Brompton team up with climate charity for competition to rename London's "boring" cycleways

While a number of London's major roads are known by familiar nicknames, the capital's cycleway network is still a series of letters and digits... so Brompton and the climate charity Possible are inviting the public to think of new monikers to "add personality" to CS2, CS4 et al in the Name Our Lanes competition, launched yesterday. 

"Surely our capital commuter routes deserve a more exciting name?" say Brompton, who together with Possible are calling on Londoners to suggest new ones to replace the current "boring" names, that they say will "encourage Londoners to feel more connected to cycling in their city". Following the well-documented cycling boom since the start of the pandemic, that looks set to have lasting effects, Possible have launched the competition as part of a wider project to reduce emissions, by promoting a modal shift from private cars to more sustainable transport options. 

Hirra Khan Adeogun, Head of Car Free Cities at Possible, commented: "It’s a universal truth that we name the things we love and care about in our daily lives - our tube lines, rivers and famous buildings all have names.

"We want the names of London’s cycleways to reflect how much Londoners cherish them. Getting more people out of their cars and on their bikes is more important than ever to the health and wellbeing of Londoners and to our climate; and helping people feel more connected to their local cycleways by giving them the chance to name them is one way to help do that."

To submit your suggestions, simply head over to the Name Our Lanes page on the Possible website, hover over a cycleway and then suggest a name, leaving your contact details on the entry form. You can also vote by going to the Name Our Lanes installation in Covent Garden (above) and scanning a QR Code to get to the online entry form. 

After the 31st October deadline, judges including Brompton's CEO Will Butler-Adams and director of the Active Travel Academy Rachel Aldred will draw up a shortlist, and the public will vote for the winners. When all the new names are announced in mid-November, the person who submitted the most popular of all will win a brand new Brompton, and all shortlisted names will get a limited edition print of a map complete with the newly-named cycleways.