Forest Road corridor scheme

Forest Road is a busy route used by up to 17,000 vehicles daily and is home to around 3,600 residents and 340 businesses. It’s a key route in Waltham Forest connecting Woodford New Road to Ferry Lane and is already an important walking and cycling route that helps people get to key places like the William Morris Gallery, Lloyd Park, Walthamstow Wetlands and other local facilities. 

To make this road safer for all road users we’ve made significant improvements to the full route, since 2016, including upgrading all major junctions, new pedestrian and cycle crossings, new bus facilities, blended crossings, segregated cycle lanes and new public spaces. 

In 2016, initial improvement works started on the section of Forest Road near to the boundary with Haringey, to support the opening of Walthamstow Wetlands. Works included a new pedestrian and cycle crossing and a first section of segregated cycle track linking to the border with Haringey. Since then, the sections of Forest Road between Blackhorse Station and Bell Junction (Hoe Street) were upgraded to provide improved infrastructure for active and sustainable travel. Between 2020 and 2022 further major junction improvements took place at Blackhorse Road and Bell junctions, and a final permanent scheme was put in place through the reservoirs.

In 2020, Transport for London’s (TfL) London Streetscape Plan (LSP) provided further funding to deliver walking and cycling improvements on Forest Road between Hoe Street and Woodford New Road. During the COVID-19 pandemic, London’s public transport capacity was reduced and it was anticipated that if these journeys were replaced by car journeys, streets would become heavily congested. Therefore, LSP funding was created to boost walking and cycling, and reduce pressure on the road and public transport network. The LSP funding allowed Waltham Forest to implement an interim scheme between Hoe Street and Woodford New Road, creating a virtually continuous end-to-end route, stretching from Haringey to Redbridge. The interim scheme adopted a low-cost approach, with minimal highway layout and traffic signal junction changes. While the interim scheme delivered some benefits, the aim was always to develop and deliver a high-quality set of permanent improvements in the eastern section of Forest Road between Hoe Street and Woodford New Road. We used feedback from the community on the interim scheme along with a range of traffic and highways data to shape our permanent plans for this final section of Forest Road.

In July 2023, we carried out a public consultation with the local community on our plans for Forest Road between Hoe Street and Woodford New Road. The plans aim to build upon the temporary scheme introduced in 2020 and connect with previously completed sections of Forest Road, transforming it into a route that helps people walk, cycle, access public transport and feel better connected to the surrounding community, amenities and services.

Thank you to everyone who took part in the consultation and provided feedback on the proposals. All the comments have been considered and have allowed us to develop a final scheme that will benefit the local community as well as visitors to the area and will support and enable the current redevelopment and regeneration taking place.

The updated leaflet delivered to residents on 17 November 2023 outlines the results of the public consultation, the final scheme plan, and the next steps for construction. The full update leaflet and the public consultation report can be viewed in the ‘Useful documents’ list below.

As this is a long section of road that represents a significant investment for the Council, we are planning to construct the scheme in sections. 

Therefore, we have been coordinating the construction programme with other schemes and major developments taking place in the area. We are planning to start construction from late 2024, starting with the section of Forest Road between Wood Street and the railway bridge just west of Hale End Road.