During my hols I cycled into Sofia a few times. The municipality is currently extending their metro system (on time and on budget) and after digging the tunnels, they renovate the boulevards above, with fresh new tarmac and.....I was amazed to see.....SEGREGATED CYCLE LANES. This is quite incredible given that Sofia is not the most cycle friendly city. That is changing, and fast!
If they can do this in a country with a GDP per head just over a third of the UK's there is really NO EXCUSE. Edinburgh can do it too: but political will is required.
As you can see, the lanes are incomplete but I imagine they will be extended soon: I saw work continuing on building more. They might not be quite up to Dutch standards, but for a Balkan country the quality, and speed of implementation is impressive. The mayor of Sofia is planning a network of radial routes throughout the city of 1.2 million people (approx.)
Oh and despite appearances I did see quite a lot of cyclists using them...
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