List of cycle routes in London

From summer 2019, TfL started branding new cycle routes (and re-branding/consolidating some existing routes) as 'Cycleways'.[1][2] This was following feedback and criticism that the previous branding ('Superhighways'/'Quietways') was sometimes "misleading".[3]

In addition, all new and existing routes will have to meet a newer and stricter 'Cycling Quality Criteria' in order to get signed as Cycleways by TfL.[3]

Central London Cycle Grid
A partially completed scheme[4] within the central London area which includes both numbered and unnumbered Cycleways, Cycle Superhighways and Quietways.

Cycle Superhighways

CS7 at Colliers Wood Station, showing a 'totem' route sign.

London's Cycle Superhighways were a set of Bike freeways, that were aimed principally at commuters and more experienced cyclists, providing faster and more direct radial routes between outer and central London.[1] In addition to route signage with a pink logo, other distinctive features included blue cycle lanes on some of the routes (the brand colour of the scheme's original sponsor, Barclays) and 'totem' style signage pillars.

History

London's Cycle Superhighways were first announced in 2008 by Mayor Ken Livingstone.[18] The original proposal consisted of 12 radial routes, with routes numbered in 'clock face' fashion[19] however several of these proposed routes were never built, seeing opposition from the respective London boroughs.[20] Initial implementation of the cycle superhighways also drew criticism on safety grounds, with poor design at some junctions, insufficient segregation of cyclists from motor traffic and slippery surfaces all contributing to numerous fatalities[21][22][23][24].

In 2018 TfL dropped the 'cycle superhighway' name from use on any further projects. All the existing Cycle Superhighways are now part of the Cycleways network and each will get rebranded as a numbered 'Cycleway' in due course.

CS2 in Stratford, after implementation of separated blue cycle tracks.

List of current Cycle Superhighway routes:

Name	Route	Comments	Approximate Length	Map
CS1	Tottenham – Seven Sisters – Stamford Hill – Stoke Newington – Dalston – De Beauvoir – Hoxton – The City (A10)	Was completed in April 2016.[25] This route does not use 'blue paint' and is primarily non-segregated on quieter streets (often following the route of the older LCN10), and is thus more similar to the Quietways.	7.5 miles, 12 km[26]	map
CS2	Stratford – Stratford High Street – Bow Church – Bow Road – Mile End – Stepney Green – Whitechapel – Aldgate East – City (A118 – A11)	An upgrade to the old LCN11 route, CS2 initially consisted mostly of 'blue paint' cycle lanes. In 2016, after safety concerns and fatalities, the majority of the route was further upgraded to separated cycle tracks .[27]	4.3 miles, 6.8 km[28]	map
CS3	Barking – North Beckton – Prince Regent Lane – Canning Town – East India – Blackwall – Poplar – Canning Town – Westferry – Shadwell – Tower Gateway (A13 – A1202 – A3211 – Hyde Park – A402 – A4209) – Blackfriars – Embankment – Westminster – Hyde Park – Lancaster Gate	The section from Barking to Tower Hill uses 'blue paint' and was largely an upgrade to the old LCN13 route. Sustrans' have also designated much of this stretch as being part of their NCN13. In 2017, TfL constructed a lengthy extension of CS3 (dubbed 'CS3 East West') to Lancaster Gate. This section does not use blue paint.	15 miles, 24 km[29]	map
CS5[30]	Oval – Vauxhall – Vauxhall Bridge – Pimlico (A202)	On the original 2008 proposals, CS5 was intended to run from Lewisham to Victoria, however only the short segregated stretch from Pimlico to Oval was built.	1 mile, 1.7 km[31]	map
CS7	Colliers Wood – Tooting Broadway – Tooting Bec – Balham – Clapham South – Clapham Common – Clapham High Street – Clapham North – Stockwell – Oval – Kennington – Elephant & Castle – Southwark Bridge – City (A24 – A3)	This route uses 'blue paint' but features few separated lanes.	8.5 miles, 14 km[32]	map
CS8	Wandsworth High Street – Wandsworth Town – Battersea High Street – Battersea Park – Chelsea Bridge – Vauxhall Bridge – Lambeth Bridge (A3 – A3205 – Vauxhall Cross)	This route uses 'blue paint' but features few separated lanes.	6 miles, 10 km[33]	map

Quietways

Signage for three Quietway cycle routes on Moor Lane in the City.

