TFL Cycle Superhighways

I took the tube to a meeting a couple of weeks ago.

Whilst on the way I grabbed a free newspaper- I believe one of the Evening Standard free editions?

Anyway, they had an interview with the new transport minister.

What set the tone for the piece was that Joe Murphy who wrote the article stating that the transport minister drove a Jaguar that did 145 mph whilst returning 35 mpg.

This, of course, is utter bollocks- the very worst kind of lazy journalism.

(The car might return 35mpg on the combined cycle, one thing it is never going to do is 35 mpg at 145 mph.)

Anyway, Joe Murphy continued to prove himself to have the edge of a rolling pin as he drew the transport minister out- the main news as far as we are concerned being that cyclists need to be separated from traffic, as otherwise, presumably, we could hurt ourselves.

It might benefit the transport minister to be told that cyclists are traffic.

He has certainly shown that being parachuted in at short notice from a different portfolio and speaking out before having got to grips with the new subject can be extremely counter-productive and cause considerable alarm. I do hope they brief him and give him a crash course in transport issues, about which on the present evidence he appears to know next to nothing.

I'd very much like to know did Joe Murphy become the new transport minister, like what experience did he have to apply for that position?

They're painting stuff in the middle of the lanes (CS7) so the comfort has gone from ok to bumpy.

So not safe, most of them are less than 1 metre wide and now uncomfortable.

From the TfL website:
Direct and continuous with easy to follow, clearly marked routes.
New signage, journey information and links to other cycle routes.
Improved road surfaces so you can pedal more comfortably. X
Easy to find - Will have a clear and unique identity.
Blue surfaces will also increase driver awareness. X
Safe - Will be at least 1.5m wide and provide continuous cycle lanes at junctions, advanced stop boxes, and signals.

I was amazed today to see that they have already had to dig some of this up for road works. A nice big bit of tarmac right in the middle of one of them in between Oval and Stockwell.

Doesn't bode well...

What the fuck.

it's even worse now, I've only just ridden it yester prior to South Beer (commute change to riding on the north of the rivers instead of the south), and not only more Smurf have been insert in sporadic location, but the road layout have changed.

Clapham Common for example, got narrower into a single lane instead of the double, and more island on that section of the road, not necessary a bad thing but if they're going to insert smurf on that section, it'll be pretty tight with high chance of car clipping the bike as they squeeze in the gap between a cyclist and the island.

now I defintely won't be taking that route anymore.

http://current.com/groups/on-current-tv/92489717_creating-a-bike-friendly-city.htm

vs.

Damn, that stuff in Copenhagen sounds brilliant. I like the idea of "technology" that allows riders to detect other cyclists on the route and form into peletons. Dunno if it would work, but it's a neat idea - particularly if a large group will alter the green light pattern, as implied on that site.

there's already this technology.

hi viz vests. once spotted, the peloton forms....

peleton or failoton?

http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2010/06/30/cycle-superhighways-looking-well-a-bit-rubbish/

This seems quite sensible really. Baby steps...

http://colinbuchanan.wordpress.com/2010/06/17/cycle-superhighways-%E2%80%93-yes-there-are-flaws-but-that-doesn%E2%80%99t-mean-they%E2%80%99re-all-bad/

Thanks spybot. I like this bit:

Since it is reasonably clear that there will be an increase in cycling with the combined effect of complementary and highway measures, this means there will be an increasing constituency of cyclists who will have demands on the highway. This means more and more cyclists who complain to the Mayor and Transport for London about any shortfalls they may find. So more and more pressure builds up to remedy design flaws. This in turn helps cyclists to become more and more mainstream, rivalling the car lobby, and the powers that be are boosted in their confidence to push for more cycle-friendly infrastructure.

So people pass on your comments to TfL, the Mayor etc.. document the things that are great, good, could be better.

Oh dear. Look what Roger Geffen found outside his house.

