A few months ago I became embroiled in the design of a section of Newcastle Council's new "red" cycle route which runs through the city centre to the Tyne Bridge.  The experience left me very disillusioned with the way that this sort of stuff is done, but at the same time convinced that the solution to getting things improved lies at a political level not in arguing with junior council officers on the ground.  This gets technical but bare with me.
 
The "red" route is pretty low quality and...