First announced in 2015, TfL's Quietways[34] targeted less confident cyclists who want to use routes with less traffic, whilst also providing for existing cyclists who want to travel at a more gentle pace. The route numbers were shown in purple on signs.

The scheme lasted only three years before TfL decided to drop the Quietways brand, using 'Cycleways' for further new routes. All of the delivered Quietways are now formally part of the Cycleways network and TfL have indicated that the existing Quietways will be gradually rebranded as a 'Cycleways' (and renumbered in most cases).

List of Quietway routes that were implemented before the scheme was halted:

Name	Route	Boroughs	Comments	Map
Q1	North section: Bloomsbury – Holborn – Covent Garden;[35] South section: South Bank – Waterloo – Borough – Bermondsey Spa – South Bermondsey – Deptford – Greenwich	City of Westminster, Lambeth, Southwark, Lewisham	Will get rebranded as Cycleway 10. North section: Streetspace for London plans[36] include fast-tracking of a planned Q1 extension to Hampstead Heath via Euston and Camden Town. Missing section over River Thames: Streetspace for London plans[36] include possible road restriction to only cyclists and buses on Waterloo Bridge.[36] South section: South Bank to Greenwich; route is diverted around The Den on Millwall match days. An extension to Bexleyheath via Falconwood is under construction in Greenwich and Bexley. Much of the existing route was an upgrade to portions of LCN 2 and LCN 22; Q1 also shares some of its route with Sustrans' NCN425.	Q1(N) Q1(S) map
Q2	West section: East Acton – Wormwood Scrubs – North Kensington – Notting Hill – Bayswater – Paddington; East section: Bloomsbury – Clerkenwell – Angel – Canonbury – De Beauvoir Town – London Fields – Clapton – Lea Bridge – Walthamstow Wetlands – Walthamstow Central	Hammersmith & Fulham, Kensington & Chelsea, Islington, Hackney, Waltham Forest	Will get rebranded as Cycleway 27. West section: An extension to Fitzrovia is under construction in Westminster. Some of the awaited route through Camden already has C27 road markings instead. East section: Bloomsbury to Walthamstow.	Q2(W) Q2(E) map
Q3	Gladstone Park (Dollis Hill) – Kilburn)	Brent	Originally planned to link Gladstone Park with Regent's Park, however Camden and Westminster boroughs have not yet implement their sections of the route. Approximately half of the implemented section is an upgrade to the old LCN 48.	Q3 map
Q4	Clapham Common to Wimbledon	Lambeth, Wandsworth, Merton	Although most of the route has been built, the only part to be signed is a single crossing.	Q4 map
Q5	Lambeth North – Oval – Stockwell – Clapham Common	Lambeth, Wandsworth	Initially planned to link Waterloo to Croydon, only the section from Lambeth North to Clapham Common has been launched as Q5. Existing route is to get rebranded as a future Cycleway 5.	Q5 map
Q6	Manor Park – Aldersbrook – Valentines Park – Barkingside	Redbridge	Valentines Park is closed at night. Q6 was planned to extend from Mile End to Barkingside, but Tower Hamlets council's originally proposed section was not approved by TfL.	Q6 map
Q7	Dulwich	Southwark	Only a single junction in Dulwich remains with Q7 signage. With the Q7 section north of Burgess Park becoming C17 during summer 2019, this was the first existing Quietway to get partly renumbered and rebranded as a 'Cycleway'. Only LCN 23 road markings remain between C17 and Camberwell for now, as all previous Q7 road markings and signage have been removed.	Q7 OSM map
Q8	Burgess Park	Southwark	Short portion of route along a widened path inside Burgess Park (labelled on TfL's online cycle map but not waymarked on the ground). Will become Cycleway 36.	map
Q11	Angel – Old Street – City of London (CS3/CS7)	Islington, Hackney, City of London[37]	Runs from Q2 to Southwark Bridge (connecting to CS3 and CS7). Although proposed works for Q11 are yet to be implemented by Islington council, the route is partly signed there.	Q11 map
Q13	Old Street – Shoreditch – Broadway Market	Islington, Tower Hamlets, Hackney[38]	Connects Q11 to Q2. Although proposed works for Q11 or Q13 are yet to be implemented by Islington council, both routes are partly signed there.	Q13 map
Q14	West section: Blackfriars Road – Borough – London Bridge – Tower Bridge Road East section: Charlton Riverside – Woolwich – Thamesmead[39]	Southwark, Greenwich	Originally proposed as a continuous route from Waterloo to Erith (sometimes referred to as Jubilee Quietway). However only two sections were implemented as Q14: one in Southwark, and a riverfront section from the Thames Barrier to Woolwich opened in June 2018 (largely along NCN1).[40] In March 2020 newer sections of the proposed route began to get signed as C14.	Q14 map
Q15	Brompton Cemetery – Earl's Court – South Kensington – Chelsea	Kensington & Chelsea	A proposed extension to Belgravia has yet to be implemented by Westminster council.	Q15 map
Q16	West Drayton – Stockley Park – North Circular Road – Old Oak Lane – Regent's Canal	Canal & River Trust	Majority of route will be along Grand Union Canal towpath. Improvements along the towpath were scheduled to be completed in 2020.[41]	OSM map
Q22	Stratford High Street (CS2) – West Ham – Plaistow – East Ham – North Beckton (CS3)	Newham	An upgrade to the section of LCN 16 along The Greenway connecting CS3 and CS2. (As a future Cycleway) this route is planned to be extended to Victoria Park.	Q22 map
Link routes (Q)	Central London Grid (various)	Lambeth, Kensington & Chelsea, Westminster, City of London, Islington, Hackney	Routes are way-marked with an un-numbered Q. Notable link routes include: Route via the Barbican linking C6, Q11 and a future extension of CS1 to Liverpool Street station (map) Link off CS3 to Westminster looping around St James's Park via The Mall (map) Quietways leading off CS3 through Hyde Park (map, map) Links leading off CS3 through Kensington Gardens (map, map) Links leading off Q15 in Kensington (map, map, map) Leading off Q5 in Vauxhall (map) Linking Q11, CS1 and Q13 via Hoxton (map)
	Queen Elizabeth Hospital – Woolwich Town Centre	Greenwich, Lewisham	Will be a link to a future 'Woolwich to Lee Green' Cycleway route.	map

