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Most of London's National Cycle Network 'safe enough for 12-year-olds to ride alone,' charity claims

Roman Koester/Unsplash
Roman Koester/Unsplash

Children are safer riding on London’s cycle network than in the average UK city, according to a new report.

The details come from Sustrans’ review of the National Cycle Network 2018, which deemed over two thirds of its routes in the capital are deemed fine for a sensible 12-year-old to navigate alone.

However, the charity states there is still work to be done – with more than a quarter of its London provision deemed “very poor”.

It details that London is slightly above the national average level with 68 per cent of routes passing its '12-year-old' test, while the national average is 54 per cent.

There are 163-miles of National Cycle Network routes in London, part of 16,575 miles designated by Sustrans throughout the UK.

Kelly Clark, Sustrans head of infrastructure delivery in London, said: “Improving safety on the Network so that everyone can use it is our top priority here in London.

“We want the National Cycle Network in London to be a place where everyone can discover the joy of walking and cycling with their friends and family. Starting out on high quality and quiet routes through interesting, iconic or beautiful places can help people to build enthusiasm and confidence to walk for more their everyday local journeys.

“Politicians and policy makers know that building walking and cycling into our daily routines are the clear winners when it comes to tackling the health and air quality issues which not only damage Londoner’s lives, but cost billions every year.”

The charity has stated that it will work with partners across the capital to conduct improvements.

Picking out two particular problem areas, Sustrans highlighted a section in Bromley and another in Enfield.

In Bromley the section NCN21 is between Elmers End and Kent House, where the traffic is fast and busy.

There is also a residential road which has through-traffic and large vehicles.

There are plans to try to improve the traffic conditions or potentially reroute the network in the area.

In Enfield, route NCN12 also crosses the busy A1010, currently without a priority crossing for cycles.

This requires people to wait for gaps in the traffic and ways to rectify this are being assessed.

On the whole, two miles of the network in London were deemed very good, 108 good, seven poor and 46 very poor.

It was also highlighted that the National Cycle Network differs from the Mayor’s strategic cycling routes such as superhighways.