TfL have just announced a consultation for the proposed CS5 from New Cross to Victoria.

TfL Consultation

They are proposing a number of mandatory cycle lanes interspersed with a what amounts to a few strips of blue paint on the road - finishing up at the Vauxhall gyratory where they encourage cyclists to cross 4 lanes of traffic to make it from one part of the cycle lane to the other.

Now, I agree that getting infrastructure in place is a good step in getting people out of cars and onto bikes - but I currently cycle to Victoria every day and go through Burgess Park and the back streets of Southwark and only have about a mile (a portion of the Old Kent Road) on main roads that I have to share with cars/trucks etc. The rest of the time I follow the existing London Cycle Network paths.

Surely the best way of encouraging more people onto bikes and avoiding the danger of traffic for both drivers and cyclists, is to not put bike lanes near heavy traffic? Am I missing something?

Also - as an aside, I have used some of the cycle superhighways quite a bit, and even thought I am what you might call an experienced cyclist, I am always a bit worried using them. They are too narrow and cars seem to swerve in and out of them at will.. not to mention the cyclists!

Does anyone else ride in the direction of Victoria each day? Will this benefit them?