The impact of the London Mayor’s bike master plan – priced at over a billion pounds – is beginning to register.
From Spacing:
The plan includes a 117 km “crossrail for the bike” that will be mostly Dutch-style segregated lanes connecting east and west of the city. The path includes 21 km of underground tunnel through central London.
There will be semi-segregated lanes along certain streets, and signposts designating “quiet ways” along back streets.
“The Westway, the ultimate symbol of how the urban motorway tore up our cities, will become the ultimate symbol of how we are claiming central London for the bike,” said the Mayor.
Here’s a concept animation of the planned cycle boulevard:
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Boris seems to have the same vision and dedication as Robertson. I wish more mayors around the world were like this.
Sorry, Chris: Boris’ vision and dedication eats Gregor’s for breakfast. I recommend this excellent series by Luke Brocki, beginning with “I Bragged about Vancouver Cycling and Global Experts Laughed” http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2012/07/11/Vancouver-Cycling/
That said, the embankment animation above made me think of our own seawall, and Boris’ Quietways sound a lot like our Greenways, so I took the opportunity to praise Vancouver’s cycle-friendly streets here: http://helmetchoice.ca/post/45230265877/vancouver-already-boasts-boris-best-bits
I know Richard Campbell (and the laughing Velocity visitors quoted above) like to point to Gregor’s re-election as political support for safe streets, but I still feel like Boris can be this rhetorically and fiscally bold because bikeshare invited non-cyclists onto two wheels. On the contrary, Vancouver (and Gregor – see his garb here: http://www.theurbancountry.com/2011/04/dont-judge-canada-velo-city-global-2012.html) remains firmly stuck in the niche sports paradigm, much to its shame.