'Cyclists would be at risk' if McDonald's drive-thru next to superhighway gets go-ahead

Drive-thru proposal: Gypsy Corner in Acton
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Ross Lydall @RossLydall16 September 2015

Cyclists using Boris Johnson’s “Crossrail for bikes” superhighway would be put in danger if a McDonald’s “drive-thru” restaurant is built alongside it, a planning inquiry was due to hear today.

Ealing Council and the Mayor’s cycling commissioner Andrew Gilligan fear drivers heading to the proposed takeaway on the A40 at Gypsy Corner in Acton would cut across the cycle route at high speed.

The council initially granted permission for the McDonald’s in February but reversed its decision a month later when the Mayor confirmed the east-west cycle superhighway, which links Acton and Barking, would be built.

McDonald’s appealed to a planning inspector, but there were hopes today that a compromise could be reached by creating a different entrance route off Western Avenue.

It is believed that the restaurant franchisee, Atul Pathak, supports the cycle route but McDonald’s corporate headquarters wants to win approval for the original scheme.

Mr Gilligan and Ealing council leader Julian Bell said McDonald’s was “aggressively fighting for an entrance which both of us believe to be unsafe.”

A spokesman for the fast-food chain said it wants “to ensure that a new restaurant supports the plans for a new cycle superhighway. We are confident this is the case”.

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