If the design is right, then cycling is an attractive alternative to using motorized transport. Fast cycling links provide travelers with a safe, healthy and often faster route through the city than traveling with a car on a road. Besides being convenient, cycling relieves congestion on the roads and has a positive impact on climate and air quality.
Cycle superhighways is a solution that has been successfully implemented in cities all over the world. If done correctly they are wide, separated from other transport modes, well-lit and with a high-quality surface.
In Germany there’s a push to promote cycling and in Berlin they are investigating the introduction of fast cycle lanes (Berlin’s adaption of cycle superhighways). Ramboll together with ETC and EIBS is working on the feasibility studies on six of the corridors, mainly in the north-western part of Berlin plus corridors on the main east-west arterial of Berlin including 17th of June, Unter den Linden and Alexanderplatz.
Ramboll brings extensive knowledge from our work in Copenhagen in Denmark into play as the design parameters of the cycling infrastructure are comparable to Copenhagen’s supercykelstier which are:
- Direct and fast access from suburbs to the city centre
- Design speed 30 km/h
- Priority for cyclists at intersections (maximum waiting time should be 30s/km)
- If possible, alignment independent from car traffic
- Standard width of 3 m for one-way lanes, 4m for bi-directional lanes
The work started January 2019 and the feasibility studies for all six corridors should be finalised mid-2020.