Road works vs the Dutch cyclist - a rural main route between village and city

Road works always risk placing cyclists at a dangerous disadvantage, which can result in people opting for another form of transport. To prevent this, cycle-routes must always be maintained, as can be seen in this video.

There are many other examples of this principle being applied in many different situations.

Avoiding potholes

Slight puddle before.
could get worse over winter

I've mentioned before that Dutch roads and cycle-paths don't often suffer from potholes. There's currently a patch of slightly rough surface between our home and the local shops, but that's as bad as it gets. I can't think of any actual potholes on any roads or cycle-paths that we use.

The reason, of course, is that standards of maintenance are very good.

A one metre wide part dug out to the depth of 4 cm over the
crack, two metres square over the depression. After digging,
this was sealed before filling.

A good example of this happened this week on a residential street near where we live. It's not a through route by car, but it is by bike and I ride there quite frequently as it's on the route to the post office. This street had a crack all the way across its surface which recently became noticeable by bike. There was also a growing depression which started to form a puddle. None of this was unpleasant to cycle over, and it was certainly not something you'd swerve to miss. In any case, there are almost never cars on this street, so the situation was never dangerous. However, if this had been left as we go into winter then ice would have formed in it and made the problem worse. Therefore it was fixed as you can see in this video:

Afterwards

Potholes are hazardous for all road users, but they are particularly dangerous for cyclists because of their potential to cause a crash should you ride through them and the need to swerve to avoid them.

It is better if problems with potholes are avoided by fixing the potholes than by expecting people to cycle around them, especially on busy roads.

A footnote to the blog: Is there any end to people thinking that I want to do their work for them for nothing ? Now Transport for London expects me to work for free.

Cycle-paths of Drenthe - 98% good, 2% being repaired

Another item from our local TV station: Two months ago, I wrote about how the cycle-paths of Drenthe were being tested for quality. The results are now in.

There are currently a lot of storks
nesting in Drenthe

All 2300 km of cycle-path in the province have been tested, and just 2% found to need maintenance within a year with and 5% needing another look at a lower priority. This work has already started - the cycle-path resurfacing works that we rode past last week are on a section which was amongst the 2% identified as needing work.

Some of the flowers are out already

The video shows the seriousness with which this is taken. At the start, the deputy for traffic and transport makes his appearance by bike. A yellow instrumented car is shown, which was driven along the paths to make measurements of surface quality and other issues.

It has to be taken seriously because recreational cycling is worth €670 million each year to the province. The attractions of the province are well known to the Dutch and Germans and almost all of this us due to Dutch and German visitors.

Judy riding through an area of heath

The English speaking market is very much smaller, and we're almost alone in offering cycling holidays for English speaking people in Drenthe, the Netherlands "Cycling Province".

While The video description gives a figure of 2300 km of cycle-path in Drenthe, a spokesman in the video talks of 1700 km. He's asking for rural cycle-paths which are looked after by 12 different rural councils and maintained to 12 different standards to be unified under one responsible agency so that they will be consistent in future. The difference between 2300 and 1700, or 600 km, is just about the same as the total length of cycle-path in the two cities of Assen and Emmen combined.

All photos were taken by Judy and I last week when we were planning routes for this years' holiday customers

Maintaining the cycle-paths of Drenthe

Our local TV news reports that two special vehicles are being driven over the cycle-paths and minor roads of Drenthe this month. This is part of a €100000 project to map bumps, tree root damage and cracks so that they can be fixed over 3000 km of cycle-path and mostly car free roads in the province.

Two lasers mounted on the back of the car analyze the surface to assess comfort for cyclists and lead to better maintenance in future.

Drenthe wants to keep its title of "cycling province number one", and there is always more to do. Last year, €3 million was allocated for maintenance of cycle-paths. Those responsible for tourism see investment in cycle-paths as an investment in the province itself, and part of what brings a billion euros per year due to tourism.

Conditions for cycling keep on getting better in the Netherlands.

To book a holiday in the "cycling province number one" of the Netherlands, see our holidays website.

The Dutch have a saying, "Meten is weten" - measuring is knowing. i.e. Unless you measure something you don't actually know it. Measuring problems in this way is necessary not because the cycle-paths are bad, but in order to keep them to a very good standard. Cycling policy in the Netherlands relies on accurate measurements being made of all aspects of cycling (also of the numbers of bikes).

