Ken Livingstone visited the Bow Roundabout on Monday 23rd January and met members of Tower Hamlets Wheelers and Tower Hamlets Cycling Club.  Livingstone brought with him senior Labour politicians: our MPs, John Biggs, our London Assembly Member, and John’s colleague Val Shawcross – who sits for Lambeth and Southwark's on the London Assembly. Both Labour councillors for Bromley by Bow, as well as Josh Peck,  Bow West and Labour leader attended.  

At the site we spoke about the problems for cyclists and pedestrians and then demonstrated them by crossing with difficulty to a community hall.  Here we expanded on the issues cyclists face with inadequate road planning along the CS2 route.  The solution THWers feel could be found in positive examples from the Netherlands and we spoke to and urged the mayoral candidate to endorse the Go Dutch campaign launched by the LCC for the Mayoral elections. 

At a "Tell Ken" event in the evening, during transport questions, he told a Tower Hamlets audience how bad things were at Bow. He showed good understanding of issues and possible solutions, drawing on his vast experience as Mayor and working with TfL.

Ken said: “Having witnessed first-hand exactly how dangerous Bow roundabout is, it is clear that there is no time for excuses or delay. Boris Johnson has chosen to ignore London’s cyclists, putting traffic flow ahead of cyclist safety. If I am elected I will act immediately to address the safety problems faced by cyclists in Tower Hamlets and across the capital. New safety measures for Bow roundabout and at other junctions where cyclists have tragically lost their lives must be put into place as a matter of the greatest urgency.”