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N-S cycle superhighway (still from @Lakerlikes Instagram)London's deputy mayor confirms 2017 consultations on long awaited Cycle Superhighways
London’s deputy mayor for transport, Val Shawcross, has confirmed that consultations will be held next year into two long-awaited Cycle Superhighways originally announced by former mayor Ken Livingstone in 2008 – one from Woolwich in the south east of the capital, the other from Hounslow in the west.
Speaking to the annual general meeting of the London Cycling Campaign (LCC) earlier this month, the Labour London Assembly Member, appointed to her role as deputy mayor after Sadiq Khan’s election in May, said that consultations on both CS4 from Woolwich to Tower Bridge and CS9 from Hounslow to Olympia will commence in the New Year.
Rejecting claims from some elements of the media including the Daily Mail, she insisted “cycling is not the cause of congestion” and said a rethink was needed about consolidating delivery services in London, highlighting that two thirds of goods ordered online were not delivered at the first attempt.
The CS4 and CS9 routes were among 12 unveiled by Livingstone three months before he lost the May 2008 election to Conservative candidate Boris Johnson, but to date just seven of the planned routes have been completed.
Safety concerns over the non-segregated infrastructure prompted a rethink on their design, led by Johnson’s cycling commissioner Andrew Gilligan, appointed in January 2013, who also prioritised the East-West and North-South Cycle Superhighways that cross the city centre and which did not form part of the original plans.
A shift away from showing ‘segregation’ by using blue paint – reflecting that the Cycle Superhighways were originally sponsored by Barclays – and changing their design to incorporate physical separation from motor traffic have further delayed the programme, as have lengthy consultations, characterised by often vocal opposition.
Earlier this month, Shawcross told road.cc that the next generation of cycling infrastructure in London would have widespread benefits to appeal beyond those who commute by bike, and that she and Khan were close to finalising a shortlist of candidates for the role of cycling commissioner.
> Deputy mayor: London's new Cycle Superhighways will be better than before
Speaking at the LCC AGM, she also repeated her promise that engagement with local communities would happen at an earlier stage to try and head off some of the anti-cycling sentiment that has manifested itself in relation to some of the Cycle Superhighways as well as Mini Holland schemes in three outer London boroughs.
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.
Latest Comments
- Hirsute 1 hour 25 min ago
Radar tells me their closing speed, if they are slowing and how far away. Then I decide to say a prayer. The change of light pattern is incidental.
- lonpfrb 1 hour 45 min ago
Quite so, which is why our village 20mph zone covers the whole residential extent. Of course, enforcement is another thing..
- lonpfrb 2 hours 11 min ago
No, that's very doubtful while proper testing would be fully destructive.
- TheBillder 2 hours 57 min ago
In that £1000 exactly scenario, beginners should probably be made aware that pedals will be extra.
- don simon fbpe 3 hours 25 min ago
What's wrong with dropping down on to the Millenium Bridge, or the swing bridge, then the brief, but satisfying climb back up the hill? #training....
- chrisonabike 4 hours 6 min ago
The relatives might of course disagree, but in general I'd countenance a relatively light sentence* if only we could fix it so that those who...
- ktache 4 hours 45 min ago
Id forgotten that I got a second hand set of project two's for my getting to work bike over twenty years back.
- Veganpotter 5 hours 42 min ago
My bet is that all these tires popping off are from people with bad pressure gauges or they're simply just putting too much air in on purpose. ...
- chrisonabike 6 hours 58 min ago
David9694 - you were right! These new autonomous vehicles really are conspiring to run out of control!...
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11 comments
Dave Hill just hates cycling and cyclists, and everything he writes on the subject is founded on his prejudice, not reason.
If you press the 'translate' button, the 'measured and mature' approach to building cycling infrastructure which Hill is calling for means: 'let's go back to the messy compromises where you never inconvenience anyone to build a cycle lane, asking cyclists to give way to every other road user on all occasions, and putting a 'cyclists dismount' or an 'end of route' sign wherever there's the slightest difficulty.'
That's resulted in 99% of the cycle lanes in the UK being unusable. Then the authorities wonder why nobody cycles.
As for these recycled ideas that nobody uses the London cycle lanes, or the laughable suggestion that cycle lanes cause congestion and pollution, it's just embarrasssing that anyone puts these forward with a straight face.
It would be better if Hill stayed true to himself, and went off to write ill-informed diatribes for the Daily Mail.
If something as benign as cycling is divisive, then we need a commissioner more focused, not less, than before.
CS9 will arrive as expected at the border of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and stop. Probably the most openly hostile borough in London, even the Labour opposition councillors object to cycling schemes. One day Olympia will get linked up to South Carriage drive with a protected route for the two and a bit km gap, but it's going to take a lot of pressure.
I'm quite curious to see what form CS4 will take, if it will reach all the way to Woolwich. Lots of dangerous roads and junctions along that way, not under TfL control and Soutwark in particular are a bit useless. If it passes through the centre of Greenwich, that could be interesting.
If this is to be believed, don't hold your breath for decent proposals
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/davehillblog/2016/oct/12/london-cycl...
It's a Dave Hill story about cycling, so it's of course a load of old bollox.
Why not? Cycling is divisive whilst walking is inclusive. A commissioner that promotes both seems to make perfect sense.
The commonly held (and massively incorrect) belief of drivers of motor vehicles is that the only way to reduce road congestion is to increase the road space. Therefore anything that reduces road space is going to increase congestion. That includes taking up existing road space for use as walking space. It logically follows that in such instances walking is just as divisive as cycling for exactly the same reasons.
It's half-term. Has anyone noticed how the London congestion problem has suddenly evaporated?
All those "hard-working" families can't suddenly have taken off on holiday, so is the school run the principle cause of London's peak congestion?
I was thinking about this on my way to work this morning (by bike, not in London). The amount of traffic on the roads was much, much lower than usual. It was rather pleasant! However I was commuting well after school opening times in the area (and often do), so I figured that it's mainly down to families going away for half term. After all, not many people come to my area on holiday
It does seem to be running much smoother this week compared to last week. I don't think the school run is soley to blame, though - I think it's more of a tipping-point type thing. A 3-5% reduction in overall traffic could mean an exponential improvement in congestion, if it's running at, say, 102% of capacity under normal circumstances. One or two less cars queueing at a junction extrapolated out across every junction on every road, makes a huge cumulative difference even for a relatively modest change in numbers, if those one or two cars make the difference between a whole queue being able to clear through in a light cycle and not.
Ergo, we should put the congestion charge up to £50 and quadruple its area
I would like to see Chris Boardman in the role of Cycling (& Walkng) Commissioner.
It would give him a higher profile and from his nationwide experience, hopefully get networks expanding across the country rather than just the capital.