London Mayor Boris Johnson has launched the first of the city’s new Cycle Superhighways this morning, in a project aimed at increasing cycling in the capital by 400% by 2025, compared to 2000 levels. The initiative is a boost for Slow Travel devotees as well as Slow rookies who will be encouraged by improved safety on the roads.
The first Superhighway, launched today, covers an 8.5mile stretch from Merton, South London to the City and will closely follow the Northern Line route. Up to 500 cyclists per hour do this route already and the new Superhighway will make their journey safer.
It will be followed by a route from Barking to Tower Gateway later this summer, covering 7.5miles, with 10 more routes by 2015, including Lewisham to Victoria, Wandsworth to Westminster and Park Royal to Hyde Park. See a full list of routes.
Quoted by the BBC, Boris said: “I’m not kidding when I say that I’m militant about cycling, and these superhighways are central to the cycling revolution I’m determined to bring about.
“No longer will pedal power have to dance and dodge around petrol power – on these routes the bicycle will dominate and that will be clear to all others using them.”
Sponsored by Barclays, Transport For London says the routes are clearly marked, easy to follow and have improved surfaces for comfort. There are also new signs, road markings and information about journey times and links to other routes.
They also claim to be safer too. Lanes are at least 1.5m wide and continue through junctions. There are advanced stop boxes at traffic lights to help cyclists get ahead of traffic, and changed junction layouts to give cyclists more space.
TFL spent £111 million pounds on cycling in London last year. As well as the Cycle Superhighways, the money has been spent on The London Cycle Hire Scheme and generally improving road conditions for cyclists.
But despite the record level of investment, some are questioning whether the initiatives go far enough. The hot topics seem to be the design of the Cycle Superhighway scheme at junctions and whether the blue lanes will be clear enough for motorists.
Some road tests by cycling bloggers suggest that motorists are sprawling into the lanes at junctions and that the lanes aren’t wide enough in places.
Have you tried a Cycle Superhighway? We’d love to hear about it. Leave a comment here.
