Skip to main content

London’s cycle superhighways get the go ahead

London’s streets will become more accessible for cyclists now that the Transport for London (TfL) Board has approved plans for the construction of four new cycle superhighways and upgrades to the four existing cycle superhighway routes as part of the Mayor’s Cycling Vision. The schemes, which will cost around US$243 million to deliver between now and the end of 2016, will help treble the number of cycle journeys made over the next ten years and transform London’s streets and spaces to places where cyclis
February 5, 2015 Read time: 3 mins
London’s streets will become more accessible for cyclists now that the 1466 Transport for London (TfL) Board has approved plans for the construction of four new cycle superhighways and upgrades to the four existing cycle superhighway routes as part of the Mayor’s Cycling Vision.

The schemes, which will cost around US$243 million to deliver between now and the end of 2016, will help treble the number of cycle journeys made over the next ten years and transform London’s streets and spaces to places where cyclists feel they belong and are safe.

The Cycle Superhighway programme is essential for improving conditions for the hundreds of thousands of people who are already cycling daily in London, as well as help encourage more people to take to two wheels. The new routes, which in total cross nine boroughs, will further help cycling become an integral part of London’s transport network so that anyone can jump on a bike to get to work, to the shops or to discover London. Work to deliver these schemes will now begin within the next month.

Sir Peter Hendy CBE, London’s Transport Commissioner, said: “Cycling is clearly now a major transport option in London, with over 170,000 bike journeys now made across central London every single day. These schemes will revolutionise cycling in the capital and further demonstrate how London is leading the way in making its roads safe for all road users. There will, naturally, be some disruption due to these works but we have some of the world’s leading highway and traffic engineers, traffic models and modellers working tirelessly to ensure that this is kept to a minimum.”

Chris Boardman, British Cycling’s policy advisor, said: “This vision for large-scale, properly segregated cycle ways will make cycling a more attractive transport option, creating a more pleasant, healthy and sustainable London for everyone. The move brings the capital one step closer to creating a true cycling culture to rival cities like Copenhagen and Amsterdam. But most importantly of all, it will set a standard for the rest of the country.”

A wide programme of communication and traffic management will now be carried out to ensure that these works can be delivered with minimum disruption to London’s roads. This includes further investment in sophisticated traffic signal technology, which allows better management of traffic depending on differing conditions at any given time. TfL will also work with businesses along the route to help manage deliveries in the best possible way, providing advice to enable them to move away from deliveries during the busiest times and help reduce unnecessary congestion across London.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Funding boost to cut pollution from local buses
    August 30, 2013
    Towns and cities in England are set to benefit from US$7.7 million of funding to reduce pollution from local buses, Local Transport Minister Norman Baker has announced. A total of eleven local authorities have been awarded grants from the Department for Transport’s (DfT) Clean Bus Technology Fund, which will allow almost 400 buses to be upgraded.
  • Swarco matrix signs help reduce bridge strikes at London hotspot
    March 7, 2017
    Six full colour full matrix electronic warning signs from Swarco Traffic have helped Network Rail and Transport for London (TfL) to reduce the number of oversized lorries hitting a railway bridge on London’s South Circular road by more than a third since being installed last summer. In the six-month period from January to July 2016 before the signs were introduced there were 11 crashes at the Thurlow Park Bridge in Tulse Hill. In the six months since their installation, there have only been seven inciden
  • Governments must look beyond short-term spending of public funds
    February 2, 2012
    Phil Pettitt, Chief Executive of innovITS, the UK's ITS Centre of Excellence, argues that governments need to look beyond the short-term when looking to pump-prime economic recovery with public funds. It seems, in the current economic climate, that a 'good' day is one in which no company is announcing job cuts or going into administration. Consumer demand is down and businesses are retrenching, cutting costs and fretting over the consequences of shrinking opportunities and order books. It has not been this
  • Anywhere card delivers prepaid contactless ticketing
    January 25, 2012
    David Crawford investigates a far reaching initiative in integrated travel. The Port Authority Transit Corporation (PATCO), an operator of high speed commuter rail in the north eastern US, is not one of the world's best known transit providers. Its 13 stations along a single east-west route (three of them interchanges with other regional commuter lines) handle 40,000 passengers a day, travelling to and from Philadelphia, the US' fifth most populous city.