On Cycling and Walking Infrastructure

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When I hear that new cycling lanes will be created on a new segment of road I feel excitement, at the prospect of cycling being a pleasant, streamlined experience. Often though, in Switzerland, especially in the French speaking part they will spend months digging up a road, and then putting the road back down, and painting lines and saying "There, we have cycling infrastructure.

They don’t widen the road, and they add the bare minimum. On the most dangerous bit of road they leave it as it is. Those lines were just to tick a box, not to provide cyclists with a better experience. In this case I’m thinking of the road between Crans and Eysins.

For the road between Eysins and Arnex-sur-Nyon they closed the road for months, entirely, and they resurfaced it, and that was it.

In Geneva, near the Pont du Mont Blanc cycling infrastructure is awful. Cyclists are mixed with tourists, pedestrians and thrown from one side of the main road to the other, without any thought for continuity and flow. As a result accidents between bikes and pedestrians happen.

Along the road between Morges and Geneva, along the lake, cycling infrastructure exists but you are often thrown into the traffic, with cars going fast on a busy road. In summer the cycling lanes are full of pedestrians and the pedestrian paths are used as parkings so the cycling lanes cease to serve as cycling lanes.

On the road between Eysins and Nyon there are road works now, and it’s taking them three months to remove the road, add back the pavement, and seperate cyclists from cars, but for less than a hundred meters before throwing them back into traffic. In my eyes this is worse than nothing.

Before they add a cycling lane it is tolerated that bikes and cars will share the road, but when cycling lanes are added, to seperate bikes from cars, cars will insist that bikes use the bike lanes.

If you’re riding slow, and alone, or with children, then that’s a good change. If you’re riding at 30-40 kilometres per hour on a bike, as I do on that segment, then I will burn a lot of energy if I have to take the cycle lane, and stop where I didn’t need to, because the cycle lane was designed to stop bicycles from being a nuissance to cars, rather than to provide good cycling infrastructure. In my eyes the change is lipstick on a pig. It’s an opportunity for people to say "we have x meters of cycling infrastructure" without considering what cyclists actually require.

Silver Lining – Fantastic for Pedestrians

I want to add the positive, for years I have felt that they needed to have a pavement for pedestrians on both sides of the road rather than just one, especially since the pandemic. Since the pandemic I have felt that having two sides, to avoid people, is key. From a walking and hiking point of view the change is excellent. I wanted this change.

What’s especially bad in villages/towns such as Eysins is that when the pavement is angled, cars mount the pavement or cycling lane to make space for cars, instead of slowing down and waiting.

Pavement Mounting

Yesterday, or the day before, I was walking in Eysins and I could see that a woman was going to mount the pavement, instead of slowing down to let cars pass, or waiting for me to clear the way. She automatically mounted the pavement as I was using it, and I stood firm. The zone is a 30 zone, pedestrians have priority. (I have to find the exact language)

KISS – Keep it Simple and Social

The irony is that for the road works for the new cycling path between Nyon and Eysins, by the Boiron river they created a gravel path, temporarily for bikes and pedestrians. If they had spent half a day compacting the stones into the gravel, then this gravel path, for a tiny quantity of money, would be fantastic for bikes, and walkers. You don’t need tarmac. Well maintained gravel does the same thing at a fraction of the cost, and a fraction of the time.

In the Swiss German part of Switzerland they have gravel cycling roads that would be fantastic to ride along, if I lived there.

The Voie verte between Crassier that heads towards Grilly and beyond is excellent for cyclists. It’s wide, it’s aside from road traffic, and it flows, except where we intersect with the main road. Having said this, roads, and railway lines, that are given to cyclists are great. That’s what would really help.

And Finally

When you cycle, and walk, and hike as much as I do, and when you go for group rides, and group hikes, and more, you learn about the routes that keep you away from cars and traffic, where you can cycle with a minimum of friction with cars, and along routes where conversations between cyclists, and hikers are possible.

The preconception that cyclists ride on the road, to get in the way of cars is wrong. If I could walk without crossing cars, and if I could cycle without touching main roads, then I would. The route that I drew two weekends ago for a group ride maximised the amount of time we spent off of main roads.

I suspect that if I am tired after a long ride I will use the cycle path, but if traffic is dense and I’m as fast as the cars, I will stay with the cars. I don’t want to have to stop, wait for a train of cars to pass, before I can set off again, especially on such a short stretch.

Strong Opinions

When I drove all the time I didn’t notice the weaknesses of the current walking and cycling infrastructure. It’s because I have been walking so much, and cycling, that I have become so opinionated on what can be improved. I’m sad that the walks I loved to walk during the pandemic are too dangerous to enjoy now, due to traffic, a simple gravel path, beside roads would really improve the enjoyment of walks into the countryside.