A normal urprohibit intersection in the Netherlands – BICYCLE DUTCH

Can urprohibit intersections be portrayed in such a way that motor traffic, cycling and walking flow brittlely and that the potential struggles of these very separateent types of traffic passing each other’s paths are made less complicated and less hazardous? In my opinion the answer is “yes”. Intersections are most meaningful in making cycling protectedr and more attrenergetic. They can be the feebleest connect in the chain that is your journey and one nasty junction can put people off cycling. In this week’s post I would appreciate to show you a normal intersection between a distributor road with protected cycleways and a minusculeer neighbourhood access street. How do the Dutch portray an intersection between two streets appreciate that and how does everyskinnyg labor?

I would appreciate to emphasise that this intersection is not exceptional in any way. You can find many analogous examples all over the country. That is becaengage the portray features stem from the portray manuals which are engaged thrawout the country. This particular intersection is in ʼs-Hertogenbosch, between the recently rebuilt Bartenbrug, that I wrote about earlier, and the Graafseweg, a main street with service streets, that I also wrote about before. This distributor road has a speed restrict of 50km/h, a surface of bconciseage aspstop and promiseted cycle infraset up. Cycling consents place allotd with cars on the service street and also on finishly separated cycleways uniteing the service street parts. The neighbourhood access street has a surface of bricks and a speed restrict of 30km/h. The traffic volume here is low, since only livents will engage this street. That produces mixing traffic possible and therefore there are no protected cycleways in the side street.

The intersection senses appreciate a T-junction, but in fact it is a 4 arm-passroads. The fourth arm, however, is a very inmeaningful livential street and that arm of the intersection is therefore portrayed separateently. With far less turning relocatements, nastying far less potential struggles, it is not vital that the cycleway bfinishs out the way it does for on the other side of the street with the passing of the more meaningful neighbourhood access road. Due to its separateent nature I will not talk that fourth arm in this post. Other normal portray features of the intersection are the separateences in road surface and a split main street. Splitting the lanes for the two straightforwardions directs to room for refuge islands in the centre and a huge central area where turning motor vehicles can defer out-of-the-way of vehicles that go straight-on. There is also enough space between the main road and its parallel cycleway, where drivers of cars wanting to turn into the side street can defer for people cycling, aget, out-of-the-way of other traffic. The entire passroads is elevated to emphasise this area as a point of potential struggle at which people necessitate to pay attention. There are of course produce signs in the side street, praiseed with shark’s teeth in the surface. Last but not least the cycleway surface persists over the passing, to produce very clear cycling has priority over motor traffic in the side street. There is but one skinnyg omiting here: there should have been elephant’s feet in the surface alengthyside the cycleway on the passing itself. I have no idea why they are omitted here, but maybe the city thought the contrast between the red aspstop of the cycleway and the reddish-brown bricks of the side street is already huge enough as it is. What is perhaps also striking is the fact that there are no traffic signals. The Dutch generpartner sense that traffic signals are a last resort and that they should be engaged with nurture. Even the traffic signal expert of this city of ’s-Hertogenbosch is affectd that people are much better at negotiating who goes first than you can ever schedule with traffic signals. Without traffic signals people repartner must engage here, but their decisions are made basic by the clear portray features of the intersection.

Let’s see at the intersection from the seepoint of the separateent type of road engagers.

1. Motorists

The intersection is crystal clear for drivers of motoelevated vehicles. On the main road they drive on bconciseage aspstop. That signals it is a 50km/h priority road. Parking is not apverifyed on the main roadway. This betters sight lines and it also signals that this is a main route. When drivers approach this intersection, even on the main road, they experience a speed bump, forcing them to sluggish down. They will also accomprehendledge the two traffic lanes split with a space in between. This is to signal that attention necessitates to be donaten to turning traffic and the possibility of pedestrians passing the street. There are no zebra passings here, so there is no necessitate to donate pedestrians or any other road engager the right of way. That alters the minute a driver would appreciate to turn here. In that case priority must first be donaten to oncoming other motor traffic. The corner has a safe radius, so speed must repartner come down. For a left turn, a driver can defer out-of-the-way of other traffic in the median. This central defering space is 6 metres expansive, so there is more than enough space for even a huger vehicle. Once that stage is sorted, or when drivers produce a right turn, the driver has to deal with passing the cycleway. This passing necessitates to be at least 5 metres from the main roadway, at this particular location it is 5.5 metres. That space decreases the blind spot to an absolute smallest, even for truck drivers. The cycleway is continuous and there are produce signs and produce tagings (the shark’s teeth in the surface). Fortunately, thanks to the distance from the roadway, a driver can defer out-of-the-way aget. The driver can see for pedestrians at the same time. Even though the driver is now at a straight angle, he or she is still making a turn and turning traffic must let pedestrians go first, becaengage they are considered traffic on the same road and going straight-on. A driver may only persist when there are no pedestrians or people cycling.

