Sometimes I need a bit of a shock to remind me that no matter how lukewarm Ostfildern manages to be, no matter how reluctant to improve cycling infrastructure, or even reign in cars a bit, it could be worse. Fortunately Karl at Do The Right Thing provided just such a shock with this video of a local bike lane, which managed to be a mere 10 Metres long and includes a kerb in that distance. Unfortunately this sort of half-hearted and dangerous cycle lane is fairly normal from experience in the UK.
Monty Python couldn’t improve on that one…
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January 22, 2009 at 12:38 pm
Karl McCracken
Thanks for the shout, Andy!
The head of Transport for Gateshead council (slogan: Tokenism – It Works For Us), said in response to press enquiries that this still isn’t finished. They’re going to install a drop-down kerb to make it safer. I get the feeling though that this was only in response to the embarrassment of the coverage he was getting. Presumably, they’ll also be installing pedestrian bridges over the cycle path in the near future, so that no-one has to stop and start on that steep hill . . .
January 22, 2009 at 11:11 pm
Andy in Germany
No worries Karl. It was such a beauty of a video, and (sadly) so typical of the UK. Actually, that was one reason I emigrated- Germany seems to make things like this properly (and make trains run on time).
January 26, 2009 at 11:28 pm
Simon
Now that’s what I call a proper bike lane!
I live in Germany and my hometown is everything but bike-friendly, they once managed to create a bike lane like the one shown in the video. About 15 metres long, starting and ending nowhere… now used by car owners as a cheap parking spot.
January 27, 2009 at 10:15 am
Andy in Germany
@Simon: Hi, and thanks for the comment. Yes, I’ve come across these too, but the difference is that un Britain this is normal, whereas here there are many examples of better infrastructure. I notice from your blog that you’re moving to Munster- please send reports of what it’s like there…
January 27, 2009 at 3:38 pm
Simon
Heh, that’s right, I’ll be moving to Münster in a few weeks, which a lot of people consider as Germany’s bicycle capital. (Cycle paths everywhere! They even have a so called “Fahrrad-Autobahn”.)
I’m planning to set up a blog about bike culture in Münster, similar to copenhagenize.com. I’ll send you the link when it’s ready.
Here’s a picture of fearless bikers riding on a frozen lake in Münster: http://is.gd/ho9X
January 28, 2009 at 9:42 am
Andy in Germany
Please do! I’m always glad to see more information on cycling in Germany. ‘viel erfolg’ wit the move too…