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news
East Flanders planned Cycle HighwaysMotorways for bikes? Belgium's East Flanders province plans 600km - 30Kmh - 'Cycle Highway' network
The Belgian province of East Flanders says it is prioritising the development of an extensive network of ‘cycle highways’ that will link towns and cities across the region to encourage people to switch to two wheels by providing safe and quick routes to shops, schools and workplaces.
Using a mixture of existing cycle routes, some of which will be upgraded, plus new ones to provide links where those are currently missing, the highways will be at least three metres wide with a design speed of 30 kilometres an hour, and are aimed at people undertaking trips of between 5 and 20 kilometres.
They will have uniform signage and lighting where appropriate, and the intention is to make them as straight and flat and free from conflict with other road users wherever possible, including secure junctions, says the government of the province, which is home to just under 1.5 million people.
Peter Hertog, responsible for mobility in the province’s government, the Deputatie, said: “At the moment many cyclists experience their routes to work, school, the supermarket, the station or even to visit friends as unsafe, uncomfortable, or with too many detours.
"We want to change that with the construction of this bike highways," he continued, adding that the overarching aim is to increase the functionality of using bikes to get around.
"The vast majority of our daily trips are perfect for bicycles,” he said. “Electric bicycles mean even more sites can be reached within a shorter time.
“On a bicycle highway, it is possible to travel safely and comfortably from say Deinze, Lokeren or Wetteren to Ghent in half an hour."
Much of the network will comprise parts of the province’s current long-distance trails network, which has 1,200 kilometres of routes alongside railways, rivers and canals as well as on disused railway lines and tramway beds.
The cycle highway network, which will also join up with similar routes in neighbouring regions and provinces, will be half as long at 600 kilometres, anid the province says that 43 per cent of it is already in place to a high or very high standard.
A further 26 per cent is described as “rideable,” comprising routes shared with other traffic, described as “often the only solution,” particularly in cities, although options such as “bicycle streets” as part of more extensive “bicycle corridors” are being explored in those places.
That leaves just under a third of the network, around 200 kilometres, that needs to be put in place, and the province says it will address those on a route by route basis.
It is anticipated that four of the planned ten routes will be fully in place by 2018, running from Ghent to Antwerp (the capital of the neighbouring province to the north east), Ghent to Deinze-Zulte and Ghent to Wetteren, plus an east-west route that passes through Dendermonde.
The announcement of the project is, according to the province, the first step in a process that includes consultation, already under way, with parties including town and city councils, the Flemish government and those of neighbouring provinces and regions, rail network owner Infrabel, as well as local residents and businesses.
It’s unclear how much the project will cost. The province says that its multi-year budget sets aside €2.5 million for it, which it says will allow 20 kilometres to be built each year, including bridges and tunnels where necessary.
For comparison, the reported cost of the planned Leeds to Bradford CityConnect scheme in West Yorkshire, around 22.5 kilometres in length, is £21.2 million, financed by a governmental Cycle City Ambition grant and local match funding.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
Latest Comments
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This research is totally, completely, entirely bollards.
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32 comments
Take a look at
http://www.opencyclemap.org/?zoom=8&lat=50.76886&lon=4.54679&layers=B0000
and you'll see all the bike routes and infrastructure disappears in the south. Up north, the density is on a par with the Netherlands and Germany.
Almost like it's two countries!
If you're on a motorway in Northern Europe the car tailgating and flashing its lights probably has Belgian plates.
If you're riding a bike in Flanders you'll be treated with utmost respect.
Just my, completely sujective, experience.
The stats don't show that Belgians are bad drivers. They do show that more people are killed on Belgian roads than some of there near neighbours. Driving standards may be a factor, but it is not in itself conclusive.
However, I would not put much store in the idea that people are good drivers because they passed a rigorous driving test though. It is not that many people who drive don't have the skills to drive at speed limits and would do so in a test environment, but that when not in a test they choose to drive beyond the speed limit. Similarly people don't sit tests under the influence of alcohol, talk on mobile phones or a myriad of other factors that would contribute to poor road safety, but some do so after passing a test.
