Woolwich to Charlton cycle lane work moves to new areas

Time for another update today on how work on extending Cycleway 4 from Charlton to Woolwich is looking.

I’ve been covering this project for years now so to find more use the site search function to read prior posts and the many, many photos taken.

Ever more sections look complete recently and work has now moved towards a stretch near a listed chimney beside the former Woolwich Dockyard.

This is one of the last stretches to commence and is close to redeveloped estates which will provide almost 1,000 new homes.

One section beside new homes and the nearby roundabout look just about complete as seen below.

I feel duty bound to mention once again that the bus stop here was again busy here as TfL in their wisdom decided to cut buses stopping beside hundreds of new homes when they axed the 472. A move supported by Greenwich Council.

Slow going

No, I’m not going to start ignoring it and will keep highlighting what a mess it is. Every other bus is now slower going as a result, making more stops to pick more people up with routes ever more packed.

The journey in question summed up why people are ditching buses. Plumstead to east Greenwich took an hour.

From very slow going all through Plumstead and Woolwich due to regular stretches of abysmal parking (Plumstead High Street, Plumstead Road and Woolwich High Street were three hotspots) to stopping for long periods at every stop – as empty SL11 sail pass missing most new developments – it was a journey TfL and Greenwich Council officers should be taking in how not to encourage bus usage. The cycle lane works were not the main issue, by far, for torturously slow progress.

At least people can cycle I supposed, though it’s not a substitute for bus cuts in fast growing areas.

Road narrowing

And that brings us to what could be the most contentious part of the new lane further east near the Woolwich ferry.

Whilst the majority of the route will see a bus lane alongside an all-vehicle lane, the road has been narrowed so there’s no dedicated bus lane.

This may well have no bearing on bus times in years to come.

Though given there’s potential for many more homes that remains to be seen.

Charlton

Part of the Charlton stretch is already open and other areas don’t look far off, as seen below.

Note the cranes to the right.

That’s for a couple of hundred more new homes not too far from the estate rebuilds.

Ultimately when complete the new cycle lanes will provide a far safer and direct way of getting about on a bike than what existed before, with most of the route seeing no reduction in road space either to slow down buses, save for that stretch near the ferry.

The whole project is set for completion in 2027 and given progress so far, hopefully not too far into 2027.