Green Assembly Member Darren Johnson criticises the Mayor of London for failing to spend half of his budget for Superhighways with only the first four to be completed by the end of his term.
CS7 on Clapham Road, photograph courtesy of Stephen Craven.
An update provided by Transport to London to the London Assembly budget committee has given a clear picture of what the Mayor will have delivered by the end of his term of office in May 2016.
Only around half of the total budget for Superhighways (£209m) will have been spent by May 2016. Only the first four superhighways, which were initially created by painting blue lanes on the road but are now being re-engineered, will be completed by the end of the Mayor’s term in office:
- CS2 from Stratford to Aldgate
- CS2 extension – complete
- CS3 from Barking to Tower Gateway
- CS7 from Merton to The City
- CS8 from Wandsworth to Westminster
The following may be completed by May 2016:
- East-West from Acton to Tower Hill (leaving the bit going to the Westway)
- North-South from Kings Cross to Elephant and Castle (leaving Farringdon to Kings Cross)
The following are not currently scheduled for completion until after the next Mayoral election:
- CS1 and CS11 due to be built by autumn 2016.
- CS4 extensions finished by 2017 (Tower Bridge to Woolwich)
- CS5 – Outer section complete, but Inner extension now in public consultation.
After questioning from Green Party AM Darren Johnson, it was revealed last month that a 12th superhighway, CS6, which was initially expected to run from Penge to the City, has now been dropped from the programme.
Despite this, Boris Johnson today claimed at Mayor’s Questions that “eleven [superhighways are] completely or virtually completed” and the other would be “unstoppable”.
Darren Johnson commented, “We need to put a stop to cyclist deaths and serious injuries on our roads and the first step to doing this is to push through the plans for cycling superhighways, including segregated cycle lanes. If the price of safer cycling is an increase in minor delays for motorists, then we should have no hesitation in creating Dutch style cycle lanes.
“I am concerned that Transport for London and the Mayor are acting so slowly to create safe spaces for cycling. All of these plans need to be fast tracked. Every delay in the superhighways and safer junctions potentially could costs lives and risk further injuries. That is simply not acceptable.”
Please note that this article has been corrected to state that only 4/12 CSs will be completed. Apologies for the previous error.