I probably agree with you and it fits with my own experience too. I like slightly anarchic and anti authority too. I also like that cycling in Belgium is seen as a normal activity.
The Netherlands is a country with a large volume of through traffic, just like Belgium. But it has half the fatality rate per million km driven of Belgium. You can look at it every which way, but the fact is that Belgium's road safety record is a disgrace.
I guess the stats only show 1 of 2 things, either Belgians are bad drivers, or the conditions for driving are worse. Certainly the latter is true, just drive on a ny road across the border between Netherlands and Belgium and you see a marked difference.
I would be more interested in seeing yearly cycling fatalities per 1 million cyclists - that would tell me whether it was safer or not to ride a bike in Belgium than UK.
600km? A perfect Audax distance...
I thought that Poland had the worst drivers in Europe?
I hate to say it but this is backed up by my personal experience and anadotal stories from friends about incidents in the UK with cars with forien plates or drivers with accents from that part of the EU. Mind you, we've got a lot of Polish dudes where I live, but not a whole lot of Belgians.
I was told by a Belgian guy that the Belgians invented French Fries and that the French actually call them Belgian Fries. I think he was implying that us English speakers are idiots who don't know the difference between the two nations. At least Belgian Toothpaste is correctly titled.
Actually, frenching means cutting something in long strips. So the French in French Fries doesn't actually refer to France. That is also why it was double idiocy when some Americans changed the name to Freedom Fries when they were angry at France for not supporting the Iraq boondoggle/war.
I wish I was Flandrian.
It seems that the folks in East Flanders really get it: Routes that allow cyclists to cover a decent distance, at a decent speed and in a reasonable time.
Meanwhile in the UK we've got glorified footpaths and get ear ache if we want to travel fast enough to make cycling a viable mode of transport for any real distance.
Belgium is like cycling paradise compared to the UK. There are dedicated cycle paths and lanes next to almost every main road (that you must use!), hundreds of miles of canal tow paths and drivers give you precedence at junctions and roundabouts.
Wow, it's enough to make me want to move.
I think it's fair to remember it's not just cyclists that loose out in England. Even pedestrians find few crossing points some busy junctions near me have no lights for pedestrians, seemingly assuming school children ought to run between cars.
Isn't it normal for people to park their cars on the pavement, often preventing wheelchairs and prams from accessing the only safe place for them in a street.
it's about time local government prioritized vulnerable street users not just those who chose to buy a car
I've come to the conclusion that local authorities who care about pedestrians put in pelican crossings; those who don't will put in traffic lights (if you're lucky). And then make you wait 60 seconds before the light turns green.
The official reason for cost of the Leeds project being driven up is that it runs alongside a major road with a large number of junctions and constrained width in many places. Apparently it is not out of step with the cost of similar in the Netherlands where the same degree of upheaval and engineering is required. But it's nonetheless a very good question. If the route is so expensive why was it chosen? And is the cost not being driven up by a lack of standards and expertise in the UK. (No-one from Holland, Belgium or Germany has been engaged at all)
The biggest single issue I had when going to Belgium to ride was adjusting to the idea that I was offered the right of way as a cyclist at every junction, every traffic island, every crossing point. It's an attitude thing, and one that the UK will never adopt because the car is still, even now, considered King.
So why does it cost 10 times the cost in the UK for the same distance?
That's a very good question.
Along with why are we struggling with the same design standards on our long distance routes. Flat, wide and built for bikes at 30kph, not dog walkers or horses. It really shouldn't be that difficult.
Though before we get too complimentary, the Belgians do have a reputation for being the worst drivers in Europe, who exist in a near permanent state of road rage.
Really, not my experience & I visit/drive through this area twice a year minimum & have never heard of this reputation. Must be another London centric fallacy.
I got to Belgium a lot for work and I'm certainly aware of the risk on Belgian roads. Per km driven, the fatality rate on Belgian roads is twice as high as the Netherlands just over the border in one direction and 1.6 times as high as Germany and France on the other borders. The drink driving rate is much higher and the penalties for offenders are pretty low.
