Cycle Superhighways in NRW Planning and construction Cycle Superhighways partnership in harmony with nature and • The Cycle Superhighways are designed Work on a Cycle Superhighways – the longest will be over to facilitate fast cycling speeds. The aim the environment 100 kilometres long – is done in many places. is to minimize waiting time especially at Every section has to be looked at and planned in detail. Pedestrian path 2 m intersections Responsibility for this is taken by North Rhine-Westphalia • The width of the Cycle Superhighways is Highways Agency ‘Straßen.NRW’, working closely with the local authorities or local authority partnerships, such designed to ensure that two cyclists going in Cycle Superhighway 4 m each direction can pass. as the ‘Regionalverband Ruhr’ (RVR), which take on the planning and all necessary coordination meetings for • One-way Cycle Superhighways are designed individual sections. so that two cyclists can cycle side by side and without being disturbed be overtaken by a third. By providing firm specifications for construction and • Accompanying footpaths mean that the areas infrastructure standards and clear rules for winter used by cyclists and pedestrians are kept Cycle Superhighway RS 1 near Mülheim maintenance services, the Highways Agency ensures separate, thus guaranteeing unimpeded cycling. that users of the Cycle Superhighways can rely on a Ramp >2.50 m • Maintenance and winter maintenance is carried The Cycle Superhighways are intended to facilitate consistent level of quality. Joint pedestrian/ cycle path out to the same standard as for the roads. safe, fast cycling and must therefore – as stated in Accordingly, at times of snow and ice the the updated, 2016 North Rhine Westphalia Highways A central partner on all aspects of local mobility is expressways are to be kept clear and usable Act – meet standards similar to those of main roads. AGFS, the Association of walking and cycling friendly between 6am and 10pm. towns, cities and countries (Arbeitsgemeinschaft • The Cycle Superhighways are fully lit in built-up In the course of planning Cycle Superhighways checks fußgänger- und fahrradfreundlicher Städte, Gemeinden areas and in certain places outside of them. are made to see if they will negatively impact any und Kreise in Nordrhein-Westfalen e. V.). The AFGS, Cycle Superhighways resources that ought to be protected. It is possible • Uniform design elements and standards ensure the Construction, Housing, Urban Development and in NRW therefore that for any new cycle route being built that Cycle Superhighways are easy to recognise. Transport Ministry and Straßen.NRW are working hard there may be offsetting measures that, for example, together to promote cycling and, by moving commuter • The clearance and designs of bridges and the compensate in the eco-balance for the covering over traffic from the motor vehicle to the bicycle, to optimise make-up of the asphalt surface guarantee that of any areas of land. Depending on their findings, the quality of everyone’s experience of roads and urban maintenance and emergency services vehicles these checks result in varying planning processes. spaces. can drive along the Cycle Superhighways from All have the aim of legally safeguarding the end to end. construction of the Cycle Superhighways. This Publisher’s details takes into consideration the interests both of the Landesbetrieb Straßenbau Nordrhein-Westfalen population and of public bodies, e.g. water and Zentrale Kommunikation Wildenbruchplatz 1 electricity suppliers, network operators, the railways D-45888 Gelsenkirchen and emergency services. The purpose of all rulings Telephone: +49 (0)209 3808-333 E-mail: [email protected] is to help reconcile the demands made of a modern www.strassen.nrw.de thoroughfare with the interests of people and the environment. Photos: Straßen.NRW, shutterstock©Bokica Gelsenkirchen, April 2017 Mobility of the future Cycling – the alternative Seven Cycle Superhighways Cycle Superhighway Neuss, Düsseldorf, Langen- feld from Neuss via Düsseldorf University, There