[cross-posting to uk.rec.cycling *removed*]

On Jun 5, 5:41*pm, Mizter T wrote:
Mayoral press release:
http://london.gov.uk/view_press_rele...eleaseid=22318

Excerpts...
---quote---
London's Cycle Superhighways - First two routes unveiled
5-6-2009

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, today unveiled proposed routes for
the first two of London’s twelve Cycle Superhighways - the corridors
for cyclists that are a key part of his policy to stimulate a cycling
revolution in the capital.

[snip]

OK, I've taken uk,rec.cycling out of the loop now - I hadn't quite
realised what a magnet for trolls said newsgroup is. Nevermind,
perhaps we at utl can manage a more civilised discussion! So if any
other utl-ers want to respond to my original post, might I suggest
they also remove uk,rec.cycling too.

This is the BBC News story on the "Cycling Superhighway" initiative:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8084996.stm

---quote---
Cycle superhighways 'a gimmick'

Cyclists have dismissed Mayor of London Boris Johnson's announcement
of two new cycle superhighways through the city as a "marketing
gimmick".

From May 2010, two corridors of cycle lanes will lead from south
Wimbledon to Bank and Barking to Tower Hill.

But Transport for London (TfL) admitted much of the route would not be
covered by the lanes through lack of space.

The pilot routes are the first of 12 superhighways earmarked to be
developed before the Olympics in 2012.

TfL is consulting with the eight boroughs they will pass through to
finalise the exact layout.

Mr Johnson, who rides to work from Islington to City Hall, 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."

Where possible, cycle lanes will be separated from motor traffic and
painted blue.

'Not groundbreaking'

But Transport for London told the BBC space constraints made it
impossible to build cycle lanes the length of the routes.

They said it was too early to confirm what percentage of the
superhighways would comprise cycle lanes.

Andreas Kambanis, who writes the London Cyclist blog, said: "It sounds
cool but it's not exactly groundbreaking.

"It is a bit more of a marketing gimmick than a real help for
cyclists.

"But anything that raises awareness of cycling - and gets drivers to
take a bit more notice of bikes - is a good thing."
---/quote---


I think the comments from Mr Kambanis are are a reasonable reflection
on it all (apart perhaps from the "it sounds cool" bit!). Not quite so
sure about Boris' comment that "on these routes the bicycle will
dominate"... hmm...

On Jun 6, 12:15*pm, Mizter T wrote:
[cross-posting to uk.rec.cycling *removed*]

[snip]

OK, I've taken uk,rec.cycling out of the loop now - I hadn't quite
realised what a magnet for trolls said newsgroup is. Nevermind,
perhaps we at utl can manage a more civilised discussion! So if any
other utl-ers want to respond to my original post, might I suggest
they also remove uk,rec.cycling too.

[snip]

Except of course in my haste I failed to actually remove the cross-
post. FWIW, I have reposted the above message in utl only.

On Sat, 6 Jun 2009 04:15:51 -0700 (PDT), Mizter T
wrote:

[cross-posting to uk.rec.cycling *removed*]

OK, I've taken uk,rec.cycling out of the loop now - I hadn't quite
realised what a magnet for trolls said newsgroup is. Nevermind,
perhaps we at utl can manage a more civilised discussion! So if any
other utl-ers want to respond to my original post, might I suggest
they also remove uk,rec.cycling too.

A similar post was made in uk.rec.cycling about Boris' super highways
about an hour before your post. Oddly it lacked the troll element.

Perhaps the problems lie in the crossposting.

[*cross-posting to uk.rec.cycling actually removed this time!*]

On Jun 5, 5:41 pm, Mizter T wrote:

Mayoral press release:
http://london.gov.uk/view_press_rele...eleaseid=22318

Excerpts...
---quote---
London's Cycle Superhighways - First two routes unveiled
5-6-2009

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, today unveiled proposed routes for
the first two of London’s twelve Cycle Superhighways - the corridors
for cyclists that are a key part of his policy to stimulate a cycling
revolution in the capital.

