You can cycle from Brixton in south London to Chelsea in west London entirely on quiet streets and protected cycle lanes.
The route is 6.2km long (3.9 miles) and is possible thanks to the now bikes-only Albert Bridge, as well as new LTNs in Lambeth like Ferndale Road and Stockwell Gardens. It also makes use of the Thessaly Road cycle lane.
If you find this video useful or you just enjoy watching it please remember to subscribe to the channel and hit the bell icon so you’re alerted to new videos, as I try to post new ones like it every week.
And if you like what the channel is doing and want to support it, you can also contribute to the London Cycle Routes Patreon below. It really helps keep the channel going:
http://patreon.com/londoncycleroutes
You can see a digital map of the route and download a GPS/GPX file to use on whatever device or app you want here:
https://www.komoot.com/tour/2844166900?share_token=atXG7rGg61IfUrdlW9gE0qBKtUYb4VgDcM09L2Z8qlt1225SEj&ref=wtd
And you can find a viewer-created and maintained map of all the London Cycle Routes videos here:
https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1h9Hxm57fPvZmcuSXajM_Wu0G0s6f_bs&ll=51.505213496092054%2C-0.1285238120117249&z=12
I also highly recommend the Safe Cycle LDN map for route planning, which is compiled by @SafeCycleLDN on twitter:
https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1XlpvN9R-Wg7qZHyezO8y-eVlftr4e0WX&hl=en&ll=51.516975804561255%2C-0.21828576419061996&z=12
33 Comments
Hopefully it ends up like Hammersmith Bridge.
As you say, the irony of massive SUVs is they are simultaneously making cycling less pleasant on shared roads, but also contributing to closure of bridges.
Cycled Albert Bridge and Oakley Street last year and it was horrendous. So much better now.
finally suvs have done something good
Brilliant route through my neighbourhood! 🙂
Desperately praying this doesn’t revert. As you point out, there’s bridges either side for general traffic so no downsides.
Great route, thanks! I've really been enjoying cycling over Albert Bridge since this recent development
I particularly liked your way of connecting Pulross Road and Union Grove since that's different to how I usually do it 😀
wonderful irony!
The big difference with Hammersmith Bridge is that H&F council were low key happy to keep it vehicle free …
whereas the petrol heads running K&C council will do everything they can to get SUVs back attacking Albert Bridge.
A smaller maximum width limit for cars is needed.
Albert Bridge is so much nicer without the traffic. Thanks for sharing.
4th power is not exponential!
There should be a power-of-four scaling of road tax vs weight.
"Thanks again to the SUV owners of K&C for knocking this one into shape" 😂😂😂😂
Good stuff. Thanks for the video.
Hopefully this won't be a repeat of Hammersmith bridge where the council asked TFL to pay for the repairs and were told its their responsibility so TfL won't be providing any funding. The council said they can't afford the repair bill and its been left unrepaired ever since it was closed. There are less really close by alternatives to Hammersmith so whilst that bridge should be reopened to all vehicles it can reasonably support weight wise there is no need with Albert bridge. Obviously Albert bridge should be repaired but limit its use to pedestrians, cyclist and mopeds/motorbikes. I recently cycled over Albert bridge when Chelsea bridge was closed and it was great only having other cyclists to contend with.
Funny thing is, as soon as you finish crossing the bridge, you see a luxury SUV dealer.
Ah yes Chelsea and Kensington whingeing about the cost of damage made by road traffic! The same borough who torpedoed Ken Livingstons expansion of the Congestion Charge across the borough, has the highest proportion of overweight SUV ownership in the entire country and who has one of the lowest council tax rates despite covering one of the wealthiest populations! Seeing as Chelsea and Kensington are so anti-cycling there is no way they will leave this as a pedestrian/cycling only bridge!
Great video – I would guess that in 5 years time Albert Bridge is still closed to cars and lorries (Hammersmith Bridge as well). Whilst an SUV will do much more damage than an old car; most of the damage has been done years ago with these large, over 3T lorries. This damage will, I suspect, mean a lengthy and expensive repair. So good news for cyclists. Thanks for the video.
