Good Cycling Facility of the Week: 28th July 2016

This week's Good Facility is slightly unusual.

Nothing wrong with the cycling infrastructure itself - a standard, Dutch uni-directional cycleway, with forgiving kerbing and good separation from parked vehicles between the cycleway and the road.

The cycleway is unusual, however, because it shouldn't be needed on this category of road - an access road, with a 30 km/h limit. These are the kinds of roads in the Netherlands that are designed purely to allow access to properties along them, and consequently have very low levels of motor traffic (as can be seen in the photograph). There is therefore no particular need for a separated cycleway, with only a small number of drivers, travelling at low speeds. (Indeed, in the opposite direction, there is no cycleway - only a painted lane on the road).

But for whatever reason - perhaps a change at the planning stage - the cycleway has been built here, to a high standard, and is consequently used by everyone, despite not being particularly necessary.