Autumn leaves

It's that time of year again. Autumn. Therefore time for a blog post about how leaves are cleared from the cycle-paths. This time I just happened to come across one of the maintenance vehicles on the cycle-path.

They do a pretty good job. I've still not slipped on leaves since we moved over here.

This also doubled as my "cycle video day" video.

Resurfacing a canal cycle path in Assen

Before: The cycle path along the canal near our home in 2007

In the winter: Mostly kept free of ice
and snow

We've lived nearby this canal for four years now. When we arrived, we were amazed at the quality of the surface of this path and that it took such a direct line without interruption. I've blogged about it a few times before. While the harsh winters rendered it slightly less smooth than it had been, we remained impressed.

However, others thought there was more to be done. A better quality of cycle-path was possible. Part way through September, signs appeared warning that the cycle path was to be re-surfaced and that the work would take about a week. The work started on the 11th of September.

By the 14th, the first layer of asphalt was finished and I went for a ride:

Explanatory captions for this video are visible only if you view it on a computer and not on a mobile device. You will not fully understand this video if you view on a mobile device.

14 September: First layer complete
except at the very ends of the path

Though it was good before, the work on the damaged parts of the foundations and this new layer of asphalt on top made a huge difference. The path was now supernaturally smooth and efficient to cycle on.

Four kilometres of cycle-path with nothing to stop for or to give way to, and without even a slight bump in the surface.

16 September: Machinery applying the top layer of asphalt to the cycle-path.

The surface is wide enough
for racing rollers.

Extra work was required at
the fourteen connecting paths.

The edges aren't yet tidied up, so we can see how much thicker the new surface is relative to the old

21 September: The top surface is finished, to a quite normal width of four metres. On this day, we took a Study Tour group along the canal. After returning to the UK, Sally wrote about this and other things seen on the tour.

Video showing the equipment used to re-surface this cycle-path. It's constructed in exactly the same way as a road:

Explanatory captions for this video are visible only if you view it on a computer and not on a mobile device. You will not fully understand this video if you view on a mobile device.

This new surface provides part of a direct route following the canal from South West to North for cyclists. It is especially useful for those making longer journeys such as commuting from the West of Assen to Groningen or those who are riding past the city as it joins up with other similar quality cycle-paths at either end. Click for a view of this stretch of the cycle-path from its Southern-most point.

Before this blog post went live, the work was complete. The sides of the path are now level with the path, meaning no nasty surprise should you ride over the edge of the asphalt. Also, all fourteen entrances onto the path have been upgraded, so are super-smooth.

Afternoon 3rd October update
Well, I thought they were finished. However, when walking the dog today I discovered this going along the cycle-path, just making the edges just a little bit smoother and better matched to the asphalt than they already were:

Potholes on Britain's roads. Some things never change

I read a while ago that Britain's roads now have a pothole every 120 yards. I can believe it, given the state that the roads seem to be in over there. Now that we're accustomed to Dutch roads, British roads which appear on the TV always look rather badly maintained.

This is a regular topic on British cycling blogs, and the stories keep coming up. There were claims over the last year that London's potholes increased markedly over winter and that there could well be in excess of 2 million nationwide. That article points to the high level of motor dependence in the UK as a reason why the country suffers so badly from potholes.

It's clearly a big problem, but is it being addressed ? Rather, there seems to be a problem of people trying to talk themselves out of having to fix these problems. What actually counts as "a pothole" in British roads ? Gloucestershire says that a hole needs to be "the depth of a "golf ball" (1.6in, 40mm) and the width of a 'large dinner plate' (11.8in, 300mm)" before it is regarded as needing to be repaired, while Suffolk says "unless the defect is on a minor road, when it must be about the size of a "dustbin lid" (23.6in, 600mm) to warrant urgent action."

The terrible quality of surfaces is yet another problem for cyclists in the UK, who almost always have to "share such roads" with a lot of motor vehicles. There are documented examples of riding through potholes causing death to cyclists, and also of swerving to avoid them having the same effect. When not lethal, injuries can be extremely unpleasant and painful, and result in claims against councils. I was lucky enough never to fall due to a pothole in the UK, but nasty jarring bumps when riding on busy roads did nothing to enhance my cycling.

And what's happening about it ? Well, in London funding for fixing potholes has been cut.