Brilliant news!
Great route as always. Albert bridge is more desirable now there’s no cars. Most of the Thames bridges were built using cast iron during the Victorian era and thanks to SUV’s and other heavy vehicles are beginning to crack. At least it works in our favour
Great vid thxs and learned something new ive lived and cycled in Stockwell for nearly 50yrs and never knew about that memorial, a few tweaks here and there i would of taken ie went on further in Brixton to Hargwyne st then kimberley and Grantham rd to get out onto Clapham Rd then over onto Jeffreys Rd.
But still a great route you choose .👍
08:02 What a low key roundabout in the park!
I’d heard about it closing, but hadn’t realised the significance in routes from south to north, until you showed this. This is a great way of getting from south/south east area to the kings road area. So much better than it used to be
Thanks for reporting on this. I didn't know this had happened. I live in Surrey, and about once a month I have to drive into London for work (I carry lots of heavy equipment in my car). Hammersmith bridge closing has been a nightmare for car traffic, and Google Maps usually routes me over Albert Bridge now instead. So…I guess my only viable ways to cross now will be Chiswick, Wandsworth, Battersea or Chelsea Bridge. Putney is an absolute no-go as a snail could get over it faster. What I'm curious about is whether closing the Albert bridge will make traffic worse or better. I am aware of induced demand as a concept, so in theory, traffic should actually go down, but I would be interested to see if this actually happens.
Such a great video! Amazing to see this new route opened up connecting Brixton to Chelsea (as the latter has pretty poor connections to most of south London). Albert Bridge is definitely a strong candidate for a permanent pedestrian-cycle crossing. Firstly it has the potential to be a sort of garden route with planting and views while connecting North and South. Secondly, Battersea Bridge is a major traffic route, proven to be dangerous and also quite narrow so the space for cycle lanes is really limited. Albert Bridge could be its official bypass for cyclists etc. Despite living in Battersea I've yet to use this newly upgraded crossing but seeing how many other cyclists are on it I'm now inspired! Cheers 🚲
The downside with iron is that over time, the hot and cold of summer days and nights causes work-hardening in the form of crystalline phases which are brittle, and cracking follows which will only get worse. Taking weight off buys time, but…
Traffic free for me was leaving London and living the country side l only see horses and cows
Kensington & Chealsea (formerly Kensington and separately Chelsea) have been a curse on commuters for about a hundred years. They opposed London's tram network and created a tram desert that was so large they killed the trams off. They actually created a NIMBY campaign to oppose a Crossrail 2 station in Chelsea. And they hate bike lanes.
And now the stupid overweight Americanised trucks that are called "Sports Utility Vehicles" have killed Albert Bridge.
We really need to ban SUVs from London as they are very dangerous to pedestrians, cyclists and other motorists.
Kensington & Chelsea finally did something right for cycling, albeit indirectly.
The bridge looks beautiful again without cars on it, very human scaled. Just double the footpath widths and leave the middle for bikes.
i had the great pleasure of having one of our tory councilors show up at my door the other day. I just whipped out my laptop and showed her every way that RBKC has let its majority non-driving citizens down by shitty infrastructure, and governing, as i told her "for the range rover class'. she had the temerity to say "the ladbroke grove bike lane has slowed down the bus" and i was like "have you looked at pembridge villas? where parking by gigantic SUVs on both sides of the street have made the buses have to stop and wait for oncoming traffic constantly? i know you haven't, i know you don't care, and i know you are retiring and good fucking riddance to bad fucking rubbish."
it was cathartic.
Does this mean that old bikes cannot be ridden over it?
Average Man on a Bike explains the law regarding damage caused by vehicles, his site on YouTube is well worth watching
How long will it be before RBKC put the "cyclists dismount" signs back in out of pure spite?
Great vid, the Battersea Power Station development is surprisingly cycle friendly, but not that well sign posted so sometimes you know you are on cycle ways, but you think pedestrians are judging you. Also there is the funny council controlled section between the development and Battersea Park, that I think is pedestrian
Thanks for this. I have a bad habit of cycling along bus routes