A protest ride to pressure the council and TfL into improving junction safety for cyclists was held in Stratford on Monday.
The protest was triggered by the death of a man in his 20s who was killed while cycling through the junction of Stratford High Street and Carpenters Road last month.
It is the fourth-most dangerous junction in Newham for cycling, according to STATS19 data, and is one of four junctions in a row along Cycleway 2 that are unsafe for cyclists.
London Cycling Campaign‘s head of campaigns and community development Simon Munk said: “It’s chaos.
“You only need to stand at the junction for a few minutes to see near misses and drivers turning across cyclists, even when cyclists have the green light.
Munk, 54, claimed the group have heard nothing from Newham Council, the Mayor of London or TfL, despite calling for changes to these junctions for the last ten years.
📢 Last night LCC and @NewhamCyclists took to Stratford High Street, calling for life saving changes to be made by @TfL and @NewhamLondon to the junctions there.
— London Cycling Campaign (@London_Cycling) February 25, 2025
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He said: “We don’t want to be out here protesting another fatality.
“What we want is for them to take action before the next fatality happens.
“There are loads of ways to make junctions safer. TfL, Sadiq Khan and Newham Council just need to get on and do it.”
Cycle Sisters ride leader Shameem Dukandar-Patel was among those who spoke at the protest and called for a minute’s silence in honour of the deceased cyclist, which was interrupted by drivers honking and shouting from their windows.
Dukandar-Patel said: “He is not a statistic, he is a person.”
Munk had his own message for drivers in London as well.
He said: “No one as a driver wants to kill someone, so you should want safe roads and junctions too.”
A spokesperson for the Mayor said: “The safety of Londoners is the Mayor’s top priority, and his thoughts are with all those impacted by death and serious injury on the capital’s roads.
“Even one death on London’s roads is one too many, and the Mayor is committed to eliminating death and serious injury from London’s roads as part of his Vision Zero strategy.”
A Newham Council spokesperson said: “We are working closely with our partners at TfL to identify any potential safety improvements at this junction.
“The proposals could see a bus priority scheme put in place along the High Street as well as an improved dedicated cycleway along its entire length.
“We are also looking at proposals that will prioritise bicycles at this junction allowing cyclists to move forward in advance of turning vehicles.”
Picture credit: Crispin Hughes for London Cycling Campaign
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