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A sixty-mile central-London network of bike lanes has been unveiled as part of Mayor Boris Johnson’s mission to “de-Lycrafy” cycling.

Riders will be able to navigate around town using cycle-friendly backstreets, to be known as “quietways”, and parks, which make up much of the cycling grid broadly covering the same area as the Underground’s Zone 1.

It will also link into the enhanced network of largely segregated superhighways on busier routes.

Cyclists using the grid will benefit from improved junctions and some new rights of way over vehicles.

They will also benefit from eye-level traffic lights and dedicated signage on the carriageway after ministers agreed to update road safety regulations last week.

Designers of the grid say it replaces the piecemeal and poorly signposted National Cycle Network and will be completely joined up to offer a safe and quiet cycle route for any journey in the centre of the capital.

Mr Johnson said: “We are creating a new network of routes for a new kind of cyclist: routes for people who want to cycle slowly, in their ordinary clothes, away from most of the traffic.

“These are your secret cycling passages through London, taking you everywhere you need to go, directly and easily, using routes you might never know existed. The Central London Grid will, I hope, de-Lycrafy the bicycle, reduce testosterone levels of cycling, and move towards a Continental-style cycling culture where cycling is normal.”

Many routes will be familiar to Londoners as they will trace existing bus and Tube routes such as the Victoria and Circle lines.

In a further attempt to boost cyclist numbers, there are plans to convert the stretch from Holborn to the Old Street roundabout for cyclists-only.

More one-way streets will be made two-way for cyclists and Tavistock Place in Bloomsbury could be closed to through-traffic.

The draft plans were published for public comment by the seven central London boroughs, the City of London, the Canal & River Trust and Transport for London.

In the next stage, the “quietways” will fan out across London with radial and orbital routes to be announced early next year. Danny Williams, author of the cyclistsinthecity blog, called the scheme a “promising first step”, saying: “It’s good to see a network of routes for cycling through central London. At the moment, for example, there isn’t a single north-to-south or east-to-west route through the West End.”

But Mr Williams queried whether “anything would be done to make these routes less attractive as rat runs for motor traffic”.

He added: “The critical issue will be how good are these routes and what will be done to make them safe, convenient and easy for everyone to use.

“It is also important that the routes are designed well where they cross big and busy junctions, or over the Thames bridges where motor traffic speeds can be fairly intimidating.

“It’s a promising first step but we need to see how prepared the Mayor and the boroughs will be to make these routes really work, or if they are just going to be some signposts on streets that are currently quite hostile to cycling.”