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Boris Johnson today hailed a “big day for cycling” as he began construction work on the first of two flagship segregated cycle superhighways in central London.

The Mayor was at the controls of a JCB at St George’s Circus as the conversion of Blackfriars Road from a car-dominated street into what Transport for London dubbed an “urban boulevard”, with protected space for cyclists and extra room for pedestrians got underway.

The North-South superhighway linking Elephant and Castle and King’s Cross is due to open next April, with its southern section finished by the end of the year.

Work will begin next month on the East-West superhighway linking Westbourne Grove and Tower Hill via Victoria Embankment.

“I know a lot of people thought this would never happen - and a small number of people didn’t want it to happen. But it is happening, and London will be better as a result.

“Getting more people on their bikes will reduce pressure on the road, bus and rail networks, cut pollution, and improve life for everyone, whether or not they cycle themselves.”

TfL has also begun work on the upgrade of Cycle Superhighway 2 from Aldgate to Bow and the new Cycle Superhighway 5 from Oval to Pimlico. Some sections of the routes will open by the Autumn. City Hall wants them to be completed before the Mayor leaves office in May next year.

The superhighway will run via Ludgate Circus, where two cyclists, Victor Manuel Ben Rodriguez and Janina Gehlau, were killed in collision with turning HGVs last year.