This week's Good Facility illustrates the principle of safe design at side roads, and how to minimise the risk of collisions between turning traffic, and people cycling straight ahead.
One of the best ways of lowering risk is to minimise the number of turning events that are taking place, by ensuring that side roads are only used to access a small number of properties, not as routes to elsewhere. This is the case with this particular side road, Otterstraat, which (thanks to some bollards) makes no sense to drive onto in a motor vehicle unless you are visiting the street itself.
It then remains to ensure that the drivers who are turning into the side road give way to people cycling. This should be achieved (as in this example) with clear visual priority. The cycleway is a distinct colour, and continuous across the mouth of the junction. It is clear who should be giving to whom.
This cycleway isn't 'set back' from the road, but it is at a raised level, with a sharp ramp that drivers must negotiate, meaning that they are forced to drive slowly across the cycleway, and continuous footway. Even if a driver makes a mistake, it will happen at a slow speed.
Comments
Prof.I.Etsen
18 February, 2016 - 16:15
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"No set back"
This is a very good example of visual and physical indicators of priority. However I would question the "no set back".
The lane next to the cycle path is marked as a bus lane ("lijn bus" is marked on the road next to the van). Buses won't turn into Otterstraat and so other traffic will use this lane effectively as a "set back".