London Mayor Boris Johnson's ambitious plan to reshape how the city handles cyclist traffic got final approval Wednesday, clearing the way for the spread of segregated bike lanes and dedicated traffic signals. Johnson plans to create a network for cyclists that rivals the city's transit system.
"The board of Transport for London approved a plan to spend £160m (around $240 million) on segregated bike lanes," Britain's ITV reports. "The biggest investment will be on two controversial 'cycle superhighways' running east-west and north-south through central London."
Overall, London plans to invest more than $6 billion in its Road Modernization Plan, which includes everything from replacing streetlights to revamping tunnels.
The city says 84 percent of the 21,500 people who responded to the cycling proposal were in favor (public opinion polls showed less enthusiasm, with 64 percent in favor). And new figures that were released this week that showed cycling, already popular in London, had grown in popularity another 10 percent, marking a fifth consecutive quarter of record gains.
"These amazing numbers show how cyclists are becoming ubiquitous in London and prove, if further proof were needed, why we need to crack on with catering for them," Johnson said earlier this week.
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