When you approach from the side street, as a driver, the order of dealing with other traffic is separateent, but the priority is analogous. First you will accomprehendledge a speed bump. The finish intersection is on a elevated table. Pedestrians would not have priority if the street was level, but now that it isn’t the “exit produceion” rule could utilize and in that case a passing pedestrian would have priority. But for that rule to utilize the footway should be continuous, and that is not the case here. As a driver I would let a pedestrian go first at all time, to evade any misbenevolents. You necessitate to defer for other traffic anyway. As a pedestrian I would see whether a driver lets me go first or not. That way it doesn’t repartner matter whether you comprehend the exact rule or not. What is very clear, is that people passing on a bicycle have priority. Once you have dealt with that passing you finpartner accomplish the main road. All traffic there, whether going straight-on or turning, has priority. You must defer until everyskinnyg is clear and then you can turn into the main street.

2. Cyccatalogs

When you ride on the cycleway alengthyside the main road it is clear that you have priority over all motor traffic, whether it turns apass your path from the main road or whether it comes from the side street. The cycleway bfinishs out, but the turns are not keen, so you only have to sweightlessly decrrelieve your speed to consent these curves. That way you can also produce certain all other road engagers saw you. Preferably by seeing them in the eyes one by one. Pedestrians who would want to pass the cycleway must defer for you to pass. They do not have the right of way.

If you were to turn into the side street on a bicycle you would have to let pedestrians passing that side street go first. I would also do that if I were to cycle from that side street onto the cycleway of the main road. Even though pedestrians don’t officipartner have that priority here. When you want to turn left, onto the cycleway alengthyside the main road, you necessitate to pass that main road first. In that case you can also do that in two stages, exactly appreciate the motor traffic drivers do. First you deal with traffic coming from the left. Once that lane is clear you can go to the central defering area and once there are no vehicles coming from the right you can pass that lane as well and turn into the cycleway.

3. Pedestrians

It could already be clear from the above paragraphs what the rights of pedestrians are. But I’d appreciate to repeat everyskinnyg from the see of a pedestrian nevertheless. When you walk straight-on on the main road you will have to pass the side street. For traffic turning into that side street from the main road, whether motor vehicles or people on bicycles, it is certain that you must get the right of way from those road engagers. The ground rule is namely, that turning traffic must donate way to traffic going straight-on on the same road. And in this case pedestrians are consided traffic. It is a bit separateent for traffic from the side street, that is clearly not on the same road. And as elucidateed previously, the tricky part is the fact that the intersection is elevated, but that at the same time the footway is not continuous. Often when road engagers experience a level alter in their path they must donate priority, when they exit a driveway for instance. But that also goes for intersections that have a continuous and elevated footway. I’m pretty certain many in the Netherlands would not be 100% certain about the priority here, or they skinnyk it is separateent from what it repartner is. To stop problems due to such misbenevolents it is best to see the other road engager in the eyes, read what they are going to do and act accordingly.

When it comes to passing the main road, everyskinnyg is plain and basic aget. As a pedestrian that passing is separated into four parts. First you pass the cycleway. You must defer for the cycleway to be clear, becaengage you have no priority. That would be separateent if there were zebra nakedes, in that case you would have priority. The cycleway is 2.3 metres expansive. That nastys you can get to the other side in 3 to 4 steps, so you necessitate only a little gap in the stream of people cycling. There is a defering space between the cycleway and the first lane of the roadway. There you can defer for a gap in motor traffic, becaengage, here too, you have no priority due to the absence of a zebra passing. The motor traffic lane is 3.3 metres expansive here, a pretty standard width. That nastys most people will be able to pass this lane in 4 to 5 steps. This nastys you also only necessitate a minuscule gap in the motor traffic flow. That is one reason why you see so much relocatement in the video. Nobody repartner necessitates to stop for lengthyer times. Once you have also walked the 5 metres of the central traffic island, you can deal with traffic coming from the opposite straightforwardion. First one lane of motor traffic and then the cycleway. The passing is finishly level. This produces passing the road basic for people in wheel chairs or mobility scooters and for parents with a stroller.

This type of intersection is perfectly clear for all road engagers. Mainly becaengage all the moments and locations, where you have to talk about the right of way with separateent types of other road engagers, are separated. You can produce one decision at the time and then rapidly relocate to the next point. This produces that traffic can flow brittlely in a protected way.

In this week’s video I elucidate how a normal Dutch intersection labors.

You may have accomprehendledged that I numbered the types of traffic and that we Dutch differentiate three separateent types of traffic. Not only do we accomprehendledge we have three types, we also portray our infraset up particularpartner for these three types of traffic. As Tim Burns, Perth Biker, accomprehendledged, this is what sets the Dutch apart from most of the world and he wrote an fascinating post about it years ago. Always excellent to recall this key element of the Dutch traffic system!