What the 12 cycle superhighways mean for London Cyclists
In less than a year cyclists in London will be able to cycle along the first two cycle superhighways. Their aim is to provide a safe and direct route into the city centre to cyclists. Is this a major cycling revolution or is it just a normal bike lane with a lick of blue paint and a bit of clever branding?
Design of the cycle highways
The artists impression (showcasing some excellent Photoshop skills) from the TfL website basically looks like a normal cycle lane painted blue. In fact taking a closer look at this picture you realise its a bit of a marketing disaster. Not only does it show a scared individual cycling in the gutter but also it shows a London bus driving in the cycling lane. Not exactly dream conditions.
The limited information that has been given so far suggests that the cycle lanes will be:
- Separate from motor traffic wherever possible
- Painted blue
- Following the route of main roads
Definitely nothing too “revolutionary” there. The description on the TfL website is slightly more positive:
Direct and continuous – The routes will be clearly marked from start to finish so you’ll have no trouble following them. You’ll also see information along the way about journey time and links to other cycling routes.
Comfortable – We’ll be improving road surfaces along the route so you can pedal more comfortably.
Easy to find – Each highway will have a clear and unique identity.
Safe – Signals, road markings and continuous cycle lanes at junctions will help you keep safe.
Suggested routes
The first two routes that are currently under development are very direct and a decent cycling length. However, they have limited space to develop larger cycling lanes to accommodate the suggested threefold increase in cycling users that the scheme aims to achieve. If the lanes did eat further into car users space then there would be a highly negative effect on rush hour traffic. Perhaps the standstill would be enough to encourage motorists to switch to pedal power as they watch even the slowest cyclist beat them to their destination.
Route 3
- Barking to Tower Hill via the A13 and Cable Street
- Opening: May 2010
- 9.8 miles (estimated) so roughly 39 minutes bike ride (riding at 15 mph)
- View map
Route 7
- South Wimbledon to Bank via A24, A3 and Southwark Bridge Road
- Opening: May 2010
- Follows Northern Line to Bank
- 8.9 miles (estimated) so roughly 35 minutes bike ride (riding at 15 mph)
- View map
Remaining routes
- There are also 10 more routes that will be developed after the 2 pilot routes are completed.
- TfL appear to be aiming for completion of all 12 routes before the end of 2012. However, considering the length of time taken to develop just 2 routes I can’t see that happening.
Image source: TfL
Marketing gimmick or positive step forward?
If Boris’ big blue bike lanes catch on then the outcome can only be positive. After all, any cyclist would be crazy to wish away good cycling lanes along major routes. It is important however not to have the wool pulled over our eyes. The new mayor of London famously cut spending to the London Cycle Network which resulted in 400 new cycle lanes been scrapped.
There are three measures of success here. The first is weighing up the quality of the cycling highways compared to traditional cycling lanes. If the superhighways delivered the promised improvements such as greater road comfort, more room to cycle and priority over traffic then they may raise the bar of what is expected from a cycling lane thus prompting improvements across the network of cycle routes. Conversely if the cycle superhighways end up being just a glorified cycle lane then the benefit will be marginal to cyclists.
The second measure of success is the completion of all 12 cycle lanes. In a positive scenario all 12 would be completed by the end of 2012 as promised. This would have a strong impact to the London cycling scene. If however the scheme is scrapped before completion, which may well happen depending on the feedback from the first two cycle routes and a negative backlash from motorists, then a lot of time will have been wasted.
The final measure of success is the positive impact it has on the number of cyclists and on the awareness of cyclists as fellow road users. If drivers end up paying more attention to cyclists then maybe less accidents will occur.
What would be nice to see in future initiatives is a more united front between the mayor of London and London Cycling Campaign rather than arguments over who is right as this does not portray a positive image to us cyclists. I look forward to May 2010 and giving the first cycle superhighways a test run.
See also:
- Cycle superhighways latest letdown
- Small steps forward instead of strides in today’s London transport plan
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to “What the 12 cycle superhighways mean for London Cyclists”
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- Mar 3, 2010: Down and Out » Blog Archive » Boris Johnson’s Cycle Superhighway hits the road
The sheer fact that London is going ahead with such a scheme is commendable. However, I agree that not the brightest minds worked on the promotional aspects of it. It does look like its photoshopped doesn’t it? I wonder if all the superhighways will be connected to each other somehow to make one giant superhighway. What do you think?
Perhaps they will – Like the M25 motorway that engulfs London! I do like the idea of a cycle superhighway but I have a strong feeling it will just be a rehash of a normal cycling lane with no major improvements like being separate from the main road. As in the Netherlands: http://amsterdamize.com/2009/07/07/cycling-in-the-netherlands-facts-versus-dribble/
I ride ‘route 7′ every day of the week and it beggars belief that they plan to paint even the gutter blue! From South Wimbledon to Tooting Bec there simply isn’t the road width to paint a cycle lane, let alone separate bikes from motors physically! Hard to believe there was once a tram line along most of this route. This is just cosmetic hogwash from our ‘cycling’ mayor. If he doesn’t have his clothes and shoes chauffeured behind him like his mate Dave then perhaps he has them couriered?
It is a shame to hear this may be primarily a cosmetic change – unfortunately I assume city planning is very difficult when everything is already built up around and there is not much room for manoeuvre. However, I’m glad to see that fellow cyclists are not having the wool pulled over their eyes about the potential benefits of these “cycle superhighways”
My name is Anish Patel and I am the husband of Catriona . On Monday 29th June at around 08.20, Catriona died as a result of a collision with a green Tipper lorry at Kennington Park Road, at the junction with Harleyford Street. I would like to make a personal appeal for anyone who was in the Oval area that morning , who saw Catriona or the tipper, to come forward as a potential witness. Even if you did not see the incident directly, you may still have useful information on the lead up to, or aftermath of the incident. So, please, I urge you to come forward. Any information, no matter how insignificant it may seem, may be crucial to the case. I and the entire family would like to understand what happened on that day and you may have seen something that is relevant. Please contact the Collision Investigation Unit Witness Line on 020 8941 9011 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 if you have any information. Many thanks, Anish.
It looks to me if you are in the suburbs and work down town, you MAY be well served by the new bike routes, but if you want to go from one suburban location to another you will find it highly desirable to have LOOPS (ring roads) that allow you to get more or less directly to the location desired. (Or hasn’t anyone noticed that lack?)