Richard Fairhurst wrote:To be fair (not that I'm particularly inclined to be fair to organisations seeking to induce yet more car demand), the new Highways England cycle design strategy and guidance are pretty good:
As you say, it's all in the execution. When they build roads for cars, the only way they have to make sure that the new roads are used is to make them more attractive than the alternative. The danger is that, in building routes for bikes, they build something totally useless for actually getting anywhere, and then use legislation to force bikes onto it.
If a bike route is the more attractive option, few cyclists will decline it - but travelling somewhere has different requirements from pottering with the kids.