[Ep. 912] A new cycling tunnel in Zeist under the busy road to Utrecht was opened on 16 December 2021. More information in the blog post: https://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/?p=23038
Once again I'm left screaming in my head "see why can we not do that here?!". In the UK if new trees and greenery is planted to replace often ancient woodland the strategy seems to be "get as many cheap saplings as we can, poke them on a slope in the ground with a bit of plastic rabbit protection, leave to fend for themselves" and so many of them die from lack of water leaving plastic rubbish behind. Those that do survive start to mature only to be strangled by the supposedly expandable plastic tubes. It's so depressing and of course takes years before any semblance of the intended natural area develops. Here's the answer: plant fewer, more expensive semi- mature trees, using sturdy posts with rain traps at the bottom. I love the large pool areas, simple genius, not hard at all is it? By the summer I suspect this will look green and pleasant and in a year or two will look as though its always been there. Thank you for this film, Mark another great job. 👍💚🌳🌱
It's nice but I don't understand why they didn't do this for the direction to Utrecht at the same time. Lots of people still have to cross the intersection.
How do Dutch planners decide whether to dig a tunnel for bikes or whether to make a tunnel for cars, so that bikes can stay on the flat? I guess that a bike tunnel is cheaper, but the experience of cycling on the flat is nicer and would encourage more riders. Or perhaps the extra pollution caused by cars going down and back up again is what they are trying to avoid?
The railing cap would be better placed at a slight angle to let water run of instead of sitting there both staying wet and promoting rust , love the videos and the Dutch people and country.
The municipality could have avoided the squiggly junction on one side though. It prevents cyclists from pick up speed to climb up more easily on the other side.
Looks nice. Could you please add some sort of map reference, so that we know where it is? I assume it's at the crossing where the Utrechtseweg comes into Zeist, but I can't be sure :).
Not sure why there is such a odd corner at the one end @ (3:05), perhaps for safety reasons to slow down traffic from behind i suppose. Although, with today's electric cycling, plenty of people seem to think that 25km/h is the only speed and brakes are for parking.
Question. Why not red asphalt in the underpass? I understand it’s more common in urban areas, but this looks pretty urban and well traveled, and it would really improve the lighting situation in the tunnel, black asphalt really absorbs a lot of light and that thin strip doesn’t look sufficient for night time cycling. Of course the prerequisite, the UK would fail to even build an equivalent underpass let alone improve on it.
i found a construction video of this tunnel ! Constructed between may-november 2021, the junction had to be closed for traffic during 3 weekends. Initially in 2010 this tunnel was projected at €2.1 mln. Eventually there was €6.6 mln reserved for this tunnel and another tunnel further on the Utrechtseweg (up from €5 mln for the two) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzmaOnoXUWY
Excellent! Makes me think of the Amsterdam district of Slotermeer in the sixties. It has had proper bicycle infrastructure with underpasses from day one.
don't get it. Why wasn't it placed in the direction Utrecht – center city, or have an additional bike tunnel? Would not have been that more expensive and would have helped more.
I live here! Eventough it is a great tunnel, there are many people who think this tunnel is very useless, including myself because the bicycle lane going perpendicular to this tunnel is way busier than this crossing path so it would've been better to have the tunnel rotated 90 degrees also because that way would improve the traffic flow from people going and coming from Utrecht
The Netherlands is described as being a very dog-friendly country and, through government programs, is now free of stray dogs. Do you have, or could you do, a video on how people get around with their dogs? I am interested to know how people travel with their dogs by bike. Understandably, small dogs likely fit in baskets or panniers and some people have cargo bikes, but how do people on omafiets get around with medium to larger dogs? Do they ride beside the person? If so, how does that work with cycling/traffic laws?
Speaking of magic: I tried to find footage of the machines that clear snow from narrow bike/pedestrian roads in the Netherlands. I see the tracks of them magically having been there to remove snow before your "biking in snow" videos. I started thinking about how to do that with cases like long wooden bridges that would be blocked by a tractor even if they could support the weight, and avoid being ripped apart by the plow. Since this is another impossible problem solved by Dutch magic, I would love to see how that is done! I am definitely going on holiday to the Netherlands to ride around slowly on a rented "omafiets", but I will save it for a summer.
Thanks for posting this intersection, this is my youth, if i need to call a City my hometown, this is it. You still need to cross the Utrechtsestraatweg on street levels when you go in the direction of Bosch en Duyn. I did that crossing daily twice in my high school years, best town to grow up in, very close to Amsterdam, i can bike it.
Local guy from Zeist here. The whole intersection has been redone to improve traffic flow of the cars. The tunnel became a thing because the cars now don't have to wait for cyclists to cross.
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Liking the new mic
The asphalt in the tunnel looks like it's the type with extra stones in it. Am I right? (I think that one increases grip)
Any idea why the asphalt is not red? I seem to be seeing that more and more and I'm not sure I like that development.
Once again I'm left screaming in my head "see why can we not do that here?!". In the UK if new trees and greenery is planted to replace often ancient woodland the strategy seems to be "get as many cheap saplings as we can, poke them on a slope in the ground with a bit of plastic rabbit protection, leave to fend for themselves" and so many of them die from lack of water leaving plastic rubbish behind. Those that do survive start to mature only to be strangled by the supposedly expandable plastic tubes. It's so depressing and of course takes years before any semblance of the intended natural area develops.
