Cycle lanes

Why must we let the guide dogs organisation wreck what could be the best hope for road safety and indeed the visual enhancement of our towns and cities. Why is their approach "this must be stopped!" when it could so easily be "this must be done slightly differently"?

Have they even gone to European cities that have been doing this for years to find out what the real experience is?

I don't know--you'd better ask them. I'm personally very much in favour of some kinds of de-engineering (although not others--e.g., the horrible outbreak of roundaboutism on the Continent). I also do understand the position of advocacy groups for visually impaired people. It is a complex thing and it has to be said that there is very little agreement about the best solutions. I haven't followed this closely and I don't know how much radical de-engineering (as opposed to light to moderate, as in High Street Kensington) has been done in places as busy as London--I've only seen examples from very small places. There is no question that in extremely busy places, there is a concern. It will ultimately depend on the right compromises, a lot of dialogue, and, lest we forget, following the law, which is really very good on inclusive access.