Work on Cycleway between Finsbury Park and Highbury Fields gets underway

The project, initiated and designed by Islington Council and funded by Transport for London (TfL), will support walking and enable riders of all abilities to jump on the saddle, making it easier to get to work, visit friends and shop in businesses across the borough and beyond.

Work on the Cycleway, which will help residents to enjoy a more active lifestyle, started on Friday, 28 February.

Improvements that will make it easier, safer and more enjoyable to walk and cycle include:

• protected cycle tracks
• new pedestrian crossings
• wider footways
• safer junctions
• more greenery

The Cycleway, which is due to be completed by the end of the year, will extend from Horsell Road in the south of the borough to Blackstock Road in the north.

This will form part of Cycleway 38, which will ultimately connect Farringdon in the south of Islington to Palmers Green in Enfield.   

It will also be part of a network of cycle routes that the council is developing and delivering across the borough in the coming years.

The scheme involves the building of Islington’s first ever ‘continental-style’ junction, a road feature which improves safety for people cycling with its protected cycle facilities through the intersection where Benwell Road meets Drayton Park.

There will also be new zebra crossings on all sides of that junction to improve safety while walking, as well as widened footways and raised tables to reduce vehicle speeds.

The Cycleway reduces danger in line with Vision Zero, which aims to eliminate all deaths and serious injuries on London roads by 2041.

Cllr Rowena Champion, Islington Council’s executive member for environment and transport, said: “Ensuring that people in the borough are able to enjoy an active, healthy lifestyle is one of our main priorities.

“This innovative new Cycleway will help us to achieve this by building a better and more direct route between Finsbury Park and Highbury Fields, creating a safer and greener environment.

 “By encouraging more active ways of transport, we can enable Islington residents and visitors to enjoy the beauty of our borough in a way that reduces unnecessary car journeys and therefore cuts down on air pollution and congestion.

“The Cycleway will make our streets safer and greener, as well as helping to tackle the climate emergency that we face. Our ongoing efforts to encourage sustainable active transport are crucial in our bid to create a net zero carbon Islington by 2030.”

London’s Walking and Cycling Commissioner, Will Norman, said: “We’re committed to making walking and cycling easier and safer for everyone, which is why we’re working with boroughs across London to create a network of high-quality Cycleways spanning the capital.

“It’s fantastic to work with councils such as Islington on schemes which will make a real difference to people’s lives and I’m really looking forward to seeing people using this new route by the end of the year."