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SkyCycle aerial cycle lanes in London take a step closer to reality as architects propose test sites to Network Rail

SkyCycle outline their plans for cycle routes alongside railway viaducts to transport bosses

The landscape architects behind the proposed SkyCycle scheme in London, which would see cycle tracks installed alongside railway viaducts with riders charged £1 a time to use them, were due to meet with Network Rail yesterday to outline their plans.

As reported here on road.cc last month, Sam Martin of Exterior Architecture believes that the cycle lanes in the sky would provide a safe alternative to the road for cycling commuters, whose numbers are on the rise – although the comments to that article suggest that many cyclists would much rather see changes at ground level.

The Evening Standard reports that Mayor of London Boris Johnson had given his backing to yesterday’s meeting. Martin and colleague Oli Clark first pitched their idea to Mr Johnson when they met him in a lift at City Hall, where they were due to meet his transport advisors.

“Boris was all over the idea,” said Martin. “He summed it up in one line, ‘It’s like ET flying to the moon, flying over London.’”

The original idea came from his dissertation regarding including cycle ways within a proposed regeneration of Battersea Power Station. “We passed by Queenstown Road railway station. That’s where we thought, ‘Let’s clip the cycle way on to that’,” he explained.

According to the Evening Standard, Martin and Clark believe that there are three specific sites – one in the north, another in the east, and the third in the southwest of London – where their plans could be tested.

The newspaper adds that a potential first route could link Stratford and the City via Liverpool Street and Fenchurch Street station, and while Mr Martin accepts the scheme would cost “tens of millions of pounds,” he adds that sponsorship could be a solution, as Barclays does with the Cycle Superhighways and Cycle Hire Scheme.

A spokesman for Mr Johnson told the Standard: “He is committed to leading a cycling revolution in the capital, and the use of elevated cycleways is an idea worth exploring.”

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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18 comments

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Coleman | 11 years ago
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“Boris was all over the idea,” said Martin. “He summed it up in one line, ‘It’s like ET flying to the moon, flying over London.’”

No it isn't. What a twit.

This is just a distraction.

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SELondoner4u | 11 years ago
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I think this is a totally awesome idea and i would definitely be one of the first to cycle on this "scenic" route.
I have always wanted a road to myself without the worries of a bus or truck coming up behind you.

£1 could fair pretty expensive though, especially if you use it daily. Maybe consider an annual or quarterly licence for using this "toll road". I wouldn't mind paying £50 a year, especially if this idea comes with a roof so that it will become very popular when it rains or even snows and all other transport comes to a stand-still.

I really hope this idea becomes popular and expands to all areas of London...especially the South East!

Make it happen already!!!

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John_the_Monkey | 11 years ago
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Fairly typical Boris though, isn't it? Impractical for people who don't see it as something to use for the sake of saying you have used it, more expensive than an actual solution, but guaranteed lots of coverage in the press. And how typically British, exemplifying the traffic planner/motorist's "Oh, just get them out of the way" attitude to cycling.

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The Rumpo Kid | 11 years ago
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Has Boris canvassed public opinion to find out how many people would actually be willing to pay? It all has a certain "Springfield Monorail" quality about it.

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fluffy_mike | 11 years ago
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There's not a country on the planet that's seriously considering this type of impractical and expensive scheme

move along please - nothing to see here

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BigBear63 | 11 years ago
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 24 Utterly bonkers solution to a major problem of how to get more cyclists on the road in safety. We need to follow Holland and put cyclists at the centre of any road use and improvement policy.

Give cyclists the right of way over cars. On shared routes such as as parts of the National Cycle routes clear rules need to be spelled out - keep left on a bike and keep right if on foot, and above all do not block the whole path whether on foot or bike. Pedestrians should be alert and ready to step aside when they see a cyclist approaching them, which they would if they walk on the right. It's in the Country Code for 'how to walk safely on narrow roads'. Why do we not teach this to our kids?  39

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Rvizzle | 11 years ago
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Much like the Ski Lift, it feels like a tourist attraction, rather than a viable alternative to commuters. Would you end up stuck in the tunnel behind a group of tourist taking in the view?

