Regular observers of the central London bus scene will be aware that one of the factors causing a fall in bus speeds has been a decrease in road capacity, largely to accommodate cycle superhighways.
In a welcome development for bus users, Transport for London is to widen the carriageway and reduce the width of the pavements under the railway bridge on Tower Bridge Road to improve bus journey times and reliability.
It has also started building a segregated cycle lane on each side of Westminster Bridge, the fourth Thames crossing so treated.
The works are expected to last for almost a year and TfL says it will apply lessons learnt from earlier schemes to minimise delays. It recognises that this will affect bus speeds, but says cycles are now the most numerous vehicles on some bridges in the morning peak.
