A protected cycle lane could be extended along Chelsea Embankment to reduce the risk from traffic crossing the Thames.
Will Norman, London’s walking and cycling commissioner, said it was the “right thing to do” after a series of fatal and serious collisions, the majority involving cyclists.
This could involve extending cycleway 8 west from Chelsea bridge along the Chelsea Embankment – a route used by thousands of cyclists a day.
Last week the Standard revealed that Transport for London had been asked by five residents’ groups to deliver “immediate” safety improvements near the north side of Battersea bridge after a woman cyclist suffered “life-changing injuries” after being hit by a HGV turning south over the bridge.
This incident last month came on the first anniversary of the death of Jack Ryan, 29, who was hit by a southbound car as he tried to jog across the bridge.
Mr Norman, in a written reply to the residents, revealed in three years to last September there were 28 collisions at the “challenging and intimidating” junction - 15 involving cyclists, 10 involving motorbikes or mopeds and three involving pedestrians.
Some campaigners are concerned that residents are “reticent” to treat injuries to cyclists with the same seriousness as those to pedestrians.
Mr Norman believes that simply installing pedestrian crossings at the three unprotected “arms” of the Battersea bridge junction will not address wider safety concerns.
However, TfL is currently unable to begin work on new road safety schemes due to uncertainty about its long-term financial support from the Government.
Mr Norman wrote: “TfL is undertaking a further review of the planned pedestrian crossings’ design to explore what other options there are to accelerate cycling safety improvements ahead of any potential westward extension to Cycleway 8, which currently runs along Grosvenor Road to Chelsea Bridge.
“I feel that this is the right thing to do given the long history of cycling collisions at the junction, and in light of the tragic collision in January.”
The Battersea bridge junction is one of the 73 high-risk junctions that TfL is committed to improving in the mayor’s “vision zero” action plan to eradicate road deaths by 2041.
TfL installed a pedestrian crossing on the north side of the bridge last December, in response to a public campaign following Mr Ryan’s death.
Campaigners have urged TfL to look more widely at the danger from traffic at the junctions with Chelsea, Albert and Battersea bridges – concerns that date back two decades.
The Better Streets for Kensington and Chelsea group fears a campaign by Kensington, Chelsea and Fulham Conservatives to reintroduce a banned left turn for traffic heading north over Chelsea bridge could place cyclists in danger.
In 2017, pregnant schoolteacher Charlotte Landi was killed by a HGV when the driver failed to indicate he was turning left.
Justin Abbott, of Better Streets for Kensington and Chelsea, told the Standard: “We hope at a minimum that the recent awful collision - after the death in 2017 of Charlotte Landi by Chelsea Bridge - reminds local politicians of the human cost of not properly regarding the safety of those travelling by bike.”
David Waddell, chairman of the Cheyne Walk Trust, one of the residents’ groups that raised concerns with TfL, said Mr Norman’s letter “understates” the safety problem and “offers no commitment to early resolution and improving safety”.
He said: “It has been assessed that a further 72 casualties and two more fatalities can be anticipated over the next five years if the remaining three arms of the junction are left unimproved.”
