I'm impressed with the redesign of the Walenburgerweg in Rotterdam. What used to be a busy 50km/h road with narrow painted bike lanes is now a cycle-friendly 30km/h street. At the approach of the intersection cyclists merge with traffic. Thousands of cyclists use the street daily. From my observations vehicles seem to drive slow and do not attempt to overtake cyclists. The project had been delayed for a while as traffic volumes were found too high and emergency services were too concerned to support lowerering the speed limit. However, locals and users successfully continued pushing for change as many found the road too busy and dangerous. The City of Rotterdam continues to transform inner-city roads from 50km/h to 30km/h. Stats show that 80% of all traffic accidents within the city happen on 50km/h roads.
"Stats show that 80% of all traffic accidents within the city happen on 50km/h roads." Unlike their roads, the genius of Europeans has no limit. Soon once they change most roads to 30km/hr hardly any accidents will happen on 50km/hr roads. They will change them back to enjoy the safety. The next observation from these statistically savvy saviors will be the lighting bolt that - wait for it - no accidents at all happened on 51km/hr roads! Or in fact any speed limit ending in 1! The holy grail.
That's inspiring! Great to see the drop to 30 km/h on streets with high traffic volumes and especially throughout a neighbourhood, not just on a single street. Reductions in speed limits mean those streets will be quieter and have less exhaust emissions.
Evi, thanks for sharing with your LinkedIn network
Rebecca Dracup Simon Daly
Active travel specialist balancing robust engineering with human focused design.
5moYou know you got it down when someone feels chilled enough to do this.