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New Floating Cycle Roundabout (2012)
- adambowles 7y ago[2012]
- scarejunba 7y agoDamn, these guys must have some good engineers / PMs to finish that in 6.5 million euros. Doubt a version here could be done for that or even just stand up when it's done considering the novel design.
- dsfyu404ed 7y ago>Damn, these guys must have some good engineers / PMs to finish that in 6.5 million euros. Or just normal engineers/managers working within a system that doesn't bleed money to "not quite technically corruption" at every step.
- scarejunba 7y agoCould be, but that's even worse because it means their people are better at keeping their systems non-corrupt in a way that we have failed.
- systemtest 7y agoAnother multi-level roundabout dating back to the 1940s, De Berekuil: https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Berekuil https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Berekuil (The Bearpit) We like our cyclists.
- pintxo 7y agoThis is even better by letting the cars do the vertical movement, while the bikes stay on flat ground.
- contravariant 7y agoPossibly but images like this an be misleading. As the article on the floating roundabout points out it's not all that high above ground, the junction itself is below ground level. The cars are in fact doing most of the vertical movement. The floating roundabout does have the disadvantage that you need a bigger height difference to allow the cars to pass below it.
- wila 7y agoI know both the "Berekuil" as well as the "cycle roundabout" as they are both down here in Eindhoven. The Berekuil is nice, but very confusing as to what direction to go as you no longer can see the roads once you are down in there. The floating cycle roundabout OTOH is fantastic as you keep having a great overview. It really is a marvel of engineering. The slope is not a problem on either of them for the average bicyclist in the Netherlands. edit: Just noticed that the referenced Berekuil above is another one in Utrecht. I meant this one [1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berenkuil,_Eindhoven https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berenkuil,_Eindhoven
- Scarblac 7y agoThere is yet another in Arnhem, the "Airborneplein" is also nicknamed Berekuil.
- markus92 7y agoBikes also have some vertical movement there, but it's hard to see in the perspective.
- usrusr 7y agoAnd making bikes go down before an intersection is a terrible idea because cyclists are extremely keen on preserving inertia when they know that it's going uphill soon. When an intersection is raised, yielding becomes almost zero-cost.
- hapidjus 7y agoHere's a similar solution in Malmö https://www.google.com/maps/@55.5648378,13.0021608,801m/data=!3m1!1e3 https://www.google.com/maps/@55.5648378,13.0021608,801m/data...
- ncmncm 7y agoOoh, three levels! Makes sense that the bikes don't actually need a roundabout to manage traffic.
- adrianN 7y agoWow, this is how you prioritize safety for cyclists. Really impressive.
- anonymou2 7y agoThat's just insane, building two sets of parallel road systems, it's probably the most inefficient engineering ever, are you also going to build a new set when a new type of vehicle comes along? what about a scooter only road? And all of this because of the irrational believe that cyclists are inferior and can not share the road with motorists. I am so glad I don't live in Denmark.
- utf985 7y agoBut that's in the Netherlands.
- anonymou2 7y agoYou are right, I am so glad I don't live in the Netherlands :D
- Mvandenbergh 7y agoSo are we.
- jessaustin 7y agoAre you Dutch? Americans are told this sort of sentiment isn't a good look for us.
- Mvandenbergh 7y agoSure am.
- rahkiin 7y agoWhat makes cars deserve a big piece of asphalt but cyclers not? We have a lot of cyclers in the Netherlands and they deserve the safety and convenience of separate roads, away from multi-ton vehicles. Also, bike roads are not as overly constructed like car roads (maybe just 1 or 2 layers of asphalt instead of more)
- AdrianB1 7y agoThis is the kind of construction that is great if you can afford it. As a cyclist I would love it, as a taxpayer I am not sure I do: it is not cheap enough to be mass implemented, building one (or a handful) is then a marketing stunt. If I use the bicycle to go to work I have a dozen of heavy traffic intersections to cross, about 1/4 of the trip time I spend waiting for a green light, if one of these would be built there will be no significant change to the overall experience.
- JoeAltmaier 7y agoIts about safety, not traffic efficiency. BIcycles were being run over when folks made a mistake (and they made a lot of mistakes in this massive roundabout) And I'm not sure civil engineering jobs like this are more efficient en masse. They're all essentially one-off?
- monknomo 7y agoThey did it for about $6mil, which is pocket change for an intersection of that size.
- mhalle 7y agoCurrent Google Maps view: https://goo.gl/maps/dfKWDZjcjsKa5sjM9 https://goo.gl/maps/dfKWDZjcjsKa5sjM9 There's quite a contrast between the elegance and simplicity of the bike route and the seeming chaos of lane markings of the underlying motor vehicle intersection.
- SJSque 7y agoI cycle over the Hovenring almost every workday, and I drive underneath it often too. Now you know roughly where I live. Ask Me Anything...
- anonymousDan 7y agoLooks elegant. I wonder how to use it would be to a car crashing into the central pole?
- SJSque 7y agoI've never tried crashing my car into the central pole, but as you can see here [1] there's quite a lot of clearance around it, and in my experience the lights are almost always red when approaching the junction anyway, so you rarely get the chance to crash at high speed. [1] https://goo.gl/maps/Ke4NFcE2osEvCNTH6 https://goo.gl/maps/Ke4NFcE2osEvCNTH6