Cycleway 3 (C3) is a

cycle route Cycle, cycles, or cyclic may refer to: Anthropology and social sciences * Cyclic history, a theory of history * Cyclical theory, a theory of American political history associated with Arthur Schlesinger, Sr. * Social cycle, various cycles in ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England. It is part of the Cycleway network coordinated by TfL. It runs from

Barking Barking may refer to: Places * Barking, London, a town in East London, England ** London Borough of Barking, 1965–1980 ** Municipal Borough of Barking, 1931–1965 ** Barking (UK Parliament constituency) ** Barking (electoral division), Greater ...

in the east to

Lancaster Gate Lancaster Gate is a mid-19th century development in the Bayswater district of central London, immediately to the north of Kensington Gardens. History It consists of two long terraces of houses overlooking the park, with a wide gap between t ...

in central London. It is a popular route with both commuter and leisure cyclists, passing a number of major destinations in London along its route. For almost the entire route, cyclists are separated from other traffic in segregated cycle lanes, and

cycling infrastructure Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of bicycle pedal, pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the ...

has been provided at major interchanges. The cycleway, originally called Cycle Superhighway 3, was renamed to Cycleway 3 in January 2023.

Route

C3 begins in Barking and ends at Lancaster Gate in the

City of Westminster The City of Westminster is a London borough with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in Greater London, England. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It contains a large par ...

Barking to Leamouth

C3 begins to the south of Greatfields Park in Barking, at the intersection between River Road and the A13 (Alfred's Way). The beginning of the Superhighway can be found at the southern side of the junction as a narrow, two-way cycle track signed "Cycle Superhighway (C3)" towards

Canning Town Canning Town is a town in the London Borough of Newham, East London, England, north of the Royal Victoria Dock. Its urbanisation was largely due to the creation of the dock. The area was part of the ancient parish and County Borough of West Ham, ...

(25 mins),

Canary Wharf Canary Wharf is a financial area of London, England, located in the Isle of Dogs in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The Greater London Authority defines it as part of London's central business district, alongside Central London. Alongside ...

(35 mins) and Tower Gateway (55 mins). The journey times are signposted and calculated by TfL. The cycle track is coloured blue. Heading westbound, the blue cycle track is intermittent, sharing its space with the pedestrian footpath. This continues for around 500 metres before the blue, two-way track returns as a constant feature running in parallel with the A13, separated from the main carriageway by a kerb. C3 and the A13 cross the

Barking Creek Barking Creek joins the River Roding to the River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entir ...

alongside one another, at the same time crossing from Barking and Dagenham into

Newham The London Borough of Newham () is a London boroughs, London borough created in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. It covers an area previously administered by the Essex county boroughs of County Borough of West Ham, West Ham and County ...

. After crossing Barking Creek, C3 branches southwards so as to avoid clashing with traffic at the busy junction between the A13, the A406/North Circular and

A1020 A1, A-1, A01 or A.1. may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''A-1 Headline'', a 2004 Hong Kong film * (English title: ''Our Man in Jamaica''), a 1965 Italian film * ''A1'', a 1999 Syrian film; see List of Syrian films * ''A1'' (2019 film) ...

. Having passed beneath the A1020/Royal Docks Road, C3 continues to run parallel to the A13 (Newham Way), segregated from traffic on the main carriageway. On this section, the Superhighway passes through

Beckton Beckton is a suburb in east London, England, located east of Charing Cross and part of the London Borough of Newham. Adjacent to the River Thames, the area consisted of unpopulated marshland known as the East Ham Levels in the parishes of Bark ...

, where there is a short cycle link southwards towards

Beckton DLR station Beckton is the eastern terminus of the Beckton branch of the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) in the Beckton area of east London. It is in Travelcard Zone 3. History When the London Docks and Beckton Gasworks were active, they were served by ...

, and then to the east of

Canning Town station Canning Town is an interchange station located in Canning Town, London for London Underground, Docklands Light Railway (DLR) and London Buses services. It is designed as an intermodal metro and bus station, opening in 1999 as part of the Jub ...

, before running in parallel to the A13 once more to cross Bow Creek. The entirety of this section through Newham is shared with route 13 of the 1980s-era London Cycle Network. Cable Street cycle superhighway

Leamouth to Tower Gateway

To the west of Bow Creek, C3 enters

Tower Hamlets The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a borough in London, England. Situated on the north bank of the River Thames and immediately east of the City of London, the borough spans much of the traditional East End of London and includes much of ...

and heads south of East India Dock Road (A13) into

Leamouth Leamouth is a locality in the Blackwall area of Poplar, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The area takes its name from the former ''Leamouth Wharf'' and lies on the west side of the confluence of the Bow Creek stretch of the Lea, at it ...

on the western pavement of Leamouth Road. Still signposted but no longer a blue cycle track, C3 then heads westbound on Sorrel Lane, southbound on Oregano Drive, then westbound on Saffron Avenue. Cyclists share road space with other traffic in this more residential area. C3 passes through Poplar, just north of

, sharing

Poplar High Street Poplar High Street is a street in Poplar, London, Poplar, located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Although the street became less used after 1860, it had previously been the principal street in the Metropolitan Borough of Poplar. Notab ...

with other road traffic. At the western end of Poplar High Street, the Superhighway continues along Ming Street and Premiere Place, passing Westferry DLR station to the north. Continuing westbound, C3 follows

Limehouse Limehouse is a district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London. It is east of Charing Cross, on the northern bank of the River Thames. Its proximity to the river has given it a strong maritime character, which it retains throu ...

