Work is underway on two new Barclays Cycle Superhighways in London from Wandsworth to Westminster and Bow to Aldgate.

Two pilot routes – from Merton to the City and Barking to Tower Gateway – were launched earlier this year to, according to Transport for London, “provide cyclists with safer, faster and more direct journeys into the city.”

TfL figures suggest cycle journey have increased by 25 per cent on the existing routes, while the new Superhighways are expected to be completed by summer 2011. 

The blue lanes are at least 1.5m wide and continue through junctions, while advanced stop boxes are provided at traffic lights to get ahead of traffic. In all, 12 Superhighways are expected to be built.

TfL is also planning to install ‘Trixi’ safety mirrors at lights for HGVs, subject to a trial, while the Bow Roundabout and the junctions of Battersea Park Road and Queenstown Road, and Cambridge Heath Road and Whitechapel Road, will receive a major overhaul.

“The two pilot Superhighways routes are abuzz with cyclists following the blue lanes to get to and from work each day,” said Mayor of London Boris Johnson.

“These two new routes are set to give thousands more Londoners a taste of commuting by bicycle.

“The Superhighways are a fantastically visual reminder to all road users, not just cyclists, that London embraces cycling as an integral cog in its machine.”