@Vee - I see what you meant (on the Brighton Womens' Ride thread) about the loose blue gravel, I had LOADS of it stuck in my tyres the other day, they've just put it in the lane on Southwark Bridge Road, and it has gone everywhere out side the lane. Loads of it. What I don't get is why they put the gravel in after making the blue lane a week or so before. Do you think the gravel is meant to be squashed into the stuff below by cycle tyres (... or heavier vehicles, who have evrey right to drive in these stupid lanes, since there is no white divider)?

And be careful people when they lanes are freshly laid the gravel fly everywhere so wear glasses!

Skully, they will eventually install dividers with dotted lines so any traffic can go in them. Then they will start painting every 5m or so a bike and also a CS7 (or whatever number you cycle superhighway is) so enjoy the bumpy ride. Then in a month's time the fantastic blue will turn to black.

They were doing the rest of Colliers Wood high street last night, blue gravel everywhere!

They've also added in dividers on the stockwell one way system, one of them is quite useful, as it stops cars that are in the 'vauxhall' lane from diving over into the 'oval' lane directly into cyclists, however it does make the lane pretty narrow (1 car width) so there is no room for escape.
The other lane at the other side of the roundabout does a similar thing, I find this less useful - also because of the lack of 'escape' options - so I'll stick to taking the wider lane with the rest of the traffic

Ed's right about the colour, everytime I see if I think of Father Abrahams.

This seems quite sensible really. Baby steps...

http://colinbuchanan.wordpress.com/2010/06/17/cycle-superhighways-%E2%80%93-yes-there-are-flaws-but-that-doesn%E2%80%99t-mean-they%E2%80%99re-all-bad/

I posted a comment which doesn't seem to have made it to that blog, and so i feel like repeating it here:

I think that blog is a pretty pathetic justification for the scheme. To summarise it's argument: don't worry that the cycle superhighways are rubbish, their main purpose is to lend credibility to a programme of cycling promotion. The plan is that all the new cyclists tempted onto the roads by the false promise of good infrastructure will add enough weight to the cause of cycling that maybe one day we'll actually get decent infrastructure...

Good infrastructure is obviously a tempting proposition, but is it really sensible to fake it with blue paint and publicity? If the complementary measures are so cost-effective, wouldn't it be better to spend the blue paint budget on them? Or pick just one or two junctions and put in actually worthwhile schemes to demonstrate that success is possible?

The blue paint risks demonstrating that cycling infrastructure can't work in London.

I've revised my position on the cycle superhighways

I like:

• Most cars stay away from them. On Sunday there was a very sad accident on Clapham Common Southside so everything was jammed but cars (apart from a BMW) kept the highway clear so I filtered nicely.
  
• Last Friday night the guys were working on the roads installing them and one of the workers gave me a very warm proud grin "I am working for you" as I went pass.
  
  

Things I don't like but will pass on my comments to TfL:

• I had 1 van and 2 cars brush against me before Stockwell which was pretty scary so in this case the blue lane did nothing
  
• some of them are full of debris and don't get cleaned
  
• nasty drains in the middle of some bits
  
• too many signs painted on them so bumpy ride
  
• and why paint lanes in parking spaces??
  

Things I don't like but will pass on my comments to TfL:

• I had 1 van and 2 cars brush against me before Stockwell which was pretty scary so in this case the blue lane did nothing
  
• some of them are full of debris and don't get cleaned
  
• nasty drains in the middle of some bits
  
• too many signs painted on them so bumpy ride
  
• and why paint lanes in parking spaces??
  

Pot holes/simple road repairs have not been filled either before painting, for example there's several deep craters (>3 inches in places) that have a nice new coat of blue in the bit of CS7 opposite Magee Street, heading South on Kennington Park Road.

They need those little audible road markings on the side that you can hear/feel when you're driving your car.

The one going south from Stockwell to Brixton would be fine, had they not just introduced a new left hand lane traffic light filter.

I know people need time to adjust to changes in junctions but I saw almost three cyclists get rear ended last night as the 'Super' Highway brings them to the front of traffic and then dumps them without clear sight of the traffic lights, directly in front of moody traffic.

I do hate the route on tooting, too many cars parked on the highway even when the White line has been painted.

What j do like is that cars are a bit more patient with me overtaking parked vehicles on the smurfway due go seeing the obvious.