Cycle Superhighway 5 update

TfL has been rather quiet about the planned Cycle Superhighway 5... 

In an attempt to squeeze some more details about this from TfL, I made a Freedom of Information request, and got the response copied below. 

Sadly, the details about the delays and new timetable hasn't revealed much new, but the financial breakdown is certainly new to me. 

Only 57% of the £15 million budget will be spent on the infrastructure for CS5.  Over £2,350,000 is being spent on design work, but the initial designs were so bad, they have been chucked in the bin.  

The new plan to put in green painted lanes then change them to blue later will probably eat up even more of the infrastructure budget.  

It really is time for TfL to stop dithering and get on with this.  If they listened to cyclists and used tried and tested Dutch designs in the first place, more could be spent on the decent infrastructure we need so urgently.   

Here's the response:

1.    What are the reasons for the delays in completing CS5?

We have decided to postpone the full opening of the New Cross – Oval section of CS5 until we have finalised our previously announced plans for semi-segregation. Semi-segregation will see all the bus and mandatory cycle lanes on this part of the route separated from the general traffic using measures such as cats’ eyes, rumble strips, traffic ‘wands’, or a combination. Semi-segregation is not being done immediately as we are trialling which form of separation works best.

The blue surfacing and signage associated with Barclays Cycle Superhighways will therefore not be delivered as part of the first phase of work. We will however complete a number of previously announced road layout changes in this area, by March 2014.  These changes include new cycle and bus lanes, road resurfacing, and new junction layouts.  We will review these layouts as part of our work to install semi-segregation, to see if they can be even further improved for cyclists. Green cycle surfacing will be used until this part of the route is ready to be opened as a Barclays Cycle Superhighway.

We will also implement the new and extended 20mph speed limits in Camberwell town centre and New Cross respectively early this year. Additionally, we are proposing a new 20mph speed limit in Peckham town centre, and will consult on this in the spring.

As previously announced, we are substantially upgrading the previous proposals for the Oval – central London section of CS5.

2.    What is the projected delivery timetable for CS5?

The future delivery timescale is not yet confirmed as this will depend on the extent of proposals for the Oval to central London section, and the response we receive to public consultation. We plan to start the public consultation by summer 2014.

3.    Please provide a breakdown of the expenditure for CS5, noting in particular how much of the total budget will be spent on infrastructure. 

The CS5 cost estimate covering New Cross to Central London is:

Activity	Cost (£m)
Infrastructure design	£2.35
Construction	£8.65
Powers and Consents	£0.01
Marketing	£0.17
Supporting Measures	£1.34
Staff costs	£0.92
Total Base Cost	£13.45
Risk	£1.73
Estimated Final Cost	£15.18

What do you think?  Am I being unreasonable about this?  Should it really take over £2.3 million to design one cycle route?!