It also suggests massive pile up to me.

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SpamSpamSpam | 11 years ago
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This is an even more stupid idea than preferring a ski-lift over the Thames to a bridge, which I thought was an all-time stupid idea. The video doesn't really address the major issue of how to get on and off the thing. I imagine that it will be a staircase, with a "Cyclists Dismount" sign at the top.

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handlebarcam | 11 years ago
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Hmmm... I wonder which major corporation, with a recent history of sponsorship of cycling, they might possibly be courting with the name SkyCycle? That is the only way this is going to happen, if some organisation pours tens of millions of pounds into it as a PR stunt. And it might work in one or two locations, for tourists. But as a transport solution? Nah. However, it would provide yet another thing for those who hate cyclists to shout out their car windows, and from the opinion columns of Tory wrags: get off the road, you should be in one of those tubes (for your own safety, and my convenience.)

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southstar | 11 years ago
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So people pay for roads which they have right to use for free or pay because they can't fleece anymore out of other modes of transport, think again tfl and sort out the roads properly.

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belgravedave | 11 years ago
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The only way this will happen is if the company building it has ex tory MPs on the board. Ever asked yourself why there's so much pointless road furniture about? Check to see who's on the board of the companies that manufacture the stuff.

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thereverent | 11 years ago
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Not convinced at all by this.

I live in Clapham and work in the city so in their theory would be a potential user. But why would I pay £1 for a short streach of my journey (to Waterloo), when I have to get back on the roads for the majority of it?

The picture at the top looks like the skycycle is far too high (picture taken from the London eye prehaps?).

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Karbon Kev | 11 years ago
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I think the concept has got legs, looks a great solution to safe riding in London imo, not sure about the £1 a time though, although I guess if drivers have to be charged for driving into the city, it's a fair proposition.

Interesting to see how this progresses.

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redbeard497 | 11 years ago
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There is also the issue of not being able to get out of the tunnel at a convenient time - you have to wait for the next exit. And you'll probably have to wait to get on a crowded elevator before you can start cycling.

The way I see this, it's like they're nullifying most of cyclo-commuting's advantages: being free and convenient. It looks it will be just like taking the overground, for example, albeit slightly healthier...

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phax71 | 11 years ago
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I've not really looked too far into this ..

Why the hell should you pay to use it though, I understand there are costs involved, but have we recently made all roads Toll Roads ..?

No, not yet (it will happen) .. so why on earth would we want to charge cyclists (albeit just a pound) to use this..

Pull the other one Boris...

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redbeard497 | 11 years ago
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Doesn't being charged for it (almost as much as for a bus trip) go against one of the reasons people commute by bike - that it's free?!

I'd say the best way to improve cycle safety is to make roads wider whenever possible - so that motorists don't have to do dangerous overtakes. And please, no more cycle paths on the pavement or really close to pedestrians... Who came up with that bright idea?

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zanf replied to redbeard497 | 11 years ago
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redbeard497 wrote:

And please, no more cycle paths on the pavement or really close to pedestrians... Who came up with that bright idea?

Its part of the ethos that TfL work to: do not impede traffic flow, even if it encroaches on pedestrian and cyclist safety (see Kings Cross & Bow Roundabout) and do not remove space allocated to vehicles.

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zanf | 11 years ago
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I wonder how long this preposterous idea will sustain itself before it dies the death it deserves.

If people will be charged for it, it will not have 100% uptake. (I certainly will never use it).

It will have limited routes seeing as it will follow elevated railways (How many of them exist in North London?)

I have seen people suggest that it will cost more than just adjusting the current infrastructure.

Its not exactly the "Love London, Go Dutch" scheme that the mayor signed up to days before the election.

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