Council Set to Give Backing to Hammersmith Road Cycleway
TfL would lead design and build of £20million scheme
A visualisation of Cycleway 9 on Hammersmith Road from the 2019 consultation. Picture: TfL
October 12, 2026
Hammersmith & Fulham Council's Cabinet is being asked to back Transport for London's permanent Cycleway 9 (C9) scheme on Hammersmith Road.
At a meeting due to take place this Monday (12 October), a report is being presented recommending that the borough proceeds with the segregated route between Kensington Olympia and Hammersmith.
TfL would fund and deliver the scheme which the report states will cost £20million. No financial contribution is being sought from the borough and that the scheme will only go ahead if TfL fully funds it. The Council acts as Highway Authority, so it must sign a legal agreement setting out who is responsible for design approval, construction, governance, change control, risk, monitoring and maintenance.
The section of Cycleway is one of the few parts of the route from Kensington Olympia that was the subject of a consultation back in 2019 on which work has not commenced.
Cabinet is asked to support the scheme in principle and delegate further decisions to the Executive Director of Place, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Climate Emergency and Travel. TfL would then undertake more detailed design work.
Officers point to better separation of cyclists from motor traffic, upgraded crossings and footways, and improved links to public transport, jobs and shops. They also cite the public realm and the Olympia redevelopment, where they expect more visitor and resident movements. The report says the scheme supports modal shift away from private car use. Rejecting it would risk losing TfL's investment and leave the current temporary arrangements in place. Council-led delivery is judged higher risk, more resource-intensive and not guaranteed to attract TfL's funding.
The report does acknowledge potential issues with the scheme with the Blythe Road junction being the most contentious. The Council has raised concerns about junction performance, pedestrian accessibility and how pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles interact, especially given expected footfall from Olympia.
TfL says its design meets standards and has been technically assured. In correspondence quoted in the report, it said no further mitigation was needed. The Council has accepted that TfL completed its assurance but is still talking to it about improvements. The measures under discussion are:
- planting and soft segregation to steer pedestrians to the intended crossing routes;
- refinements to materials, demarcation and signage;
- future neighbourhood traffic management to cut traffic at the junction;
- adjustments to signal timings;
- a later review of whether the junction should be signalised, if monitoring supports it.
Three bus stop bypasses are planned on the northern side of Hammersmith Road. The report records concerns from some disabled people and representative groups about these bypasses, the crossings, and interactions between cyclists, pedestrians and wheelchair users. TfL has said it is open to targeted changes, expected to follow the January 2026 national statutory guidance on floating bus stops.
After handover, the Council expects to maintain the new highway assets, with the costs of inspection, maintenance, renewal and lifecycle falling to it. Talks with TfL continue on asset ownership, signal maintenance, commuted sums and funding for the Council's own project management and monitoring.
The risk assessment flags a high operational risk that governance is not robust enough. It recommends embedding Council staff at project board level, with defined plans, change control and an independent assurance review by the project's midpoint. It also rates a judicial review as a medium legal risk. It cites the 2020 Hounslow challenge, which was rejected but still brought significant costs and delays.
TfL says the scheme is still subject to its own governance and funding approvals, and Council support is needed to keep it moving through them.
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