Here in Assen (and I think it's pretty much standard Dutch policy as I've seen it elsewhere), defects which occur on the roads due to winter conditions are patched up even before the ice has melted. That's what you see in this photo from our local newspaper (from last winter, that's how long ago I started this post.

However, the city also has a policy of renewing whole road surfaces before problems occur. There is a rolling programme where road (and cycle path) surfaces are resurfaced every few years - and this isn't only a skim over the top but involves digging down and replacing what's under the surface as well. When this is done, the work is synchronized with the gas, electric, telephone and other companies to prevent it being dug up again soon afterwards.

Cycle paths of course don't suffer from the same degree of damage because they don't have heavy vehicles on them. Most are exactly the same as before winter, and of course nice new smooth surfaces like this remain nice and smooth.

Why isn't the same thing done in the UK ? Why are the roads in a mess ? It's not a new problem. John Lennon wrote way back in 1967 about there being "4000 holes in Blackburn Lancashire".

The photo at the top, of a large pothole on a British road, comes from the Guardian article. As it happens, someone who I used to work for also just blogged on potholes, from a totally different perspective.

A bit of maintenance

I recently noticed that a bumpy spot on a cycle path and a rough path on a road nearby had both been marked for repair. Both marks appeared on the same day, and were in the same style, so presumably they were to be addressed at the same time.




On the left is the road and on the right is the cycle path. Minor damage which might not have been noted in other countries, or may have been left to grow into a pothole, is marked for repair.



A few days later, this is the situation.



And finally here it is after the work has been completed. In both cases, the surface is back to being completely smooth.

Now here's the point of this blog. Cycle paths and roads are treated equivalently. Both are maintained to a high standard, by the same people, with the same equipment. Both repairs come out of the maintenance budget. Cycle path repairs don't come out of the "cycling budget", which is around 30 euros per person per year and spent on new infrastructure, not fixing the old.

This is all a world away from the situation I was used to in the UK, where in fact it's quite likely that this level of damage to the surface would not have been considered to be enough to warrant repair in the first place.

The photo of the machinery and workmen was taken in the same place at the same time as the middle photos were taken.

Road works vs. the Dutch cyclist

On the way home from Groningen on Friday I found that the road had been redirected onto the cycle path. Sounds alarming, but actually there was nothing to worry about. Barriers had been erected and a tarmac temporary cycle path had been built so that cycling could continue as normal.

It's quite normal for this to happen. These are some of the other videos I've made of similar things which have happened in the past, some of which have also appeared on this blog tagged with "road works vs. the dutch cyclist":

Cycle-path is dug up

In this example, the road is converted to one-way with temporary traffic lights so that cycle flow is unimpeded.

Riding in a bus lane

Here the cycle-path was being resurfaced so bikes were directed into the bus-lane. This would have created a conflict between bikes and buses had buses not been temporarily banned from their own lane. Bikes are completely incompatible in the same lane as buses and therefore they are never mixed.

Riding on a dual carriageway

Here the cycle-path is again being worked on, so one half of a dual carriageway has been taken for cyclists while motorists use just the other side. Again, it removes any potential conflict which could have occurred had cyclists been expected to use the road with cars and trucks.

Sometimes there are temporary bridges installed, both small and large.

And why does this all happen ? Well, cycling is fragile. If people have bad experiences they may stop cycling. If it is desirable to create and maintain a high rate of cycling then a good degree of subjective safety must also be maintained.

Autumn leaves

A little earlier on today I posted an item about oil slicks, or rather their lack of them if you cycle on cycle paths instead of roads.

The discussion in the comments on that post moved on to the problem of leaves on cycle paths and roads creating difficult and dangerous conditions for cyclists. Of course, cycle paths are swept regularly here in Assen.

Here's a photo of the end of a cycle path in the city, where cyclists turn onto a minor road. You can see from the continuation as a walking route on the other side of the road how it might look by now if not for the regular sweeping. The corridor of trees is the same on this side of the road. Actually it's probably thicker. You can make up your own mind by looking at a view in the opposite direction from the same point.

It's essential to have good maintenance of cycle paths if they are to encourage people to cycle.

Oil Spills

A cyclist in the UK was recently awarded £2000 compensation after falling on spilt oil on the road.

