After lobbying from local MP Simon Hughes and Caroline Pidgeon, Chair of the London Assembly Transport Committee, TfL have now started work to improve the junction at Abbey Street, where cyclist Ellie Carey died in a collision with a lorry last year.
TfL has now told Ellie Carey’s father Allister in an email that work is about to start to provide advanced stop lines for cyclists at the junction. Trixi mirrors, which allow lorry drivers to see cyclists waiting at traffic lights, will be installed on the Tower Bridge Road by the end of May. This comes after Liberal Democrat Transport Minister Norman Baker MP changed the rules to allow trixi mirrors to be installed by local authorities without permission from the Department of Transport.
TfL also said that they would be holding a full consultation on proposals for an improved scheme for cyclists and pedestrians at Abbey Street later this summer.
Commenting on the news, Simon Hughes MP, Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Bermondsey and Old Southwark, said:
"It is tragic that it took the death of a young woman and a local campaign before these improvements could be made.
"But it is welcome news that the safety of cyclists on Tower Bridge Road is now being addressed in a serious way by TfL.
"Cycling is a healthy, easy and environmentally friendly way to move around our borough and our capital - but too many people are put off cycling because of London’s dangerous roads.
"All councillors and candidates standing in the London elections should see improvement of cycle safety as one of their top priorities. The best legacy which Ellie can leave to future generations of Londoners is a city where cyclists feel confident to take to London’s roads in safety."
Allister Carey, father of Ellie Carey, said:
"I am pleased that TfL now appears to recognise the importance of providing a safer environment at this junction not only for cyclists but also for pedestrians providing the further proposals set out in their email are implemented later this year.
"At the time of Ellie's death in December last year, we said that our wish was for something positive to come out of this tragic and avoidable incident. We feel that this initial objective has now been achieved although so much more needs to be done to reduce danger.
"We are deeply grateful to Simon Hughes, Caroline Pidgeon and Mark Gettleson for their help, advice and support. In addition we are greatly indebted to other groups and individuals in London for their help including Roadpeace, Southwark Cyclists and the universities where Ellie studied: London Metropolitan and Kingston.
"We also wish to thank our friends in Guernsey and elsewhere who wrote to the Mayor and TfL calling for improvements to this section of road. Additionally we are aware that several hundred Guernsey residents took the trouble to sign the Liberal Democrat petition calling for improved road safety conditions at the junction of Tower Bridge Road and Abbey Street. Their efforts have made a positive contribution and we are very grateful for this support.
"Most of all we want to thank our many friends here in Guernsey for their unstinting kindness, understanding and generosity which has helped to sustain us over these last few months.
"It is an appalling fact that it took the death of our daughter for those in authority to wake up and acknowledge the danger at this junction particularly in view of the many complaints and concerns raised in the past by local residents and politicians but rejected until now by TfL."
You can read more in the Evening Standard and at the London SE1 website.