Eglal Gomaa says the cycle lane was the final straw for Girasole, her popular cafe on Seven Sisters Road

A POPULAR Seven Sisters Road cafe has been forced to close, with its owner claiming a new cycle lane had punctured her business.

Eglal Gomaa said cab drivers stopped coming into Girasole for food after the construction of Cycleway 50 cycle lane through Finsbury Park.

She said: “It was my dream, but it just became a nightmare. I can’t take all the blame. The council should have challenged Transport for London about all of this.”

Ms Gomaa said the business was also hit by rising costs after Brexit, which included a 12 per cent increase in the price of goods imported from Italy, as set by their supplier. The cost of living crisis also started negatively affecting the business in 2022, too, as people had less money to use in the cafe, but she insisted C50 cycle lane was the last straw.

The cycle lane was introduced in 2023 by TfL as part of an expansion of pedestrian and cycle routes from Camden to Finsbury Park.

Ms Gomaa has suggested that the new layout had negatively impacted footfall in ­Seven Sisters Road as it had removed parking spaces for customers wanting to visit businesses along the street.

Ms Gomaa said after the cycle lane was created her sales “dropped by 50 per cent”, adding: “I lost 20 taxi drivers that were coming into my business every day. Overall, that was almost three grand a month.”

She said it also meant that delivery drivers began to refuse to stop on Seven Sisters Road at busy times. Girasole also did catering for events and relied on Uber drivers to transport stock.

TfL have said the C50 lane has been built in the area as “there are currently no cycling facilities at Nag’s Head or links into any existing cycle routes, making it difficult for people to make longer trips by bike. By creating segregated spaces to cycle and connecting it to other cycle routes, we hope to encourage more people to give cycling a try.”

The cycle lane was created, as TfL have also claimed, “so there would be less congestion”. But Ms Gomaa said she thought that the cycle lane has increased congestion, which has sparked an ongoing dispute with TfL and local businesses on the road.

The Italian cafe and deli had opened in 2015.

Islington environment lead Councillor Rowena Champion said: “We’re determined to create a greener, healthier Islington and play our part to tackle the climate emergency.

“That’s why we’ve been working with Transport for London on Cycleway 50, which will make it easier for local people to switch to environmentally friendly modes of transport like walking or cycling.”

She added: “Cycleway 50 on Seven Sisters Road is an experimental scheme and Transport for London have been monitoring the impact that the scheme is having locally. They will also shortly be seeking feedback from local residents and businesses during a public consultation, which will help inform the next steps for the project.

“The council has supported Transport for London with their engagement with local communities, local business groups and individual businesses and we have also lobbied to introduce additional measures which support local people and businesses to benefit from the scheme.”