The public is being asked by the London Assembly to voice their opinions about the controversial Cycle Superhighways—in the wake of the rising toll of cyclists killed including three along the A11 in east London this month.

East London Advertiser: Traffic at the A11 Bow roundaboutTraffic at the A11 Bow roundabout (Image: Archant)

Assembly members want people’s views ready to quiz Boris Johnson’s cycling supremo next month.

Two cyclists died last week and another the week before on the Superhighway 2 route between Whitechapel and the notorious Bow Roundabout. Another died on the route in the summer.

The Bow Roundabout which links the A11 with the A12 Blackwall Tunnel approach has claimed the lives of three cyclists in the past two years.

Tower Hamlets, where Superhighway 2 runs through, has seen the third-highest rise in cyclists killed or seriously injured of all the 33 London boroughs between 2011 and 2012, it has emerged. It had a 24 per cent increase compared to the 18 per cent London average. Only Bexley and Merton were worse.

Figures for 2013 could be even higher, with the number of cyclists killed across London so far now totalling 14.

The Assembly’s transport committee is to publicly question the Mayor’s Cycle Commissioner Andrew Gilligan at City Hall on December 10 on whether any progress has been made to improve road safety. It wants to hear from cyclists and other road users first.

“We want an end to these terrible deaths,” Transport chair Val Shawcross said.

“The mayor must listen to cyclists’ concerns about safety if he is serious about getting a 40 per cent reduction in the numbers killed or seriously injured by 2020.

“We’re asking people’s views so we can reflect their opinions when we question those in charge of setting London’s cycling infrastructure and policies.”

The Assembly called on the Mayor and TfL last year to examine the need for better safety, including reviewing dangerous junctions, segregating cyclists from other traffic, fitting large lorries with safety equipment and questioning the design of Cycle highways.