New elevated bike path in Copenhagen

[Adam White]

I thought this was pretty interesting. I don't know how feasible a bike-only bridge over the river would be in Jacksonville - but it shows how a city where space is at a premium addresses the need for segregated cycle lanes.

After years of waiting (eight to be exact), Copenhagen finally got its missing link. Cykelslangen, or Cycle Snake, is an elevated orange bike lane, wriggling its way over the harbour, seamlessly connecting the highway and the harbour bridge. Up until now our only options consisted of pushing our bikes up and down steep stairs, or taking ridiculous detours, in a narrow space haphazardly shared with pedestrians.
Looking at it now, the solution seems so obvious: an elevated two-way bike lane at the first-floor level, leaving pedestrians on the ground, with the added benefit of a less stressful atmosphere. Even on our best behaviour, bad or insufficient city planning creates tension. But good design can relieve it, as is the case with Cykelslangen.

http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2014/jul/14/bike-lanes-bridge-copenhagen-new-cycle-snake-cykelslangen

[jaxlore]

wow thats pretty awesome.

[Adam White]

It makes me kind of jealous. I'd love to be able to cycle on something like that as part of my daily commute.

[Lunican]

There is something like this under construction in Chicago. It is called the Navy Pier flyover and it will really help with congestion on the lakefront trail that is funneled onto a sidewalk over the river.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

Damn Scandanavians come up with all the cool roads.  (Cars, bikes and otherwise)



Not as much fun in inclement weather...

[blfair]

I'm still excited about the bike/walkway we're supposed to get on the Fuller Warren... I hope it happens.

[Adam White]

There is something like this under construction in Chicago. It is called the Navy Pier flyover and it will really help with congestion on the lakefront trail that is funneled onto a sidewalk over the river.

Nice. It doesn't look too dissimilar to the Danish thing.

[Josh]

There is something like this under construction in Chicago. It is called the Navy Pier flyover and it will really help with congestion on the lakefront trail that is funneled onto a sidewalk over the river.

[img]http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oyQwsweyJuU/VFrl4wOyQtI/AAAAAAAADGQ/wPCbEgimhnk/s1600/1.JPG[img]

[img]http://cdn.cstatic.net/images/gridfs/53a1a622f92ea14e970110be/P1080483.JPG[img]

[img]https://assets.dnainfo.com/generated/chicago_photo/2014/03/navy-pier-flyover-rendering-41-1395182988.PNG/extralarge.jpg[img]

Yeah I noticed this when I was there a few weeks ago. It definitely makes a lot of sense given the amount of bike riders I saw along the existing paths there.

I couldn't believe how shoddy the sidewalk/bulkhead directly along the lake was though. Hopefully all of that is being replaced as well.

[Adam White]

Damn Scandanavians come up with all the cool roads.  (Cars, bikes and otherwise)



Not as much fun in inclement weather...

That's beautiful.

There was an article recently about a scary bridge in Japan. Not as pretty, but I bet it would be fun to drive on:

http://elitedaily.com/envision/steep-bridge-japan-roller-coaster-photos/1017759/

[uga_jax]

While you're looking at bike paths over water. I like this bicylce path over a major vehicle intersection (in the Netherlands).  I wonder if this could be built above some major intersections in Jax?

http://www.treehugger.com/bikes/bicycle-roundabout-sky-netherlands-hovenring-video.html

[tufsu1]

I rode the cykelslangen while in Copenhagen last fall.  It was fun and kind of relaxing.

Interestingly, I rode around the city after (during pm peak rush).  All of the feelings/emotions we feel as drivers during the afternoon rush, were there as a bicyclist.  I was cut off by other bikes, "honked" at, lined up in a bike queue at traffic signals, etc.  It was anything but relaxing.

[Adam White]

I rode the cykelslangen while in Copenhagen last fall.  It was fun and kind of relaxing.

Interestingly, I rode around the city after (during pm peak rush).  All of the feelings/emotions we feel as drivers during the afternoon rush, were there as a bicyclist.  I was cut off by other bikes, "honked" at, lined up in a bike queue at traffic signals, etc.  It was anything but relaxing.

That sounds terrible. I guess it makes sense, though. I suppose you'd get used to it after a while. I used to commute to work on my bike and found it pretty stressful - though there were nice aspects of it.

[blfair]

I rode the cykelslangen while in Copenhagen last fall.  It was fun and kind of relaxing.

Interestingly, I rode around the city after (during pm peak rush).  All of the feelings/emotions we feel as drivers during the afternoon rush, were there as a bicyclist.  I was cut off by other bikes, "honked" at, lined up in a bike queue at traffic signals, etc.  It was anything but relaxing.

I think I've mentioned it before on MJ, but when I visited Denmark we rented a car to go out into the countryside, and Copenhagen was the scariest place I've ever driven. I thought for sure I was going to wipe someone out. But that's an interesting thought -- people are riding bikes there because it's often the best/easiest way to get somewhere from a time/cost/hassle perspective, just like cars are here, so the emotional experience is similar. The physical one on the other hand...

They sure do have some cool bikes there though, it took me a good 6 months to talk myself out of a cargo bike that I have no business owning.

[ProjectMaximus]

I mentioned it on a different thread but I was in Minneapolis and although I didn't actually bike anywhere myself, I was very impressed with the infrastructure and certain that if I went back in the future (during non-winter) I would plan to pretty much ride everywhere.

What I saw were streets and drivers that accommodate cyclists (at least relative to most of the US), bikeshare stations literally every block that I'd want to go to, and a massive greenway connecting distant portions of the city (which I used for jogging).

Thinking back now, I've never been much of a city cyclist at all, so it wasn't until this trip where I didnt even ride that I'm appreciating what the proper infrastructure could mean. When I lived in Gainesville i rode my bike to classes for one semester before I ditched it for buses. During my summer in Salzburg I saw cyclists but pretty much stuck to the bus or walking. The only place where I've done much at all is my short visits to Taipei, where it is pretty easy and extremely useful.

Also of note, in Bangkok a few years ago I saw bike lanes painted along the sidewalk obviously as an afterthought. In one spot the bicycle image was painted with an arrow pointing straight into a light pole. I took a pic but have lost it since.

[tpot]

Even Miami will be getting a new great bike path!
http://nationswell.com/miami-underline-park-meg-daley/