Cycle lane set coming to Lego?

Could a cycle lane set be coming to Lego? Well, that’s what Dutch Lego enthusiast and road safety advocate Marcel Steeman is hoping after his suggestion made it to the shortlist of the latest round of Lego Ideas, in which the Danish plastic brick-maker seeks to source inspiration for future products from its worldwide fanbase.

Even getting this far in the process is an achievement – the shortlisted ideas, all 57 of them, have each been supported by at least 10,000 people signed up to the website.

Many of the concepts have been rendered in CGI, but for his idea, Steeman used actual bricks, with handcuffs substituting for bike stands – which could be useful should you catch a Lego Minifigure thief in the act.

In his pitch, submitted in January, he says:

Let's make Lego City a bicycle friendly city!

With new sets 60304 (Road Plates) and 60306 (Shopping Streets) Lego introduced a new way of looking at mobility in Lego City. Buildable and adjustable roads, bikes and even a cargo bike were introduced. So it's time to add to the next step in mobility: bike lanes that are wide enough to be safe to ride on and wide enough for a cargo bike. Built on the same template as the new Road Plates, so they can be easily combined to make Lego City a bike friendly city.

I've added some simple bike racks and a few different bikes, based on the standard lego bicycle. A bike with a child-seat, a bike with a crate on the front and a bike with bike-packing-bags. And a broken bike, that is being repaired by its rider, with a pump and some tools. The bike-locks are made of handcuffs and there are a few helmets for added safety. And the reduced speed limit (30 in stead of 50) and bikelane-road sign should help with that too.

But the real reason for this set are the bicycle-road plates. The Danish Blue color Lego chose for their bikelanes, with decals already in use for the Shopping Street-set. Wide enough for two-way traffic, to safely make room for all the bikes your Lego can build.

While the blue surface is reminiscent of the original “lick of paint” Cycle Superhighways in London, before former Mayor Boris Johnson (whatever happened to him?) was persuaded that kerbed lanes were essential for cyclist safety, as Steeman says, they reflect the colour often adopted in the brand’s home country, Denmark.

It’s not the first time we’ve featured Lego here on road.cc – remember this version of the Team Sky Tour de France line-up in 2015, complete with the Death Star team bus?

> “That's no team bus ... ” – Lego recreates Sky's Tour de France line-up (and Death Star)

Then there was this full-size Canyon Ultimate made entirely from the iconic bricks.

> Check out this Canyon Ultimate... made entirely out of Leg

We’ve even covered a video sub-genre that combines the bricks with cycling.

> Lego cycling videos: bike shops, riding the trails and construction helmet advocacy

And just last year, a campaign was launched in the Netherlands to have a bike lane set added to the range.

> Campaign launched for bike paths on Lego