This is the artist’s impression of what Notting Hill Gate will look like near the Coronet corner.  Click on the picture to enlarge.

Public meeting about TfL’s cycle highway plan on 13 June

The Kensington Society, together with several local resident associations, will be hosting a large public meeting in Kensington Town Hall’s Great Hall at 6.30pm on Thursday 13 June, about Transport for London’s plan to create a dual bicycle lane along the south side of Notting Hill Gate and Holland Park Avenue. An hour before the meeting, there will be a display of the TfL plans outside the Great Hall, with TfL personnel on hand to answer questions.

TfL’s plans, which will lead to only one lane in each direction for motor vehicles, the removal of several trees, and with some side streets being made one-way, has caused great concern among residents living near the route.

The main concerns are:

• Increased traffic congestion, which may lead to increased air pollution, traffic diverting into neighbouring streets, and delays for buses and taxis.

• Increased risks and inconvenience for pedestrians and bus users, especially the elderly, as several pedestrian crossings will be longer (as most central reservations will be removed) and some bus stops will disappear while others will be moved, sometimes more than a hundred meters.

• Loss of 21 trees, including two mature plane trees that are particularly important as carbon sinks.

Several residents and resident associations want to know if TfL has considered other options, such as a one way cycle lane that could be reversed during rush hours, or east-west cycle paths through parallel streets instead of along the busy Notting Hill Gate/Holland Park Avenue.

TfL has only held two public displays in Kensington about the plans. They were poorly advertised and at inconvenient times for those away at work during daytime, and the few who managed to attend had very limited opportunities to ask questions or express their concerns. This will hopefully change at the public meeting on the 13th, where TfL personell has promised to listen, discuss and explain.

This is what the TfL planners want Holland Park Avenue to look like at the junction with Clarendon Road. Click to enlarge.

A detailed plan of all the changes TfL wants to do to the Notting Hill Gate traffic, with the central reservation and several trees removed. Click on the picture to enlarge.

Published 05/06/2019, updated 12/06/2019