But there are very few cases in which this would be possible unless you tunnelled to make an underground cycle network, built flyovers for an over head network or banned motor vehicles from roads in built up areas. There’s a very good reason why major cities have underground rail systems, having two completely independent transport networks on the same level is just not possible.
Yes, a completely car free cycle network would be safer then shared use roads, but so would a traffic free foot network, should we also be campaigning for footbridges on every street so that pedestrians don’t need to mix with traffic when they cross the road?
If the driving culture doesn’t change then there is no practical improvement to the infrastructure that would make cycling into a mode of transport that is perceived as being safe, on the other hand if the driving culture did change so that road users generally treated each other with respect then that would make cycling feel sufficiently safe.
Without the change in culture pushing for dedicated cycle routes risks reinforcing the feeling that cyclists should stick to cycle paths (it’s strange that the people that think that don’t also feel that motor vehicle should be limited to motorways). As things stand if you want to make cycling safer then your best bet would be to push for a change in the attitudes of all road users even though that would be much harder to achieve. The problematic defeatist attitude is thinking “that’s just how people are” and pushing for an improvement in infrastructure instead of trying to tackle the root of the problem.
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