Jeremy Vine Speaks About The Cycle Superhighway

Broadcaster appears before the GLA Transport Committee

Local BBC broadcaster and pro-cycling enthusiast Jeremy Vine has given his thoughts on cycling including the controversial CS9 proposed for his neighbourhood.

Jeremy was speaking to the GLA Transport Committee this week .

He said that having spent years on buses, tubes and taxis, when he started cycling it was 'like flying'.

But the lack of infrastructure for cyclists concerned him and he was concerned about how safe young people would be such as his thirteen year old daughter. Could he get his 13 year old safely to cycle from Chiswick to Trafalgar Square and he believed it was not safe for her to do so.

Referring to the local controversy about the cycle superhighway, he said that the CS9 plans were "dumped on Chiswick and the idea was we get some sort of consensus and then they build it. That's never going to happen."

When you don't have consensus you have to lead and that is the role of politicians, he commented. He said he a local councillor had suggested to him that his daughter could cycle on the pavement from Chiswick to central London, when he queried how she could do so safely, but he thought not. The segregated lane along the Embankment was an example of "the dream" highway for cyclists, a north-south and an east-west would be lovely but he would put up anything that takes people out of real danger.

He described Hammersmith Broadway for a cyclists as "like going into the seventh circle of hell". Kensington High Street was also problematic.

"I'm not asking for the world could we just have the one route, that's all. "

Jeremy's comments have led to reaction on our forum which you can read here.

February 24, 2018