Cycle Route (C35) - Peckham Rye - Nunhead Lane to Stuart Road

Cycleway 35 is a proposed cycle route to connect Lewisham to Bermondsey. It is currently at various stages of delivery, with the section from Bermondsey to Peckham constructed in 2020. We're now planning to continue the cycle route from Peckham to the Lewisham border to be delivered in phases.

In 2022, the council received permission to proceed with the Peckham Rye sections from TfL, who are sponsoring the scheme. The section from Nunhead Lane to Stuart Road is to be delivered first. The project has been delayed until now because of funding. We are planning to go ahead in Autumn 2025 subject to statutory consultation and funding.

The informal consultation took place in 2023. An online consultation questionnaire was publicised via postcard flyers that were circulated to 1833 addresses of affected streets and nearby streets. 30 posters were put up in the affected streets and in the surrounding park to raise awareness of the consultation. A drop-in session took place on 2 September 2023 at the Peckham Rye Fete in Peckham Rye Park. Council officers followed up with doorstep visits to all immediately affected streets carry out surveys in person. A total of 499 unique responses were received in the public consultation period.

The consultation results showed a majority strongly agreed (64%) or agreed (9%) with the proposed C35 cycle infrastructure:

Furthermore 71% of respondents said that they would cycle more than they currently do if infrastructure were improved.

Justification for interventions on Peckham Rye is provided by a large majority (74%) stating that they have observed incidents or dangerous situations on the Peckham Rye stretch of road, e.g. accidents, near-misses or examples of dangerous driving, and said that they have witnessed these either regularly or occasionally.

The specifics of the design were also well received with the following positive endorsements from the survey:

• 73% agreed or strongly agreed with the segregated cycle lane at footway level
• 76% agreed or strongly agreed with the raised parallel zebra crossings
• 74% agreed or strongly agreed with the removal of traffic islands (and replacement with zebra crossings)
• 75% agreed or strongly agreed with the removal of parking
• 79% agreed or strongly agreed with the raised junctions
• 67% agreed or strongly agreed with the tactile paving to slow down cyclists
• 53% were neutral or not sure about the new loading bay on Cheltenham Road, but with more in favour (34%) than against (12%).

The new scheme will make it safer and more pleasant for walking.

As well as separating pedestrians from cyclists, it will include two new raised zebra crossings; upgrades to two existing zebra crossings to make them raised; wider, better pavements with less clutter; and traffic calming to slow vehicle speeds and improve safety for all road users.

The public consultation also highlighted some other issues specific to the proposed cycle route design. The most frequently mentioned themes are set out below and have been passed onto the relevant departments or considered in the design development: 

• Traffic Reduction (i.e. bus gate or LTN)
• Pedestrian/ cyclist conflict
• Disjointed / indirect cycle track design
• Loss of parking 
• Cycle track not wide enough
• Consider alternative using adjacent park land

The above themes were investigated, and in response some changes were made to the proposed design. The main elements of the design have not changed, i.e. some respondents requested to reduce traffic by introducing a bus gate, but this major change did not have enough support from directly affected respondents. Providing a new paved cycle track within the park is not possible because it is protected Common Land.

In response to the feedback about the design (lack of width, pedestrian safety, indirectness) the segregation has been changed to a southbound cycle track to provide protected space for cyclists travelling uphill when they are at their most vulnerable, separate from vehicle traffic and pedestrians. Otherwise the design remains the same, with zebra crossings proposed to improve pedestrian safety in locations where there are currently pedestrian refuges or traffic islands, waiting and parking restrictions and the relocation of cycle hangars as per the original proposal. 

The next steps will be statutory consultation, to amend the traffic orders on the affected streets. If you would like to participate in the statutory consultation to make any representations regarding the proposal, please use our consultation portal at Public Consultation (appyway.com). The statutory consultation period runs between 7 August 2025 and 11 September 2025 for this scheme.