'If you want cycling improvements, you have to keep fighting for them' | Andrew Gilligan
London's Swiss Cottage to West End superhighway is the latest scheme to face opposition. For improvements such as this to succeed, continued public support is vital otherwise a naysaying minority will be the only voice heard
What is it about cycling that destroys some people's sense of proportion? As London fractionally reduces space for cars, and fractionally increases space for cyclists and pedestrians, some influential figures have quite seriously compared it to world war two.
Lord Lawson, the former chancellor of the exchequer, says that the building of segregated cycle superhighways is "doing more damage to London than almost anything since the Blitz." Nick Ferrari, the radio presenter, says that "this damned superhighway " is doing more damage to London than the Luftwaffe." The London Blitz killed 25,000 people.
Now there is another rhetorical hundred-bomber raid in progress about something which ought not to be that controversial. As part of a cycle superhighway scheme from Swiss Cottage to the West End, the Mayor and the Royal Parks are proposing to close four of the eight traffic gates to Regent's Park to motors (except between 11am and 3pm, when all eight gates would be open). You'd still be able to drive into the park at any time, but it would be harder to use it as a through route.
The idea is to restore one of the world's great parks from a rat-run for through traffic to what Nash designed it as, a place of recreation and tranquility. The scheme would also remove a particularly hideous and dangerous gyratory at Swiss Cottage, creating a new public space outside the library which people have wanted for years.
Vast numbers of non-cyclists - the millions from around the world who visit Regent's Park, and everyone who walks in Swiss Cottage - would benefit. There's even a win for motorists. Because they wouldn't have to go round the gyratory, southbound car journeys would actually be quicker. The proposals are out for public consultation until Sunday.
Alas, much of the opposition seems to be based on a largely-imagined scheme, quite different to the one we're proposing. They've even got the route wrong. An invitation to a protest meeting - sent out by a solicitor, no less - claims that Finchley Road will be "a cycle superhighway [where] you will only have access to two lanes shared with buses." The superhighway will not run on Finchley Road at any point.
The actor, Tom Conti, says the scheme will go to Brent Cross, meaning that "the whole area will be destroyed" with a "solid queue to Hatfield." It will not go to Brent Cross, or within five miles of it.
A Tory GLA candidate, Dan Thomas, says that supposed banned turns will "seal off Hampstead". Those turns will not be banned and there was never any suggestion that they would be.