The fatality rate on UK roads is a lot lower than that of Belgium.
The fatality rate per population is actually higher in The Netherlands than it is in Belgium. The number of deaths for cyclists in Denmark also very high but then the number of cyclists in the Low Countries is also far greater than it is here in the UK
Would you care for a saucer of milk?
I picked that up from Dutch friends, we get those in London.
For reference, the following stats are for road death fatalities per million population in 2010.
UK - 31
Netherlands - 32
Germany - 45
Denmark - 46
Belgium - 75
Source - http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-12-326_en.htm
Doesn't tell u we are bad drivers though, it's probably because our road are so flooded there is bound to be more accidents ALSO don't forget alot of cars and trucks from other nationalities drive through our nation each day. We have one of the most poppulated roads so those stats only means there are more deaths here than in other countries nothing more nothing less. Doesn't even say how much of those deaths are caused by drivers from other countries (alot of them are).
Sorry but the statistics do say Belgians are bad drivers, the worst in western Europe and by quite a long way too. Yes it's true that Poland, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary for instance also have poor road safety - I don't have official statistics for them but I do however for Belgium and have compared these with the same numbers for France, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK and they are of concern.
I've no idea how hard the Belgian driving test is, but I do know a high percentage of Belgian drivers still have no licence and have never taken a test. I also know that enforcement of laws for drink driving or speeding is lax, while penalties for offenders are minimal compared with Belgium's neighbours. Brussels is one of Europe's most congested cities and the standard of driving is low compared with the Netherlands, Germany, France or the UK.
France used to have a very bad record for road safety, as laws on drink driving and speeding were lax and enforcement was minimal. But then Jacques Chirac started a campaign to improve road safety following a family tragedy due to a car crash. This has continued long after he left power and French cops are now very tough on speeding and drink driving offences. The results have been to reduce France's road fatality rate by something like 30% - one of the biggest improvements seen anywhere. Portugal followed suit for much the same reasons and has been similarly successful in cutting its casualty rate. Jacques Chirac was a divisive figure politically and left under a cloud following various accusations, but he did a great deal to reduce France's death toll on its road network, so it is worth appreciating him in a very positive light if only for that one big achievement.
That Belgium has some segregated cycle ways is great as I certainly wouldn't want to cycle on Belgian roads. The statistics on drink driving and KSI (killed or seriously injured) are very thorough and very damning. I go to Belgium regularly for work and what I've seen from my own experience backs up the reputation of Belgians as poor drivers I'm afraid.
Sorry but statistics on a subjective matter, wouldn't believe those even if u showed them. I've been alot to France and man do they have bad drivers and alot in the small cities and towns. And many without license is also not true, and they all have to be above 60 years old so in 20 years u wont see those anymore. As in the drunk driving, yeah that was a problem but it's going down. But like i said before, alot of drivers on our roads are foreigners alot more than any other roads in Europe. And i ride my bicycle alot on the road and never had a problem, so i don't know why u think Belgians are bad drivers. Only better drivers i have seen are germans, not Dutch people, not UK people.
Really, not my experience & I visit/drive through this area twice a year minimum & have never heard of this reputation. Must be another London centric fallacy.
We do? As a Belgian (and bike rider) i can't agree with that not even 1%, we have one of the hardest drivingtests there is, so no you're wrong maybe the old people (from around 60 years old) who still got their license without a test but everyone that did a test can't be a bad driver those tests are HARD. The road rage is maybe a bit true, as in a bit more than your avarage drivers around the world but that's only because of the many traffic jams.
BUT something completely different, there is an absolute need for new bicycle lanes in every province (this posts isn't about mine), because some old once are terrible, so terrible that i drive on the street instead. So i hope this plan continues in every province and also to and from little villages which we have plenty and mostly have no bicyclelanes to them.
I suspect that the more difficult the test is, the more incentive there is for fraud, which could end up meaning more rather than less danger to the public.
It would be interesting to know how many people find alternative means to gaining a driving licence such as these:
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-23419083
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-23608228
- http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/man-...
etc...
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