In an ideal world Peter Murray would be London mayor, and we would have a fantastic cycling city. Alas, we have to settle for his energy and intellect be channeled through the London Festival of Architecture (don’t miss the bicycle tours)
Last night, Rebecca Hossack (who would also get our vote to lead this city), hosted the launch party of an intriguing exhibition at her gallery. Peter Murray has created a set of works, each one depicting a London neighbourhood and its one-way street grid. Subtitled “A Polemic in Maps”, the exhibition highlights the artificial maze that car-centric planners impose on bicycle riders.
In the image above, where our shop is located, Murray has actually been artistically benign; our street has actually six different inversions (pedestrianised, one way North, one way South, one way North, one way South, two ways). Just one example that the Highway Code is a piece of apartheid legislation forced on us by idiots, and best ignored.
How can TfL think that people who don’t generally cycle, will pick up a Velib bike, and then unable to ride ‘legally’ on quiet streets, recommend it to their friends? Wouldn’t the tens of millions of pounds spent on a copy-cat experiment be better spent on improving the comfort and safety of people riding their bicycles?
This is the difference between how one way streets are designed in the UK vs. in the Netherlands.
Here, they serve cyclists who can always go both ways, and therefore provide useful through routes by bike. On the other hand, it’s made impossible to travel through the one-way area by motor vehicle, so any cars you meet genuinely are there for access only.
The result is that while cycling allows one to make direct uninterrupted journeys, drivers have to stick to the main roads, making longer journeys and going through many sets of traffic lights.