You are reading a single comment by @charlie_lcc and its replies.
Click here to read the full conversation.
London Fixed Gear and Single-Speed is a community of predominantly fixed gear and single-speed cyclists in and around London, UK.
This site is supported almost exclusively by donations. Please consider donating a small amount regularly.
hoefla
@charlie_lcc
War on the Superhigways.
Ever since the plans for the East-West and North-South Cycle Superhighways were announced there has been concerted opposition from a group of the rich and powerful in London.
Due to cyclists' lobbying the Mayor made a very strong political commitment to provide high quality 'continental' style cycling infrastructure in London. Given the astoundingly poor quality of what he did in the first four years we have been waiting for a long time to see something better.
The East-West cycle superhighway is the best we are likely to see in this Mayoral term yet this route is now under highly charged attack from some sections of big business. A succession of very negative stories has appeared in the Evening Standard and other journalists have copied these without checking the facts.
Yesterday Transport for London published their traffic impact analysis of the east-west and north-south routes. The Evening Standard picked the very worst case scenario and headlined it in a way that mis-represented what the TfL reports actually say. LCC commented that the superhighways are essential to keep London moving.
Danny Williams has blogged giving an excelent analysis of the arguments being put up by a big property company. He has posted a copy the 'briefing note' they have been using to stir up anger and opposition - it is worth reading to see how they are arguing for a 4 lane highway along Thames st and Victoria Embankment to ensure London can handle international road freight efficiently.
There is an explicit threat that these people will use the judicial review process to block the Mayor from delivering on his electoral promises. It is beginning to look like war.
Some of the biggest businesses and employers are fighting back, supporting the new superhighways in a campaign organised by cyclingworks.london . This has become a major political battle. It is essential that as many people as possible support the TfL plans. You can use the LCC web link to do that and get your employer to support the plans using cycleworks.london