TRANSPORT chiefs refuted claims the �22million cycle superhighways linking central London to the suburbs were a gimmick after revealing 80 per cent of the routes would have dedicated lanes. Cyclists dismissed the Bank to Wimbledon and Tower Hill to Bark

TRANSPORT chiefs refuted claims the �22million cycle superhighways linking central London to the suburbs were a "gimmick" after revealing 80 per cent of the routes would have dedicated lanes.

Cyclists dismissed the Bank to Wimbledon and Tower Hill to Barking cycle routes as a publicity stunt last year after Transport for London was unable to confirm how much of the routes would have dedicated lanes.

But London Mayor Boris Johnson insists the first two of 12 highways will offer "continuous" journeys into London in under an hour, as it emerged 83 per cent of the Barking track will have a 5ft wide lane when it opens this summer.

Work on the 55-minute, 7.5 mile Barking highway, starting in Movers Lane, has already begun. The Wimbledon route is being trialled this month.

The Mayor hopes the superhighway pilots and the launch of a 400-docking station cycle hire scheme based on the Parisian "Velib" this summer will hail a cycling revolution.

TfL has promised to create an extra 300 cycle parking spaces along both the pilot routes including racks near tube stations.

Businesses with more than 50 staff based within a mile of the pilot routes will also be able to bid for cycling training and cycle parking cash.

TfL is planning to create a total of 12 six- to nine-mile superhighways featuring distinctive blue lanes and prominent directions in the next five years.

Four highways from Ilford, Lewisham, Hornsey and Wandsworth are to open by October 2012 and the remaining six by 2015.