New traffic calming and cycle lane on Sydenham Hill

[Siduhe]

I have mixed views on this. I'm a regular cyclist and occasional driver - strongly in favour of road infrastructure that encourages sensible cycling and car use, but I'm not a fan particularly of entirely segregated infrastructure like this.

Segregated cycle lanes are really important where there is heavy cycle use and/or danger to cyclists from the existing road layout - the changes at Blackfriars Bridge for example - where several cyclists have been killed in the last ten years. But I firmly believe the best thing to do to encourage long term change to cycling for short journeys is to put infrastructure in place that can be shared fairly between road users and particularly to teach cyclists how to ride safely in traffic and car users how to share space with cyclists.

I've said this on here before - the single best thing I did when I started cycling was one of the Southwark return to cycling lessons. That and starting to cycle more regularly in traffic has made me a confident cyclist who can ride in traffic, share space with cars and not ride like an idiot. Touch wood, I've never had a near miss with a car, and most car drivers are actually really considerate of cyclists in our area. I can't say the same for near misses and hits by other cyclists, in particular the charming man who rear ended me because I stopped (pretty slowly) at a red light a few months ago who I thought was physically going to punch me for interrupting his high speed peloton to work. My commute has several segregated parts to it and a couple of those I have to ride defensively on as they either have high speed FKWs racing each other in, or people riding three abreast and rolling on and off pavements like it's a country lane.

This strikes me as an ideal road to put some semi-segregated infrastructure in- - do the bits that support those parts of the road which are rightly called out in the report for being potentially unsafe for cyclists, while not getting rid of all the parking and/or causing issues for residents which are highlighted by some of the replies by putting in an entirely segregated lane when the benefit isn't clear in terms of need or use.

It's instructive if you look at the postcode analysis in the report too. Most people who live in the area either do not support the current scheme or only support with changes. The vast majority of people who are being relied to show majority support for this scheme do not live in the area. That's when these schemes end up being unpopular and not useful - when they override the legitimate concerns of people who live locally while pushing through something that ultimately isn't going to work, for that reason.