Causeway and Narrow Street, briefly running parallel to the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

. Still signposted, C3 then heads roughly north, joining

Cable Street Cable Street is a road in the East End of London, England, with several historic landmarks nearby. It was made famous by the Battle of Cable Street in 1936. Location Cable Street starts near the edge of London's financial district, the Cit ...

at its eastern terminus. On Cable Street, the Cycleway is segregated from other road traffic on a narrow, two-way cycle track. The track itself pre-dates the Cycle Superhighway, constructed as part of the London Cycle Network, but C3 introduced wayfinding and blue surfacing to aid route-finding. The Superhighway runs the entire length of Cable Street, passing both the

Cable Street Mural The Cable Street Mural is a large mural painting in Shadwell in East London. It was painted on the side of St George's Town Hall by Dave Binnington, Paul Butler, Ray Walker (artist), Ray Walker and Desmond Rochfort between 1979 and 1983 to comm ...

and Shadwell DLR and

London Overground London Overground (also known simply as the Overground) is a Urban rail in the United Kingdom, suburban rail network serving London and its environs. Established in 2007 to take over Silverlink Metro routes, it now serves a large part of Greate ...

stations. C3 leaves Tower Hamlets on Royal Mint Street, entering the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

Tower Gateway to Lancaster Gate

The Superhighway crosses London's Inner Ring Road near Tower Gateway station.

Tower Bridge Tower Bridge is a Listed building#Grade I, Grade I listed combined Bascule bridge, bascule, Suspension bridge, suspension, and, until 1960, Cantilever bridge, cantilever bridge in London, built between 1886 and 1894, designed by Horace Jones ...

and the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic citadel and castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamle ...

are visible to the south of C3. Entering the City of London, C3 is a wide cycle track segregated from other road traffic. This remains the case until C3 reaches the

Palace of Westminster The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is located in London, England. It is commonly called the Houses of Parliament after the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two legislative ch ...

. In the City, the Superhighway avoids the busy centre, instead running in parallel to the Thames. Remaining segregated from other traffic, C3 meets C6 in a grade-separated junction at Blackfriars. At this point, the Superhighway crosses

Victoria Embankment Victoria Embankment is part of the Thames Embankment (the other section is the Chelsea Embankment), a road and river-walk along the north bank of the River Thames in London, England. Built in the 1860s, it runs from the Palace of Westminster to ...

, following the Embankment until it reaches its southern terminus at the Palace of Westminster and

Westminster Bridge Westminster Bridge is a road-and-foot-traffic bridge crossing over the River Thames in London, linking Westminster on the west side and Lambeth on the east side. The bridge is painted predominantly green, the same colour as the leather seats ...

. C3 crosses the boundary between the City of London and the

At the end of Victoria Embankment, C3 heads westbound on Bridge Street, again as a wide, segregated cycle track, passing

Parliament Square Parliament Square is a square at the northwest end of the Palace of Westminster in the City of Westminster in central London, England. Laid out in the 19th century, it features a large open green area in the centre with trees to its west, and ...

on its northernmost edge. C3 then passes several government offices as it continues westbound, running along the entire length of

Birdcage Walk Birdcage Walk is a street in the City of Westminster in London. It runs east–west as a continuation of Great George Street, from the crossroads with Horse Guards Road and Storey's Gate, with the Treasury building and the Institution of Me ...

(the southern boundary of St. James's Park). C3 then heads briefly north, passing

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and r ...

, before continuing westbound again on Constitution Hill as a segregated bike freeway. The Superhighway then passes through the middle of

Hyde Park Corner Hyde Park Corner is between Knightsbridge, Belgravia and Mayfair in London, England. It primarily refers to a major road junction at the southeastern corner of Hyde Park, that was originally planned by architect Decimus Burton. The juncti ...

, sharing space with pedestrians. Leaving Hyde Park Corner to the north, C3 heads sharply westbound along a wide bike freeway which runs along the southern edge of Hyde Park (South Carriage Drive). At the end of the Drive, C3 heads sharply northbound, following West Carriage Drive to its terminus at Lancaster Gate. The beginning of C3 at Lancaster Gate is signposted towards Hyde Park Corner (11 mins), Westminster (20 mins) and

Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...

