Zac Goldsmith, the Conservative candidate for the London Mayoral elections in May, has spoken about the capital’s cycle superhighways and his opinions differ greatly to those of the incumbant Tory mayor.

By the time the new Mayor of London gets their hands on the keys to City Hall, five of the cycle routes – many including segregated lanes – will be completed and fully operational. The road works associated with their construction will be gone leaving only sheer weight of traffic to contribute to congestion.

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LBC’s Nick Ferrari questioned Goldsmith on the cycle lanes in a radio interview on February 9. Goldsmith said that the cycleways will be judged on “impact on emergency services, the basis of traffic flow, on the basis of how many cyclists use them…”.

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Here the MP for Richmond Park mentioned quietways as an alternative for cyclists, something he has pushed previously.

He went on to say that if the new infrastructure was working then he’d feel obliged to promote it.

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At this point Ferrari cut back in with other scenarios that might lead Goldsmith to renounce the cycle superhighways.

“Perhaps the fire brigade point to a fire they weren’t able to attend, or the police couldn’t move her Majesty the Queen safely… would you rip them up?” The presenter asked.

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To which Goldsmith replied, “if the evidence showed that they didn’t work then you’d have no choice but to rip them up.

“But I hope they do work, I hope it’s a successful experiment, but we’ll see. But you have to approach this practically, not in a sort of religious manner.”