In May 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting need to maintain social distancing, TfL announced a programme of measures that includes additional cycling provision.[42] Some of these measures are described as 'temporary', although others appear to include fast-tracking of permanent cycle routes. Notable routes delivered under this programme have so far included:

• Park Lane cycle route. Approximate length: 1500 yards, 1.4 km[43] map

Examples of route confirmation signage and road markings for London Cycle Network routes.

Other signage for LCN routes including Directions, Destinations and Distances

The London Cycle Network Plus (LCN+) aimed to provide a 900 kilometre network of cycle routes throughout Greater London. It was funded by Transport for London and managed by the LCN+ Project Team at the London Borough of Camden. It was launched in 2001, replacing the earlier London Cycle Network (LCN) project, and wound up in 2010.

Although some LCN routes have been upgraded to TfL's new Quietways and Cycle Superhighways, the majority throughout Greater London still exist and are signposted and/or indicated by carriageway markings (although not all the signage uses route numbers). Where route numbers are used in signs, this is usually the LCN route number, but on some route sections the 'LCN+ link' number has been used on signs. (LCN+ link numbers were usually internal reference numbers used for project management.)[44]

London's "Greenways" are a loosely defined collection of mostly traffic-free shared cycling and walking routes, predominantly within (or connecting to) various parks and open spaces within Greater London. TfL and Sustrans claimed that "Greenways should be suitable for use by a novice adult cyclist, a family with young children or a sensible, unaccompanied 12-year-old".[52][53]

Greenways in London have been developed by numerous different bodies, including Sustrans (who began the Greenways initiative in 1994[54]), Transport for London, the Canal and River Trust, the London Boroughs, the Royal Parks, the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority and the 2012 Olympic Delivery Authority, under various different funding programmes (including the 2009–2014 London Greenways scheme, the 2012 Games Walking and Cycling Routes programme[55], 'Connect2', the National Cycle Network, and others).

The routes tend to have names rather than numbers, and many of them use waymarking signs or markers in the carriageway, but there is no consistent scheme covering all of them. Some of the Greenways have been co-opted into the other TfL or Sustrans schemes listed earlier in this article.

The table below lists the most notable Greenways in London.

‡ These routes were developed for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games

• Cycling in London
• Santander Cycles
• National Cycle Network
• Cycleways in England
• List of cycleways
• London greenways
• Segregated cycle facilities

• Transport for London (TfL)
• Transport for London's Cycle map
• National Cycle Network map
• Best (National Cycle Network) routes in London (Sustrans)
• Where Are London's Cycle Superhighways? (YouTube video from Londonist Ltd)
• Detailed map and video of full Quietway 1 route
• London Cycle network +
• Greenways Report