Route to Canary Wharf

[PaulF]

Talking to a colleague about our hypothetical relocation to Canary Wharf.

Anyone have any views on how to get there from SW London?  It lloks like I'd cross at Tower Bridge and take The Highway, but is tehre a better or more cycle friendly route?

Is there a foot tunnel at Rotherhithe?

[Valiant]

Cable St from Tower Bridge straight down and then through Narrow Street right down to Canary Wharf.

[Biggsy]

No foot tunnel at Rotherhithe, but it is legal to cycle on the Rotherhithe tunnel road.  It can be unpleasant due to fumes and the climb at the end with no overtaking room for cars.  There is a footpath besides the road which you can use physically but not legally.

I'm not sure Rotherhithe will offer any advantage for you compared to Tower Bridge.

[Mr Larrington]

Cycling through the Rotherhithe tunnel is this: 'orrible.  If you use the road you will be held up by tin boxes on the way in, and vice-versa on the way out.  If you are Norty and ride on the pavement, you will probably get a p+nct+r+, as this is one of two places¹ in southern England where vehicle mirrors go to die.

1 - the other, improbably, is the B2026 over Ashdown Forest

[marna]

The Rotherhithe tunnel is *horrid*. Tower Bridge isn't that lovely, either. Well, the bridge is very silly and pretty, but the road surface is not so good.  It might make sense, depending on where you're coming from, to cross at London or Southwark Bridge, and turn down to Upper/Lower Thames Street, and from there to The Highway or Cable Street, depending on whether you prefer the whizzy cars or the cycle paths. I wouldn't detour to avoid Tower Bridge, but there are nicer bridges to cycle across, all else being equal.

[Greenbank]

How about a much more Southerly route (sorry, no specific suggestions) ending up at Cutty Sark and going under the Thames via the foot tunnel?

Can be a bit of a bugger carrying your bike down and up the stairs if the lift isn't working though.

[juliet]

I'd not recommend the Rotherhithe Tunnel at *all*.  I've ridden it once (very late at night): I took the road, and the traffic was OK (I expect it's vile at rush hour though), but the air is *awful*.  I was light-headed when I got out, and had a headache the next day of the sort I usually get if I get drunk and have a sneaky cigarette (I don't smoke as a rule).  I think taking it daily would be actively bad for you.

doop, of this parish, does Bermondsey-C Wharf daily.  He goes over Tower Bridge, along the first bit of Cable St, then right down Dock St, left onto the Highway, left again onto Butcher Row, right onto the bike lane through the park & over the bridge-in-the-sky (over Limehouse Link entrance).  That spits you out onto Horseferry Rd (one-way eastbound).  L at the end onto Narrow St.  Right where the buses go just before the Westferry DLR station junction, then right onto Westferry Road and UP the road in the middle of the road (as it were) to Westferry Circus. 

(Er.  Can do Bikely route if that would be helpful!)

He says that Cable St is full of lemming-pedestrians on the bike path eastbound.  It's better westbound because you can take the road with the traffic.  The Hwy is busy (sometimes very busy), though.

[Psychler]

Why not use the new[ish] cycle lane on Blackfriars Bridge. 

However if you can put up with the fumes in the Rotherhithe or the stairs in the Greenwich, I would say that staying south of the Thames is a more cycle friendly, if not scenic, route.

[Andrij]

Cross the Thames at either London or Tower Bridge.  Swing around St Katherine's Wharf  and get yourself onto the ornamental canal -> Shadwell Basin.  Follow sings to a short stretch along the Thames which will them dump you near Limehouse Basin.  Then along Narrow Street to Canary Wharf.  Not the most direct or fastest route but the off-road sections are smooth, wide and scenic.  Might make for a pleasant alternative, especially when the weather is nice.

[Greenbank]

Cross the Thames at either London or Tower Bridge.  Swing around St Katherine's Wharf  and get yourself onto the ornamental canal -> Shadwell Basin.  Follow sings to a short stretch along the Thames which will them dump you near Limehouse Basin.

Like this: http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/72625

(This was the route I wanted to take on the London Sightseer 100 to avoid the cobbles on Wapping High St) but I missed the entrance.)

I doubt I'd do a route like that everyday on a commute though. Too many pedestrians to be able to maintain good progress.

[Doug]

Paul, do you and your colleague have copies of the free London cycle maps? I find them great for getting around in London. At the very least you could use them for marking out the routes being suggested by others.

They can be ordered via the following link, though they can take a few weeks to arrive:

https://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/roadusers/cycling/cycleroutes

[cometworm]

Cross the Thames at either London or Tower Bridge.  Swing around St Katherine's Wharf  and get yourself onto the ornamental canal -> Shadwell Basin.  Follow sings to a short stretch along the Thames which will them dump you near Limehouse Basin.

Like this: http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/72625

(This was the route I wanted to take on the London Sightseer 100 to avoid the cobbles on Wapping High St) but I missed the entrance.)

I doubt I'd do a route like that everyday on a commute though. Too many pedestrians to be able to maintain good progress.

As a commute, that would drive me crazy. I used to work at CW and live in Bermondsey, at which point I took Tower Bridge across, then the Highway until it disappears into the tunnel, where I would either cross at the ped-xing or go left to head over the bridge. Then Narrow St  to Westferry, where you head into the behemoth that is CW. You can turn off Narrow St and follow the river, but this now ends in a set of stairs rather than a slight detour as it used to, and I prefer not to do these in Look-cleats...

[cometworm]

Cross the Thames at either London or Tower Bridge.  Swing around St Katherine's Wharf  and get yourself onto the ornamental canal -> Shadwell Basin.  Follow sings to a short stretch along the Thames which will them dump you near Limehouse Basin.

Like this: http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/72625

(This was the route I wanted to take on the London Sightseer 100 to avoid the cobbles on Wapping High St) but I missed the entrance.)

I doubt I'd do a route like that everyday on a commute though. Too many pedestrians to be able to maintain good progress.

As a commute, that would drive me crazy. I used to work at CW and live in Bermondsey, at which point I took Tower Bridge across, then the Highway until it disappears into the tunnel, where I would either cross at the ped-xing or go left to head over the bridge. Then Narrow St  to Westferry, where you head into the behemoth that is CW. You can turn off Narrow St and follow the river, but this now ends in a set of stairs rather than a slight detour as it used to, and I prefer not to do these in Look-cleats...

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1912576