Good Cycling Facility of the Week: 7th August 2014
Roundabouts are often tricky for people cycling to negotiate. This week we're featuring a very simple way to design conflict out of them - direct routes for people cycling, that bypass roundabouts completely.
This cycle path in Assen runs straight out of the city, under the ring road. The roundabout on the ring road (behind the trees on the left) does not have to be dealt with, at all. In fact you might not even know it's there!
The underpass has shallow gradients for comfort, and good sight lines for social safety. No delay, no danger, and no inconvenience.
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Comments
andreengels
7 August, 2014 - 09:26
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unravelling
I think this indirectly also shows another important thing about Dutch cycling infrastructure: Unravelling. As you say, this tunnel is enabling cyclists to negotiate a roundabout, but there is not a junction in sight. The road that is 'crossed' here does not really exist for cyclists. On the other hand, the road straight ahead is a major route for cyclists, but just a minor one for drivers, and a bit further there is no road for cars going parallel any more. In Assen, and in many other Dutch cities, there is not 'a cyclepath along every major road', there is a cycling network and a car network, sometimes along the same line, but almost as often not. Bicycles have to go between the same places as cars, but not necessarily along the same routes.
David Hembrow
7 August, 2014 - 11:18
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It's a great example of
It's a great example of unravelling and also of several other principles, such as making cycle routes shorter than driving routes. There's a video which shows how this roundabout looks from both the driver's and cyclist's perspective.