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Cycle routes in the Netherlands are intentionally designed to create a pleasant experience for the cyclist. One design element they have factored into creating this cycling route is to minimize stopping. Each time a cyclist stops and starts again, it takes a certain amount of energy to start cycling again. If there are a significant amount of stop-starts for the cyclist, this wasted energy can take a toll. Clearly in bigger cities, many stops cannot be avoided as they are necessary for the safety of the cyclist. But, in more rural areas the Dutch have created long cycle routes with very minimal stops where cyclists can remain at a constant speed without have to waste energy on stopping and starting again.
Bicycle Facilities at Roundabouts
Bicycle Facilities at Roundabouts
This is a roundabout in the city of Houten that connects the older north section of town and the newer development of the southern side. The most important part of the construction of this roundabout is how the road is going above the bicycle path. This allows free travel of bikes without any stoppage or interaction with any cars. Combing this with the addition of yield symbols (white triangles) at the entry lanes into the roundabout leads to a very safe and smooth transitions in and out of the roundabout.
Routes with Limited Stopping for Cyclist
Routes with Limited Stopping for Cyclist
Our visit to Houten was a great example of cycle routes with minimal stops. Houten is a very interesting city built in that it is built for pedestrians and cyclists instead of for the automobile. While cycling through Houten, we observed no traffic lights or stops for cyclists. This element made cycling feel very enjoyable. The city put a lot of intentional thought into design and part of this was to completely leave out the idea of automobiles using the facilities and just design and plan for cyclists and pedestrians. The result of this ideology was infrastructure built for cyclists which includes no traffic lights. Houten is an outlier in that their city is extremely progressive with cycling infrastructure, but it was amazing being able to experience the possibilities of sustainable mobility.
Entrance to a Roundabout with a Pedestrian Crossing
Entrance to a Roundabout with a Pedestrian Crossing
In the photo above are the entrance of a bike ride roundabout (red paving), a car roundabout (asphalt color), and a pedestrian crossing (white stripes). If the triangle symbols are pointed towards you on the road/path tells you to yield to oncoming modes of transport. Hence in this photo, the cars have to yield to the pedestrians and bikes, and bikes entering the roundabout have to yield to ones already within the roundabout.
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