London’s only SUPER Cycle Superhighway: The Embankment section of CS3

If you would like to do an assessment of the Embankment Section of East-West Cycle Superhighway CS3, please retain your impartiality by doing the assessment before reading the post or watching the video.  List of 18 London cycling posts and videos.

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The Embankment section of Cycle Superhighway CS3 between Westminster Bridge and Blackfriars Bridge is super:

• Aesthetically, this is one of the best parts of Central London’s riverside landscape
• The cycle path runs in the dappled shade of London planes
• You see sunlight flickering on the water, boats chugging past, seabirds enjoying life – and an occasional represenative of the swans for which the river was famous in the Middle Ages
• You see famous monuments, including the Palace of Westminster, the Battle of Britain Memorial and a three and half thousand year old Egyptian Obelisk from Heliopolis – Cleopatra’s Needle
• The mingling of cyclists, runners and pedestrians can have the gaiety of a corniche

Cyclists may even enjoy the sight of stationary limos trying to take fat cats from their plush homes in Chelsea to their plush offices in the City and Canary Wharf. The Embankment section of the superhighway also does well on functional criteria

• It is the pleasantest, healthiest, fastest, cheapest and most direct way of travelling from Westminster to Blackfriars
• There are no junctions where motor vehicles cross the cyclepath
• There is often a colourful line of parked coaches protecting the cycle route from traffic nuisance

But few things are perfect in this life. The fumes from motor vehicles are a drawback and TfL should not have created interruptions in the form of unnecessary traffic lights and ski jumps. Where did the idea come from? What research is being done to assess their effectiveness? How easy would it be to remove them?