Destinations

Barking and Dagenham

* Greatfields Park

Newham

* Newham University Hospital *

* Bow Creek Ecology Park

Tower Hamlets

* East India DLR station *

Blackwall DLR station Blackwall is a Docklands Light Railway (DLR) station in Blackwall, London, England. It is located very close to the northern entrance to the Blackwall road tunnel under the River Thames. The station is between Poplar and East India stations. ...

* Westferry DLR station *

Shadwell DLR station Shadwell is a Docklands Light Railway (DLR) station in Shadwell in east London, England and is between the terminals of Bank and Tower Gateway to the west and Limehouse to the east. The 1991 Bank extension joins the main DLR line just to the w ...

Shadwell Railway station Shadwell is a station on the Windrush line of the London Overground, located in Shadwell, East London. The station is between Whitechapel station to the north and to the south, in Travelcard Zone 2. Both platforms, which are located undergro ...

City of London

* Tower Gateway station * Tower Hill station *

Cannon Street station Cannon Street station, also known as London Cannon Street, is a London station group, central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in List of stations in London fare zone 1, Travelcard zone 1 located on Cannon Stre ...

Blackfriars station Blackfriars (), also known as London Blackfriars, is a central London railway station and connected London Underground station in the City of London. It provides Thameslink services: local (from North to South London), and regional (Bedford ...

City of Westminster

* Temple station * Embankment station *

and

Big Ben Big Ben is the nickname for the Great Bell of the Great Clock of Westminster, and, by extension, for the clock tower itself, which stands at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, England. Originally named the Clock Tower, it ...

* Westminster station *

Churchill War Rooms The Churchill War Rooms is a museum in London and one of the five branches of the Imperial War Museum. The museum comprises the ''Cabinet War Rooms'', a historic underground complex that housed a British government command centre throughout the ...

HM Treasury His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury or HMT), and informally referred to as the Treasury, is the Government of the United Kingdom’s economic and finance ministry. The Treasury is responsible for public spending, financial services policy, Tax ...

* St. James's Park *

Green Park The Green Park, one of the Royal Parks of London, is in the City of Westminster, Central London. Green Park is to the north of the gardens and semi-circular forecourt of Buckingham Palace, across Constitution Hill road. The park is in the m ...

Wellington Arch The Wellington Arch, also known as the Constitution Arch or (originally) as the Green Park Arch, is a Grade I-listed triumphal arch by Decimus Burton that forms a centrepiece of Hyde Park Corner in central London, at the corner where Hyde ...

* Hyde Park Corner station * Hyde Park *

Exhibition Road Exhibition Road is a street in South Kensington, London which is home to several major museums and academic establishments, including the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Science Museum, London, Science Museum and the Natural History Museum, Lon ...

Serpentine Gallery The Serpentine Galleries are two contemporary art galleries in Kensington Gardens, Westminster, Greater London. Recently rebranded to just Serpentine, the organisation is split across Serpentine South, previously known as the Serpentine Galler ...

* Lancaster Gate station

History

C3 was constructed in 3 sections: # Barking to Tower Gateway in the east, opened July 2010 # Tower Gateway to Parliament Square, opened April 2016 # Parliament Square to Lancaster Gate in the west, opened September 2018 The route which became known as C3 was originally proposed by the former

Mayor of London The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom. The current ...

Ken Livingstone Kenneth Robert Livingstone (born 17 June 1945) is an English former politician who served as the Leader of the Greater London Council (GLC) from 1981 until the council was Local Government Act 1985, abolished in 1986, and as Mayor of Londo ...

. In 2008, Livingstone proposed a "cycling transformation in London," at the same time announcing the "biggest investment in cycling in London's history." CS3 was one of the original twelve "motorways of cycling," and was designed to take cyclists along the route it currently occupies from Barking to Lancaster Gate. It was proposed that CS3 would then join up with two further superhighways - CS9 and CS10 - to extend the network in to West London. When

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (born 19 June 1964) is a British politician and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He wa ...

became mayor in 2008, he proceeded with a modified Cycle Superhighways plan, which retained some of these radial routes, including the Barking to Tower Gateway CS3 as one of the first 2 routes to be delivered. But Johnson's plan initially excluded any major routes through the very centre of London. This decision to drop the central London routes was reversed 4 years later with a manifesto commitment made by Johnson in the 2012 London elections, which followed criticism of the design quality of the first Cycle Superhighways to be delivered, and a high profile campaign by

London Cycling Campaign The London Cycling Campaign (LCC) is an independent membership charity lobbying for better conditions for cycling in London. Its vision is to make London "a world-class cycling city". It is one of the largest urban cycling organisations in th ...

calling for upgrades and for the missing links across central London. Johnson dubbed this central section of the route a "

Crossrail Crossrail is a completed railway project centred on London. It provides a high-frequency hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit system, akin to the Réseau Express Régional, RER in Paris and the S-Bahn systems of German-speaking countries, kn ...

for cyclists," hoping to create a "cleaner, safer, greener city."

References

{{Reflist Cycleways in London