26 May 2011
Cycling infrastructure – continental style
John Webster reports:I recently spent three weeks in The Netherlands and Belgium visiting friends and it is obvious why so many people cycle to work, to shops or to school. It is not because it is flat but because it is safe. Just about every town and village has an extensive network of traffic free cycle paths both within the town and linking one town to the next. The result is that the majority of children cycle to school. In the area where I was, in the east of The Netherlands, high school children cycle about ten miles to school along wonderful safe routes. Just look at the quality of the cycle path in the photo of the approach road the city centre of Hoogeveen, which is extensively pedestrianised.
By contrast, the Scottish Government has the laudable aim of achieving a 10% modal share for cycling by 2020. The weakness in the strategy is that it lays great emphasis on “cycle training” at schools so that children know how to behave in traffic. I suspect that no amount of traffic training is going to persuade parents to allow their children to cycle to school surrounded by buses, lorries and cars. It will never happen and it must be obvious why!
To illustrate how seriously cycling is taken on the continent, have a look at the second photo taken in the centre of Leuven in Belgium. I asked a local official what the underground construction would be when completed, just yards from the medieval town hall and church.
Believe it or not, this is an underground CYCLE park to provide better facilities for the hordes of residents who cycle into the centre for shopping or leisure.
We have a lot to learn and are, as always, about thirty years behind much of mainland Europe. We are truly an island race!