Show us your clever, useful or easy to use cycleways

[mjr]

OK, I've threatened this a few time, but here it is. Please let's stop bloody whinging and advertising the failed experiments and thoughtless constructions and focus on what actually works. Here's a couple of old chestnuts that I like to start us off:

National 1 heading west away from King's Lynn station: after a minimum width (3m maybe) squeeze around a corner between a church and its rectory, it opens out to 9m along the edge of a Grade 2 listed park:

A bit further west, then turn north, cross one of the few Toucans that responds to a button push fairly quickly, then over a narrow bridge and it opens out again to 5m through Lynnsport and Leisure Park as six other routes join and leave it on this section, but no junction markings have ever been felt necessary:

Continue north and the route keeps priority over minor roads (excuse blurry handlebarcam image):

Then continuing northwest on a mix of cycle tracks and residential roads to head out into the countryside and where the old blocked-off A149 became a cycle track alternative to the new fast A149:

None of that stretch seems particularly clever (except having the good sense not to jackhammer the old A149), but they are useful and easy to use. They're pretty old now, but I don't think any section got as much hoop-la as it deserved when it was launched or upgraded. Norfolk councils seem strangely unwilling to trumpet achievements for cycling

What examples have you seen that you'd like to praise? Cycle tracks or cycle lanes, as long as they're good.

 

[Globalti]

Just back from a long weekend in Copenhagen where our hotel looked out at the amazing retracting Inner Harbour Bridge, which only opened this summer after years of technical problems. Judging by the bike traffic on it, it has made a lot of the city's residents very happy by shortening their journey. Notice the complete lack of cars in the photo.

Newspaper article: https://www.thelocal.dk/20160708/copenhagen-inner-harbour-bridge-inderhavnsbroen-opens

My pic from the hotel room:

Here's one I took of a user:

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Just back from a long weekend in Copenhagen where our hotel looked out at the amazing retracting Inner Harbour Bridge, which only opened this summer after years of technical problems. Judging by the bike traffic on it, it has made a lot of the city's residents very happy by shortening their journey. Notice the complete lack of cars in the photo.

Newspaper article: https://www.thelocal.dk/20160708/copenhagen-inner-harbour-bridge-inderhavnsbroen-opens

My pic from the hotel room:

Here's one I took of a user:

Complete lack of cars? It is a car free bridge leading from one largely pedestrianised location to another. So glad I got to run walk and ride over it a few times before my gig in cph ended.

As to the OP I was going to respond "Got maps of Austria or Denmark? "

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Exhibit B The Brygge Broen. Big daddy to the inner harbour bridge. Pedestrian and cyclist only. Carries countless thousands of bikes everyday and was built between series I and II of The Killing if you know where to look.

 

[steveindenmark]

Denmark is full of them.

 

[mjr]

Hah! Yes, maybe I should have limited it to the UK or something. What's remarkable here is normality in many places. But hey, pictures of what's excellent for Austria (where I have cycled and it was good with occasional drawbacks) and Denmark (where I haven't) would also be good.

The Copenhagen inner harbour bridge reminds me of how much wailing and gnashing there was in the local press when it became clear that the much smaller Pero's Bridge over Bristol's inner harbour would not allow cars:

 

[Smithbat]

Yes the majority are shared use but the Gemstone routes in Aylesbury are easy to use, I can virtually get from home to work without having to use main roads.

 

[MontyVeda]

The old railway routes which link Lancaster to Morecambe, Glasson Dock and beyond Caton are good, as are many of the NCR routes which don't require a white line painted a meter from the kerb (these avoid main roads and take in plenty of hills). Other easy to use cycleways are more commonly known as main roads, and apart from a minority of d!ckheads, are great for getting from A to B. I think one of the worst designated cycle routes is the Lancaster canal toe-path; poor surface and not really wide enough in most places

 

[rivers]

Bristol to Bath Railway Path. For the most part, it's pretty decent. Can be busy with pedestrians and other cyclists on nice days, but it's alright.

 

[User482]

Hah! Yes, maybe I should have limited it to the UK or something. What's remarkable here is normality in many places. But hey, pictures of what's excellent for Austria (where I have cycled and it was good with occasional drawbacks) and Denmark (where I haven't) would also be good.

The Copenhagen inner harbour bridge reminds me of how much wailing and gnashing there was in the local press when it became clear that the much smaller Pero's Bridge over Bristol's inner harbour would not allow cars:

I'm not sure that's a great example: it's extremely busy with pedestrians, and would work better as a footbridge IMO, as it's too narrow to allow harmonious co-existence. At least the surface was sorted out after I and a few others complained about it.

 

[mjr]

I'm not sure that's a great example: it's extremely busy with pedestrians, and would work better as a footbridge IMO, as it's too narrow to allow harmonious co-existence. At least the surface was sorted out after I and a few others complained about it.

Oh sure. It should be far wider to cope with demand, as should the bridges over by Temple Meads. I guess that one's more an example of where we are and how far we need to go yet to reach the Copenhagen picture.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Oh sure. It should be far wider to cope with demand, as should the bridges over by Temple Meads. I guess that one's more an example of where we are and how far we need to go yet to reach the Copenhagen picture.

The Copenhagen bridges (and Cycle Snake associated with the Brygge Broen) were built in response to the demand of 1000's of cyclists.

 

[Donger]

Annecy to Ugine, Haute Savoie, French Alps. Gets my vote any time......... Can you imagine them ever building anything like this through the middle of Snowdonia, The Highlands or the Lake District?

 

[Andrew_P]

Roads, simply roads without cars - perfect...

 

[Andrew_P]

On topic this one stretches all the way down to the Pyrenees - apparently..