Cycle Superhighway

I love cycling and have worked on cycling schemes with the mayors office as well as ridden london for several years. I rode along the cycle superhighway to balham - cant remember which one and I was scared sh*tless - cars didnt pay any attention to it at all and I had several near misses...when my normal journeys have had little incident.

They should have kept it the green colour as i worry these are seen to be replacing the normal cycle routes as the funding to maintain the cycle paths has been withdrawn at a time it is becoming more and more popular (especially for us bermondsey lot who have a shut tube most weekends!. I fear in a few years we will be left with big blue lines on dangerous roads and no other cycle paths.

Got my first puncture on this bike this morning after 4 years. I was on the blue section of SBR and thought the odd sound was coming from a van in front. The tyre was embedded with blue grains of grit but that can't have caused the blowout. Had to google 'how to fix a puncture'.
Fortunately it's the front wheel with a 'quick release', don't fancy tackling the rear with the chain and gears. Instead of repairing the puncture might as well buy a new tube. You'd have thought someone would invent a puncture proof tyre.

Keyworth Street:
http://realcycling.blogspot.com/2010/07/more-thin-stuff-on-cs7.html

Phoney, you might want to look at getting a pair of these to save the hassle of punctures:

http://www.pocket-lint.com/review/2192/specialized-armadillo-tyres-cycling-puncture

You can also get tyre sealant which expands to fill any puncture on the go. Never used it mind, but I can imagine its pretty messy when you finally come to change the inner tube.

Re. Kenworth Street.

This makes me angrier than a daily mail reader in whoes just found out their new neighbours are gay asylum seeking Muslim House music DJs from somalia, who are claiming the rent on housing benefit...

That road layout is illegal and should be impossible.

I've just this minute walked past a team of roadworkers on Southwark Bridge Road (near the junction of Great Suffolk Street) reducing the width of the CSH by a good 6". I asked one of the team "What's gone wrong?". "What's gone right?" was the reply. The CSH had been painted too wide and had to be reduced in width.... using a mammoth bit of machinery on wheels that costs £4,000 a night to hire!

Such a nice new cycling logo on SE1 homepage couldn't resist an animation.

jamesup wrote:

I'm now totally confused - the solid line indicates it is legally enforceable (24/7 unless future signage says otherwise).
BUT the single yellow means you can park in it after 7pm and on Sundays...

Does anyone know what the operating hours of the cycle lane are? Also, according to the council website single line is just Mon-Fri 8.30-6.30pm so ok to park on Saturdays AND Sundays.

Like anything new, it will take time for people to adjust. That is once the rules are established. Cycle lanes work so well in Denmark, Germany etc, so why not here?

As I understand it there are no special rules for this new blue stretch of the road meaning that if there's a solid white line, cars should not cross it, if there's a broken white line, cars are advised to give the space to cyclists if possible and otherwise park in it whenever the relevant no parking indications are not in force.

I don't cycle but I do drive and I think this is a waste of money and mostly a PR exercise. It would be better to make this a true freeway, meaning cars can never encroach, or not do anything. all we have now is a new colour scheme and some wider lanes. Would the money not have been better spent providing real protection to cyclists at pinch and danger points rather than painting the road a colour which remarkably is the same as the Barclays logo (funny that).