Greenwich Council and Transport for London are planning to build a new cycle path to help fill a gap in the Thames Path between Charlton and Woolwich.
The plans, agreed by councillors before Christmas, will see a dedicated cycle path built along the pavement between Hardens Manorway, Charlton and Ruston Road, Woolwich; leading from the Thames Barrier site to the King Henry’s Wharf housing development.
At present, walkers and cyclists using the Thames Path are forced away from the riverside at the Thames Barrier, with cyclists encouraged to join the busy A206. The only other route linking the two sections of path, through the Westminster Industrial Estate, is often blocked by the owners.
The Olympic Delivery Authority is backing the plan to create a link between Games venues in Greenwich and Woolwich. Works are also due to take place at the Woolwich Ferry, where the route is also broken.
A group of Greenwich councillors is currently investigating ways of improving cycling in the borough so more residents take to their bikes.
The Charlton Champion 
Yay, more shared use cyclepaths, making even more pedestrians pissed off with me for cycling where I’m meant to!
Katie I agree with you 100%. The amount of education for pedestrians is zero. The worse is when you get 3 buggies walking next to each other on the shared paths and nobody moving out of the way. The answer? Don’t stop, its a little game of buggie chicken.
I think it would be a good idea if people were to write in to the Council’s Transportation department with any comments they had on this – or I am happy to forward them.
It looks like that are actually going to add road marking telling driver they have to give way to the cycle lane! Not that the driver will feel obliged to do so…
I once got into a small verbal fight with someone near B&Q on the Peninsula when I was cycling along the shared-use path and saw two people standing in the shared use path. As I got closer I rang my bell once, twice, three times. Then stopped in front of them, on the cycle path. They glared at me and carried on talking. I said “excuse me” and one of them asked what I wanted. I asked them politely to move out of the way, and the one who had spoken starting screaming at me: WHY SHOULD WE MOVE OUT OF YOUR WAY YOU SHOULD BE ON A CYCLE PATH NOT THE PAVEMENT YOU’RE THE ONE IN THE WRONG WE’RE JUST STANDING HERE TALKING MINDING OUR OWN BUSINESS AND YOU COME ALONG ON YOUR BIKE AND DEMAND THAT WE MOVE OUT OF THE WAY GET ON A CYCLE PATH LIKE YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO!
…I waited until she’d finished her little screaming session and then pointed at the bicycle painted onto the cycle path she was standing on, saying nothing. She and her companion sheepishly moved out the way and I moved on on my way.
(There were people milling about in the pedestrian bit of the path but even if there hadn’t been, I’d have taken the same course of action as I wanted to prove a point…)
Well said Katie!
There are two types of people: those who think they know and those who really know.
What a shame it’s not on video!