Many cyclists have had the experience of slipping on oil in the past. I have myself, when I cycled in the UK. I commuted past bus routes, and once very close to a bus garage. Diesel on the roads was commonplace in some of these places and I fell several times due to it, luckily never with any real injuries, but it did cause damage to the bike and my clothing.

One of the many small advantages of living in a place where there are comprehensive and useful cycle paths is that as oil spills from cars are on the roads and not on the cycle paths, you don't slip on oil and diesel. Since living here I've not slipped once.

I don't get the opportunity to take photos of oil slicks, so used one from flickr.

Maintaining the network

I've known comments from other places about cycle paths not being maintained properly. That excuses are made that the paths are too narrow for vehicles which sweep up, clean them or to grit them.

These two photos show two different types of cycle path. The first is a main cycle route for high speeds (I featured it previously, with video), while the second is a path past housing (motor vehicle access to these houses is at the rear). In the first case you'll see a council maintenance vehicle parked. Due to the cycle path being of the usual width for this part of the world it is much wider than the vehicle, so no problem with access. In the second photo you can see the characteristic lines in dust left by a road sweeping vehicle a few minutes previously.

Both cycle paths are about four metres wide, and both have lighting at night. A well maintained path with lighting is what is needed for a good level of social safety.

Litter and social safety of cyclists

There have been a few posts on other people's blogs lately which have touched on the issue of litter, fly-tipping etc. on the environment for cyclists.

It may seem like a minor issue, but as the BBC pointed out recently, the presence of litter on the streets is one of those things that makes people feel unsafe.

If people feel unsafe on the streets then they won't cycle. This is what is meant by social safety.

For cycling to be popular the environment has to be non-threatening. This means well maintained streets, well maintained cycle paths, a low crime rate etc. This in addition to making cycling routes direct and making cycling feel like a safe thing to do (subjective safety).

I previously covered the aspect of litter by showing how cyclists here are provided with special litter bins for use while cycling.

Update: "Son of Shaft" posted a comment below with a link to a particularly interesting article in New Scientist about related research. Click here to go directly to the article.

Gritting

This evening I cycled out to meet my 12 year old daughter on her return from a friend's birthday. party. On the way I came across a gritter lorry on the cycle path and it reminded me that I'd not yet blogged about what happens to ice on cycle paths in the winter.

Last year in early November there was an article in the local paper telling us that the cycle paths would be gritted and salted regularly through the winter. My reaction was disbelief. I thought it would never happen.

However three days after the article it was Sunday and I went for a ride around Assen. On the way virtually every surface I cycled on had evidence that the gritters had done their job. No ice.

And so it was right through the winter. No ice at all on the cycle paths. The same seems to be happening this year.

The picture shows the published gritter routes for last year (I've not seen if there are any changes this year).

According to the information distributed last year, the council owns six gritting machines for roads which cover 340 km of road in the city each day and four cycle path sized gritting machines for cycle paths which cover 207 km of cycle path each day. These figures initially seem odd as the city claims to have 390 km of road, but just 108 km of segregated cycle path. The discrepancy is explained because the cycle path figure covers roads only once where the path is on both sides (as it frequently is), and doesn't include roughly surfaced paths or the few on road cycle lanes, nor the commuter routes from outlying villages which are shown on the map in the picture.

Maintenance of cycle paths is important. Not only are they de-iced in the winter, but they are regularly swept all year around and faults are fixed quickly. There is a regular programme of improvement. Cycle paths can't be allowed to fall into disrepair or to become unusable due to ice as that would be a dis-incentive to cycle. These paths are essential infrastructure in a city where people each make an average of nearly 1.2 journeys per day by bike.

There is another blog post showing photos of people riding in the snow.

6/1/2009 update: I've realised that "gritting" means different things to people in different places. Over here what is used is salt. While last year this seemed to be NaCl / Table salt and played havoc with anything that could corrode on the bike it seems this year it is something else. I understand there is an ammonia compound which can be used which becomes fertilizer. I use the term "gritting" as that is what would be used in the UK, where sometimes grit a little larger than sand is also used. It seems from reading some of the American blogs that they use rather larger stones there which make cycling very difficult. I don't think that would be acceptable here.

Do you like cycling in winter ? We do. Relatively short hops between warm cafes can be very pleasant in the winter. Of course you need the right winter cycling products, including sometimes studded tyres.