Thank you for doing this, Ben. I am having some difficulty posting comments on the Movement for Liveable London website at the moment, and I am like a boiling kettle with a cork in the spout.

I recently heard from Dave Horton again, and his view seems to be that "continuously gradual" improvements to the cycling environment is probably the best way to ensure that "life for cycling keeps on getting better and better", which is very much how I see it as well. His blog carries the legend, 'Remaking the world, one revolution at a time', and that has struck a particular chord with me. As you explain, "Half an eye is more useful than no eye at all, and a network which is half as good as we ideally want it to be is better than no network at all."

“Going Dutch [...] is about planning for people to have easy, safe access to wherever they want to go.” (Charlie Lloyd)

The top two cycle safety tips for visitors to Amsterdam are: know where to ride, and see the signs. Sad to tell, but following even this incredibly modest advice is far from easy in London.

TfL research [pdf] (Q7b) has established that a lack of confidence about cycling on London’s roads, for example, is less of an obstacle for people than not knowing where to cycle. This would be more than a little contentious, I have no doubt, but even so, let’s not pretend that not knowing where to cycle isn’t a problem.

That being the case, you have to wonder why it is that the London Cycling Campaign's recent response to the GLA Transport Committee's 'Investigation into Cycling' contains 42 policy recommendations, but makes no mention at all about route planning or the waymarking of routes.

Anyone interested in joining the debate will see that Mike Cavenett has made the point that my "mapping project", as LCC insist on regarding it, would do NOTHING to enhance the safety of cyclists in London.

"Here’s an example of a section of LCN+ on a busy road," Mike says, "which was analysed by our Lambeth local group several years ago, but never rectified by TfL. The outcome was that someone on a bike died there last year."

"Should LCC have gone out with picks and shovels and dug up this road ourselves? Or should we have supported Simon Parker’s plan to put coloured signs on this road, which would be otherwise untreated, so people don’t get lost but sadly still get side-swiped by fast-moving vehicles?"

Well, I know it's not perfect, but you have to start somewhere. What do you think, Charlie?

"Linda, the cyclist who witnessed the aftermath of Johannah Bailey's fatal crash on Cavendish Road and posted information on the web [see here], has begun a campaign for improvements to the cycle provision [at this location].

"She suggested that an off-carriageway cycle track would improve conditions. She was astounded to be told that a track already existed! The routeing is obscure, the surface is not well marked and the signposting is misleading. All this was noted in the 2008 CRISP study. She and 80% of the cyclists using the route had no idea that an alternative was available."

Funny, but when LCC launched their version of the London Cycle Map, they understood very well what the point of such a "mapping project" was. As Koy Thomson explained at the time, "The endgame is not the map, but the prioritisation, completion and signage of an effective London Cycle Network." But when I say it, which I have done I don't know how many times, they become hard of hearing.

Herefollows a selection of comments about their version of the LCM from their website:

This is a start but it is essential for the BikeGrid to be extended to the whole of London. The routes should have a maximum speed limit of 20mph.
Dr A Shah

This sounds like an amazing idea which will benefit all who cycle around the capital.
Eileen Perrier

Using roads to keep costs down may be politically realistic but hugely reduces chance of getting significant switch to bikes. LCC should put more emphasis on reserved tracks; you're over-influenced by sportif bikers, and do not appreciate how far merely functional bikers and would-be bikers are deterred by the stress of being constantly at risk.
Margaret Dickinson

London needs a decent bike grid in its central area now that the number of cyclists is so enormous. We must press hard for its adoption before the Olympics in 2012.
Richard Aikens

Seems an excellent idea and timely. Impossible to comment on the actual grid unless you give us access to a more detailed map of it.
John Broad

Amazing a world-class city like London doesn't have this already. I hope TfL listens.
Julie Thomas

Sounds like a good idea in theory, but actually I think cyclists are safer when there are lots of us, and we are on the roads, where of course we have a legitimate right to be. How do we balance getting lots of people on bikes by getting them to realise it really isn't dangerous, and not making it more dangerous by getting us 'out of the way' on separate tracks?
Dan Levy

@Dan Levy The BikeGrid is formed largely around calming existing roads in central London, rather than building new segrated facilites.
Mike Cavenett, LCC communications officer

This brings us to the crux of Mike's argument:

"A brief look at the map sees coloured lines running through some of the most dangerous junctions in London with no clue as to how to make them safe for cyclists. The whole idea presupposes that this map will in some way ‘complete’ LCN+, which is ridiculous to anyone who knows LCN+ is only 60% complete, with the 40% unfinished creating the worst barriers to cycling.

"This was the London Cycle Map’s flaw in 2006, and this is its flaw now."

I think I am going to leave that thought hanging, as it were, because I would like to establish that there is nothing else wrong with my proposal first. Assuming not, perhaps we can take a more considered look at this after a period of reflection.

Sorry, but none of the hyperlinks have worked ...

http://thinkingaboutcycling.wordpress.com/
http://lcc.org.uk/articles/lcc-submits-policy-recommendations-to-gla-tra...
http://goamsterdam.about.com/od/gettingaroundamsterdam/a/top10bikesafety...
http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/business/docs/Docs%202011/cycling%20powerpoints%20... research
http://www.lambethcyclists.org.uk/2011/08/cavendish-road-cycle-lane-acti...
http://lcc.org.uk/articles/cyclist-killed-on-stretch-of-clapham-cycle-ro...
http://cycling-intelligence.com/2011/08/19/death-trap-in-lambeth-tfl-in-...
http://lcc.org.uk/articles/lcc-presents-zone-1-bikegrid-plan-to-tfl-cycl...
http://www.bikemapper.org.uk/network-map