Here's the answer: plant fewer, more expensive semi- mature trees, using sturdy posts with rain traps at the bottom. I love the large pool areas, simple genius, not hard at all is it?
By the summer I suspect this will look green and pleasant and in a year or two will look as though its always been there.
Thank you for this film, Mark another great job. 👍💚🌳🌱
It's nice but I don't understand why they didn't do this for the direction to Utrecht at the same time. Lots of people still have to cross the intersection.
Very clever design. Preaty city Zeist. Maybe you can show more one day…
How do Dutch planners decide whether to dig a tunnel for bikes or whether to make a tunnel for cars, so that bikes can stay on the flat? I guess that a bike tunnel is cheaper, but the experience of cycling on the flat is nicer and would encourage more riders. Or perhaps the extra pollution caused by cars going down and back up again is what they are trying to avoid?
Major voice over quality increase
The railing cap would be better placed at a slight angle to let water run of instead of sitting there both staying wet and promoting rust , love the videos and the Dutch people and country.
The municipality could have avoided the squiggly junction on one side though. It prevents cyclists from pick up speed to climb up more easily on the other side.
Excellent design nonetheless…
Looks nice. Could you please add some sort of map reference, so that we know where it is? I assume it's at the crossing where the Utrechtseweg comes into Zeist, but I can't be sure :).
It would be great if you could do a follow up in mid-summer so we can see how well the trees and planting turns out.
Not sure why there is such a odd corner at the one end @ (3:05), perhaps for safety reasons to slow down traffic from behind i suppose. Although, with today's electric cycling, plenty of people seem to think that 25km/h is the only speed and brakes are for parking.
Question.
Why not red asphalt in the underpass?
I understand it’s more common in urban areas, but this looks pretty urban and well traveled, and it would really improve the lighting situation in the tunnel, black asphalt really absorbs a lot of light and that thin strip doesn’t look sufficient for night time cycling.
Of course the prerequisite, the UK would fail to even build an equivalent underpass let alone improve on it.
i found a construction video of this tunnel ! Constructed between may-november 2021, the junction had to be closed for traffic during 3 weekends.
Initially in 2010 this tunnel was projected at €2.1 mln. Eventually there was €6.6 mln reserved for this tunnel and another tunnel further on the Utrechtseweg (up from €5 mln for the two) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzmaOnoXUWY
😉🚲🌲🌲🌳🌳👍
Is there a reason why the asphalt is not red in this area? Almost all of the cycle paths I've seen in the internet of the Netherlands are red.
Why aren't the cycle paths red asphalt?
the red carpit are missing.
Podoba mi się to nagranie no i cała Nederland ❤️❤️❤️🇲🇨🇲🇨🇲🇨
Excellent! Makes me think of the Amsterdam district of Slotermeer in the sixties. It has had proper bicycle infrastructure with underpasses from day one.
Oh, huh. I thought that looked new when I was passing a few weeks ago.
something like this in america would be a pipe dream
so this completes the last of the four that were planned, providing a mostly stop-free ride from utrecht all the way to zeist?
It's probably good for traffic to flow better (on top of bike traffic flowing without stopping) as it reduces stress for all modes.
I live just a couple of hundred meters south of this tunnel and pedal through it often – well done Zeist!
don't get it. Why wasn't it placed in the direction Utrecht – center city, or have an additional bike tunnel? Would not have been that more expensive and would have helped more.
Thanks for covering this development, excellent video.
I live here! Eventough it is a great tunnel, there are many people who think this tunnel is very useless, including myself because the bicycle lane going perpendicular to this tunnel is way busier than this crossing path so it would've been better to have the tunnel rotated 90 degrees also because that way would improve the traffic flow from people going and coming from Utrecht
Lived in Zeist for a few years while stationed at Soesterberg Air Base in the 80s.
The Netherlands is described as being a very dog-friendly country and, through government programs, is now free of stray dogs. Do you have, or could you do, a video on how people get around with their dogs? I am interested to know how people travel with their dogs by bike. Understandably, small dogs likely fit in baskets or panniers and some people have cargo bikes, but how do people on omafiets get around with medium to larger dogs? Do they ride beside the person? If so, how does that work with cycling/traffic laws?
Speaking of magic: I tried to find footage of the machines that clear snow from narrow bike/pedestrian roads in the Netherlands. I see the tracks of them magically having been there to remove snow before your "biking in snow" videos. I started thinking about how to do that with cases like long wooden bridges that would be blocked by a tractor even if they could support the weight, and avoid being ripped apart by the plow. Since this is another impossible problem solved by Dutch magic, I would love to see how that is done! I am definitely going on holiday to the Netherlands to ride around slowly on a rented "omafiets", but I will save it for a summer.
Narrator: stairs offer a short cut for pedestrians.
Me on my Mountain Bike: hey! Short cut: Weeeeeeeh!
Hebben jullie nog plannen om een aflevering te maken over de fascinerende Prins Clausbrug voor fietsers en voetgangers in Dordrecht?
Thanks for posting this intersection, this is my youth, if i need to call a City my hometown, this is it.
You still need to cross the Utrechtsestraatweg on street levels when you go in the direction of Bosch en Duyn.
I did that crossing daily twice in my high school years, best town to grow up in, very close to Amsterdam, i can bike it.
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Local guy from Zeist here. The whole intersection has been redone to improve traffic flow of the cars. The tunnel became a thing because the cars now don't have to wait for cyclists to cross.
Very nice.