London Architecture Soon To Be Sky-High

You thought ET was the only being who could cycle in the sky? Looks like "sky-cycling" could be a viable solution to London's overcrowded streets: A renowned architect in the English capital has turned his sights from the city's buildings to its transportation infrastructure, proposing an elevated network of bike paths above London that would span the entire city.

The plan, called SkyCycle and developed by Lord Norman Foster of the architecture firm Foster + Partners, proposes to build 136 miles of bike paths above London. The paths would follow the lines of the city's existing rail networks, which were built for early steam engines and thus already avoid the steep hills and sharp curves that might make biking difficult. The project features multiple routes that intersect with each other, much like a subway map.

Foster has big hopes for SkyCycle: as proposed, each route would be able to accommodate 12,000 riders per hour and directly serve about six million of London's eight million residents with its 200 entry points. Not only would the plan be convenient for people without cars, but it would also keep them from being hit by those same cars down on the earth-roads.

Foster's firm even hopes for there to one day be "new social spaces and amenities on these cycling high streets," like cafés and stores. Imagine!

Nowhere in the proposal's press release does the firm list the prospective cost of SkyCycle. But even if it is within the city's budget, you will probably have to wait a while before you can bike your way above London's sights. It's been presented to transportation officials multiple times and continues to be reworked.

But even if it were approved tomorrow, SkyCycle is such a humongous project that it will probably be a couple of decades before it (or something like it) becomes a reality.

Still, a city in which you can bike through the sky? Book our flights now.