Country road - no centre lines

I took this photo a few days ago on a rural road riding back towards Assen. It's an example of a fairly typical Dutch country road. No middle line, but just a narrowed black area of tarmac, with what appear to be red "cycle lanes" either side. Except that these are not really cycle-lanes. The idea here is to optically narrow the road to make it uninviting to drivers. Drivers have to drive in these lanes in order to pass one another. They also use the entire width of the road (i.e. the red part on the other side) to pass cyclists. Avoiding painting in a middle line also makes the road look narrower and helps to reduce speeds.

Centre line removed on road next to cycle-path.

Note that the road in the top photo is empty of cars. That is the normal state and the result of a deliberate policy to unravel cycling routes from driving routes which extends right across the country and along country roads as well as within cities.

Where there is a higher level of use by motor vehicles, a segregated path is required, but the road can still look identical. The removal of centre-lines still takes place as that is part of the treatment of country roads with 60 km/h speed limits.

So how have motor vehicles been removed ? Well, of course there is more to this than initially meets the eye.

Cyclists have more possible routes to
follow than drivers and are sent by
different routes

The low usage by motorists and low speeds are not the only thing that is special about this road so far as cyclists are concerned. There is also the fact that the road signs actually suggest using different roads depending on whether you are cycling or driving. The sign illustrates this. Only two destinations for drivers are shown, four for cyclists, and the same destinations for cyclists use different roads than those for drivers. This is a form of traffic mode segregation without separate cycle paths.

Cycling in the countryside is more attractive in The Netherlands than most other countries precisely because options for drivers are limited and interactions between cars and bikes are reduced in frequency.

I covered some more extreme examples of rural traffic calming previously.

Lowering speed limits

Today's local newspaper brings the news that the speed limit on rural roads around Assen is being reduced.

The subtitle, Zestig op platteland, gives the gist of the story: 60 km/h in the countryside. That's 37 mph. Quite enough for country roads.

It carries on: "In the coming weeks, on all country roads around Assen, a maximum speed of 60 km/h is being adopted in order to increase road safety outside of the built up area as well as inside. On the main roads to Vries, Rolde, Hoogeveen and Smilde, the existing speed limit of 80 km/h (50 mph) is being retained."

The article goes on to explain why: "This is in line with the national recommendation for "sustainable safety" - a national scheme to reduce traffic deaths (which are already low in the Netherlands). The new speed limit is better for pedestrians and cyclists as well as motorists. It's hoped to decrease the number of incidents of motorists crashing into berms and trees. It's more in keeping with the touristic character of the countryside."

A 60 km/h road, with cycle-path alongside because there's
enough traffic that cycling would not feel safe here

The roads which remain at 80 km/h are all 6.3 metres or wider and have segregated cycle paths. These roads provide good access out of the city in all directions. Many of the roads which have 60 km/h speed limits also have very good quality cycle paths. e.g. the one to the right.

Surely 60 km/h is enough for anyone on a narrow country road...

On the other hand, compare with the cycle path on a road near Cambridge featured a couple of days ago. Is it surprising that people feel happy to let their children cycle to school here, though they don't in the UK ?

Speed limits inside villages are already predominantly 30 km/h (18 mph).

Note that not only do low speed limits make cars less dangerous, they also act to discourage people from driving on roads with the lower speeds because journey times using them are longer than journey times on other roads, and especially on motorways where the limit is usually either 120 or 130 km/h.

For more about rural cycling, see the rural tag. There are also more posts on speed limits in the Netherlands.

The photo shows participants on a Study Tour in May this year. If you would like to be shown this infrastructure, please book yourself on a tour.

Traffic calming the countryside

In the Netherlands, rural roads are also a pleasure for cyclists. The reason is that there are very few cars using them. Many rural roads only offer convenient through routes by bicycle. Drivers are encouraged to take other routes.

The signpost to the left stands in the village of Peize, which has just over 5000 residents. It is fairly typical for rural areas. Note that there are directions given to 9 different places by bike (the red writing on a white background), but drivers are offered only "all directions" (white writing on a blue background).

What happens if the drivers try to follow the cycling route ? Well, it's not easy. Fairly frequently these routes are not passable at all if you're driving a car. For that reason, drivers are better off using the directions indicated for them, even if it will mean a detour. On the way into this village I used the route indicated left on this sign to Eelde-Paterswolde. That means the road shown in this video:

Explanatory captions on this video are visible only on a computer and not on a mobile device

On the way out of the village, in the direction the camera is pointing in the photo at the top, I used this one:

Explanatory captions on this video are visible only on a computer and not on a mobile device

There are 29000 km of cycle path in the Netherlands and 130000 km of road. What is often not understood outside this country is how much of the "road" is also (almost) only for bikes. Motorists can only follow the motoring routes, not the cycling routes. As a result, the majority of country roads are almost like cycle paths in all but name. The experience of riding along them is almost completely free of cars.

There are many other examples of smooth cycle paths next to (deliberately) rough roads.

Not just the towns, but also the countryside has to a large extent been "traffic calmed". Sections of road joined by cycle path make through routes for cyclists, not for drivers. It makes cycling a pleasure.