Jul

23

Cycle Tracks and Seattle, Part 1: But the Danes can do it!

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The Green Wave in Copenhagen from Copenhagenize on Vimeo.

If you were unable to make it to our brown bag lunch forum on urban cycling infrastructure yesterday, Seattle Bike Blog has you covered with reflections and further explorations — in a multi-part series, no less!

After attending the Great City brown bag this afternoon, I decided Seattle bikers need to take a closer look at cycle tracks and work to better define what we need and what will work best for our city. Cycle tracks may or may not fit those criteria. But the worst thing we can do is build an unsafe bike facility. Now is the time to get this right. So, for installment one, I look at Copenhagen … and how it is not Seattle:

Do you have Copenhagen Envy? Does the idea of a city-wide network of cycle tracks filled with people of all ages and walks of life moving around the city on two wheels and zero carbon emissions fill your body with lust and arouse you almost to the point of exploding? Well, if you get to know Copenhagen a little more, you might find that your fantasy partner and you do not have all that much in common, after all.

This is (sort of) the point Great City brought up at the brown bag discussion today. With separated bike facilities proposed for Broadway (maybe Yelser, too) and Dexter, now is a really good time to take a closer look at the cycle track and try to decide if it is the best fit for Seattle. More…

Comments

3 Responses to “Cycle Tracks and Seattle, Part 1: But the Danes can do it!”

  1. Jay Standish on July 23rd, 2010 2:45 pm

    I wish I could have been there!

    I’m touring around Europe right now gleaning insights from their sustainability movement to bring home to Seattle. And one thing about the most bikable cities -Copenhagen, Amsterdam, and Berlin- is that they are REALLY FLAT.

    So that makes cycling all over the city possible without sweating.

    Its also REALLY EXPENSIVE TO HAVE A CAR in almost any European city, particularly for parking, and also to buy gas, and the car in the first place.

    Not sure if we’re going to succeed in making cars expensive, but I wonder if there are any creative ways to deal with the steepness issue. Special streetcars to shuttle bikers up hills? Rope-tows? Bike-escalators?

  2. Jeff H on July 23rd, 2010 3:08 pm

    Trondheim, Norway has installed a bicycle lift up a steep hill which links its university with its downtown. The mechanics looks remarkably simple. However such an application in the US would probably require a cage and special guards and a digital liability waiver to sign at the bottom.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7j1PgmMbug8

  3. Used Construction Pavers on August 4th, 2010 7:15 am

    Mini machine à paver d’asphalte pour des trottoirs, machine à paver brevetée de Pavijet de mini machine à paver petite…

    I found your entry interesting thus I’ve added a Trackback to it on my weblog :) …

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