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| London cycle superhighway: Cab drivers lose legal challenge | London cycle superhighway: Cab drivers lose legal challenge |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| London taxi drivers have lost a High Court challenge which could have disrupted completion of a £47m east-west cycle superhighway. | London taxi drivers have lost a High Court challenge which could have disrupted completion of a £47m east-west cycle superhighway. |
| Two separate lanes for cyclists are planned on the Westbourne Grove to Tower Hill route. | Two separate lanes for cyclists are planned on the Westbourne Grove to Tower Hill route. |
| The Licensed Taxi Drivers' Association (LTDA) argued the lanes would take up space, causing disruption. | The Licensed Taxi Drivers' Association (LTDA) argued the lanes would take up space, causing disruption. |
| Transport for London (TfL) said they were "works of improvement" and did not need planning permission. | Transport for London (TfL) said they were "works of improvement" and did not need planning permission. |
| The LTDA asked a judge to declare that the continued construction of the segregated cycle route without planning permission "constitutes a breach of planning control". | The LTDA asked a judge to declare that the continued construction of the segregated cycle route without planning permission "constitutes a breach of planning control". |
| But Mrs Justice Patterson rejected the application. | But Mrs Justice Patterson rejected the application. |
| She ruled the TfL did not err in law "and was not irrational in reaching its conclusion that there was no significant adverse environmental effect from the proposals as a whole". | |
| Mayor's 'last hurrah' | |
| The judge also declared that while planning permission was not required for phase one of the superhighway, it may be required for other cycle superhighways or for parts of them in the future. | |
| She said: "Each scheme will need to be judged on its own facts." | |
| Steve McNamara, LTDA's general secretary, accused Mayor Boris Johnson of rushing through the scheme as an ill-judged "last hurrah" before he leaves office. | Steve McNamara, LTDA's general secretary, accused Mayor Boris Johnson of rushing through the scheme as an ill-judged "last hurrah" before he leaves office. |
| The mayor's cycling commissioner, Andrew Gilligan, said: "Once again, the courts have in the clearest terms upheld our right to improve London for cycling." | |
| He said the ruling meant "we can now be confident of finishing the Embankment-Upper Thames Street superhighway on schedule in April, finishing the whole superhighway in summer, and ending the temporary delays that have occurred as a result of the construction works". | |
| Howard Carter, general counsel at TfL, said: "The east-west cycle superhighway will make London's roads safer for all, particularly cyclists." |