Bicycle Expressways - Dutch Style

With the motor vehicle boom of the mid-20th century, the Federal government funded the creation of the Interstate System to connect cities with highways that had lanes separated from the existing street network with limited access points. This encouraged more driving from city to city as the highways shaved off much travel time due to fewer stops and congestion. The bicycle-friendly Dutch have now created the equivalent for bicyclists with the Bicycle Expressway.

So what does a bicycle express way look like? See the photo which comes from a short film (in Dutch, of course) on Fietsersbond, the bicycle advocacy group of The Netherlands. The bicycle expressway is built similar to the U.S.'s highways with limited access points, protective railings, raised surface, and lighting. A few obvious differences being the width of the bicycle expressway is not quite two lanes of a highway and there are no speed limit signs on the expressway as you're lucky to reach 20 mph with a backwind.

According to Fietsersbond, the Dutch Parliament recently "allocated 10 million euro ($13.6 million) extra for the project "With the Bike, Less Congestion", proposed by Fietsersbond in association with the national highway ministry and provincial and local governments." This amount is for the realization of bicycle expressways between two sets of cities, totaling 25 miles.

With the present bicycle boom in the U.S. and more people riding bicycles for transportation purposes, there will come a time in America, if it hasn't already arrived in many cities across our country, for intercity and intracity bicycle expressways like the Dutch already have visioned.

by Paul DeMaio, BikeArlington

Comments

[Tom]

Hi! As of May 2009 there is a new web site devoted to the discussion of the bicycle expressways concept. One of the proposals is for building transparent canopies over BikeXWays for protection from the weather. This leads naturally to a need for ventilation, which in turn suggests providing a steady low-speed tailwind for the riders. Please check out http://www.bikeXways.org

[Dave Reid]

It would be a good start if cities across the U.S. would more broadly begin building "cycle tracks" within city limits and then maybe consider these bike "freeways".