Take3 days ago
Havering scraps a fully funded £1.1m cycle route, reasons unclear
Havering Council, now under Reform UK control, has scrapped the £1.1m Marsh Way Active Travel Scheme in Rainham. Transport for London and the Thames Gateway Project were funding all of it. The reasons for the cancellation are unclear, and road.cc's request to the council for them went unanswered.
What this means
Havering Cyclists called the cancellation a «shocking waste» of £1.1m in external funding. Chartered civil engineer Mark Philpotts also criticised the decision publicly. The group is now seeking further talks with the council.
Two cyclists were killed in separate collisions with lorry drivers on Marsh Way within a week in January 2021. Calls for a protected route to the CEME campus date to 2020, when NHS workers first made them. The previous administration, led by the Havering Residents Association, held a public consultation on the scheme in March 2025. The plan was a two-way protected cycle track between Marsh Way and the A13, continuing as a shared-use route to the industrial estates and CEME. Marsh Way is a busy, unprotected two-lane road. Havering Cyclists co-ordinator Terry Hughes wrote to council leader Cllr Keith Prince asking him to reverse the decision. The letter said «the administration of the day could reasonably argue that they did not have the resources to address the issue, that would not be the case going forwards». A reply arrived on a Sunday; the group believes the reasoning is misguided and hopes for further discussions.
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