SUPERHIGHWAY CYCLING
14 Dec 2016
Taking a leaf out of the town-planning book of countries like Denmark and The Netherlands, London’s Mayor is making plans to implement two superhighways for cyclists into the city of London.
London’s mayor has announced an ambitious plan to ramp up cycling in the city to help reduce gridlock and smog. Including two superhighways in the plan, Sadiq Khan wants to enable 1.5 million bike trips daily over the next 10 years, a goal to which he has allocated £770 million. The mayor said bicycling should be the “safe and obvious choice for Londoners of all ages and backgrounds.”
Khan has said he wants to be London’s most pro-biking mayor ever, but he’s encountered criticism that he hasn’t been as daring in building new cycling routes as previous mayor and Brexit campaigner Boris Johnson. Putting those criticisms to rest, the mayor’s office recently issued a press release announcing the significant amount of spending planned to make cycling more popular in the city.
The £770 million amounts to around £17 per person each year. This is roughly equivalent to what bike-friendly countries like Denmark and the Netherlands spend on their cycling infrastructure.
The two new bike superhighways, called CS4 and CS9, would have their own traffic lights and be separated from cars by curbs. CS4 will allow bikers to travel from Tower Bridge to Greenwich, while CS9 would connect Olympia and Hounslow.
In a statement, Khan said, “Making cycling safe and easier can provide huge benefits for us all – improving our health, cleaning up our toxic air, and helping tackle congestion…And unlike the previous Mayor, we will continue to focus on how we can minimise disruption and congestion as we push ahead with the construction of new cycling infrastructure.”