot Lane, Stanmore to be removed or altered in some way. The addition of the cycle lane has caused immense chaos to numerous parties across a wide area in North West London. The creation of the cycle lane entailed the removal of a whole lane previously used for a multitude of vehicles. Subsequently, the speed limit has been reduced to 30mph.

Firstly the most pressing issue is concerning the cycle lane’s safety. Cars turning left off the former dual-carriageway inhibit the safety of all cyclists by veering directly into their paths. This is accentuated by the downhill slope of the road rendering braking utterly useless in the face of danger. In addition, buses now pose another safety issue to all road users because they have to take a right onto the one accessible lane back to continue their route. Cyclists also have to duck around the stationary buses due to the bus stops leaving no space for the cycle lane. The perilous 79 bus stops are: The Honeypot, Queensbury Circle, Broadcroft Avenue, Wigton Gardens and Honeypot Lane Centre.

The second major concern with the introduction of the cycle lane is surprisingly the increased congestion and pollution levels. Whilst this cycle lane may reduce congestion in areas where a high proportion of the population are cyclists, this is not the case in the Stanmore area. When embarking on one rush hour journey, it can be deduced that approximately 1200 cars use the cycle lane per hour and only 12 cyclists (using extrapolated data from 6 journeys). The thousands of cars are now crammed into one lane and forced to go 10mph slower. To add to the congestion, at the time of writing schools are not open, but the addition of pickup and drop off traffic from Whitchurch Primary, Stanburn Primary and Avanti House, with a range of others in the near vicinity. By September 2020, there will be havoc.

The Honeypot Lane cycle lane, a cog in the piece of Boris Johnson’s initiative to increase the use of cycle lanes was hasty and ill thought out with no regard to the local demographic or transport use. We recommend that the cycle lane is either removed or changed with proper community input (non-existent in the hasty construction of the cycle lane).