is scarcely anything that characterises life in a to motorised personal are currently planned in NRW: Düsseldorf-Benrath and Düsseldorf-Garath to globalised society as much as mobility. Mobility transport Langenfeld (c. 25 km), connecting to the local Cycle Superhighway Ruhr (RS 1) between facilitates social participation and represents authority Cycle Superhighway to Monheim (6 km). Duisburg and Hamm (c. 101 km) flexibility, change and development. The car thus The State of North Rhine-Westphalia has taken up Cycle Superhighway Cologne-Frechen from Cycle Superhighway Central Ruhrgebiet from continues to enjoy great popularity. However, it is the mobility trend with its ‘Action Plan for Promoting Cologne city centre via Cologne University, Gladbeck via Bottrop to Essen (c. 16 km) being mentioned with increasing frequency in the Local Mobility’. NRW’s aim is to put local mobility, i.e. in Cologne-Lindenthal, Marsdorf (Cologne) Cycle Superhighway Western Münsterland (RS 2) same breath as traffic jams, air pollution and lack of particular cycling and walking, on an equal footing with Business Park and Europark (Frechen) to Frechen from Isselburg via Bocholt, Rhede, space, especially in densely populated areas. public transport and motorised personal transport. railway station (c. 8 km) Borken and Ramsdorf to Velen (c. 45 km) Cycle Superhighway Cycle Superhighway City Region Aachen, covering Motoring is consequently changing. Driverless A significant contribution to this will be made by the Ostwestfalen-Lippe, Aachen to Herzogenrath, with branches off to systems are being trialled and electric motors are Cycle Superhighways in North Rhine-Westphalia: covering Herford, Löhne, Heerlen and Kerkrade (c. 30 km) reducing vehicle emissions. For long journeys people the efficient cycle routes serve to connect important CYCLE SUPERHIGHWAY Bad Oeynhausen, are increasingly turning to trains or long-distance starting points and destinations, e.g. universities, OSTWESTFALEN-LIPPE (OWL) Porta Westfalica coaches. Alongside this, the good old bicycle is again residential areas and major employers - and they do so LENGTH: 36 km and Minden with routes leading directly to the cyclist’s destination (c. 36 km) extremely popular, 200 years after its invention. The Porta Westfalica Minden bicycle is transforming itself from merely a mode and the possibility of achieving high cycling speeds, of transport into a hip status symbol – cycling is including over relatively long distances. RS2 Löhne a mode of transport with a built-in fitness factor LENGTH: 45 km Herford Bad Oeynhausen The aim is that, especially in conurbations with and is an expression of an individual, serene and RS1 heavily interlinked communities and/or frequently sustainable lifestyle. Velen LENGTH: 101 km congested commuter routes, Cycle Superhighways will Rhede Isselburg offer an alternative to motorised personal transport. Bocholt Borken Bergkamen Looking to the future, the plan is for NRW’s fast cycle Hamm Cycle Superhighway RS 1 near Mülheim CYCLE SUPER- Gladbeck connections to be linked up in the regions and local Gelsen- Kamen HIGHWAY Bottrop kirchen Unna authority areas with an attractive feeder network. CENTRAL Essen Dortmund Duisburg Bochum RUHRGEBIET Mülheim The NRW state government’s objective is that well- LENGTH: 16 km a.d. Ruhr developed, interconnected Cycle Superhighways that Düsseldorf CYCLE SUPERHIGHWAY are both safe and comfortable to cycle along will see Neuss NEUSS, DÜSSELDORF, journeys to work, school and college shifted from car LANGENFELD/MONHEIM The Cycle Superhighways in Monheim Langenfeld to cycle – a major cooperative challenge for state, LENGTH: 31 km NRW are at different stages of region and local authorities. Cologne planning. Feasibility studies are being Heerlen Kerkrade or have been conducted into all of them. Herzogenrath Frechen These then serve as the starting point for Aachen the subsequent planning processes based CYCLE SUPERHIGHWAY COLOGNE-FRECHEN on the NRW Highways Act. CYCLE SUPERHIGHWAY LENGTH: 8 km CITY REGION AACHEN LENGTH: 30 km