[snip]

OK, I've taken uk,rec.cycling out of the loop now - I hadn't quite
realised what a magnet for trolls said newsgroup is. Nevermind,
perhaps we at utl can manage a more civilised discussion! So if any
other utl-ers want to respond to my original post, might I suggest
they also remove uk,rec.cycling too.

This is the BBC News story on the "Cycling Superhighway" initiative:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8084996.stm

---quote---
Cycle superhighways 'a gimmick'

Cyclists have dismissed Mayor of London Boris Johnson's announcement
of two new cycle superhighways through the city as a "marketing
gimmick".

From May 2010, two corridors of cycle lanes will lead from south
Wimbledon to Bank and Barking to Tower Hill.

But Transport for London (TfL) admitted much of the route would not be
covered by the lanes through lack of space.

The pilot routes are the first of 12 superhighways earmarked to be
developed before the Olympics in 2012.

TfL is consulting with the eight boroughs they will pass through to
finalise the exact layout.

Mr Johnson, who rides to work from Islington to City Hall, 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."

Where possible, cycle lanes will be separated from motor traffic and
painted blue.

'Not groundbreaking'

But Transport for London told the BBC space constraints made it
impossible to build cycle lanes the length of the routes.

They said it was too early to confirm what percentage of the
superhighways would comprise cycle lanes.

Andreas Kambanis, who writes the London Cyclist blog, said: "It sounds
cool but it's not exactly groundbreaking.

"It is a bit more of a marketing gimmick than a real help for
cyclists.

"But anything that raises awareness of cycling - and gets drivers to
take a bit more notice of bikes - is a good thing."
---/quote---

I think the comments from Mr Kambanis are are a reasonable reflection
on it all (apart perhaps from the "it sounds cool" bit!). Not quite so
sure about Boris' com

Mizter T wrote:


I think the comments from Mr Kambanis are are a reasonable reflection
on it all (apart perhaps from the "it sounds cool" bit!). Not quite so
sure about Boris' com

Having mapped the routes out on Google Maps and done a bit of research
on existing cycle routes, there really isn't much to the first two
schemes other than taking good existing routes (e.g. LCN Route 15, which
the start of Boris's Route 3 is based on), painting them blue and
possibly putting some signs up. The later routes, for instance in West
London, have not had the same investment and would require a lot more
work to bring them up to equivalent standards, which is presumably why
they're scheduled later, but an eye needs keeping on how much effort is
actually put into this.

In fact, it's quite clear that inner city and east end boroughs plus
Docklands have had a great deal more done for the cyclist in recent
years than us benighted west Londoners. There's actually quite a strong
correlation between Labour boroughs (Lambeth, Newham, Tower Hamlets,
B&D) and the cycle lanes Boris is relying on for the first phase of his
scheme, despite the spin that these routes are 'for the outer boroughs'.
The TfL map shows most of them penetrating only a short distance into
the outer boroughs in the main and several outer boroughs are completely
excluded (Harrow, Croydon, Bexley for instance).

One amusing one is 'Route 9', which follows the N9 bus route, mostly.
Quite who's supposed to cycle to Heathrow beats me - surely only workers
would be able to do this, and is there sufficient secure cycle parking
in such a high-security area? Jon Snow of Channel 4 News wrote in his
blog the other day that his bike is often removed by the police when he
parks it in Whitehall, on security grounds, and I can't imagine cycling
up to Terminal One and chaining your bike to the security bollards would
be looked upon with equanimity.

A final thing - TfL's cycle mapping (http://cyclemaps.tfl.gov.uk/) is
rubbish compared to people like Sustrans
(http://www.sustrans.org.uk/map?searc...archkey=London) and
Camden Cyclists (http://maps.camdencyclists.org.uk/). They appear to be
relying on public contributions rather than informing us of recommended
routes, which is again very typically Boris (cheap + individualistic +
avoids the nanny state + fundamentally not very good).

Tom