When bike infrastructure needs to go through certain neighbourhoods – historic, governmental, ceremonial, botanical or just super-wealthy – opposition is not hard to find.
Let’s face it, in some contexts a standard separated bike lane can look rather industrial and out of place.
Central London has many of the world’s great institutions, buildings, parks and many people who simply like the historic aesthetics.
Putting in separated bike lanes with standard plastic flexi posts was not going to cut it. Oh, the ugliness!
But an architect at London firm Pitman Tozer Architects dreamed of using a more beautiful vertical delineator, one with a resemblance to a tulip.
Now the City of Westminster has launched a trial of the idea along a bike lane in Sussex Gardens.
So far it has met approval from both locals and riders.
Pitman Tozer says the project symbolises a commitment to greener, safer urban spaces, "marking a significant step towards more sustainable and visually engaging infrastructure in the city".
The tulips have been tested by having riders crash into them and have been found to be sufficiently flexible to prevent injury. And when trucks have reversed over them, they popped up again, still in bloom.
The architect talks about the concept here on Instagram.
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