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small percentage of people who currently like to cycle fast
Having asked 'how' peoples desire for a fast, direct route is deployed in this kind of argument, you've just made my point for me.
Pro segregation writers have used this reductio ad absurdem technique - people arguing against them just want to 'go fast' and can therefore be discounted. However as was shown above, and particularly by the suggestion that protected routes should go along main roads, rather than back streets, I think the idea of having a fast and direct journey is actually a consideration for many people, including some who favour segregation.
From what I've seen in London creating a path alongside a busy arterial route is always likely to bring cyclists into conflict with roads feeding into that arterial route, pedestrians, bus stops etc and is therefore an inferior approach to creating a quiet, direct route on roads parallel to the main one. It's both safer and, yes, faster.
In response to the various other posts I think my pro-segregation thoughts can be summarise fairly simply: