[Ep. 1012] A ride in the Utrecht city centre street called “Oudkerkhof”. In the before situation (2017) it was still open to private cars. After a reconstruction that was finished in 2018 was supposed to be a better place for walking but cars were still allowed. However, on 1 August 2022, it was finally officially made car free. Only one parking spot remained, for a resident with disabilities. More information in the blog post: https://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/?p=25072
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Probably should say "car prohibited", not "car free". It's more honest about what is allowed or not allowed. I'm not against the concept when it's selective and smart. An old small, narrow street like this? Lots of bike traffic and walking? That's reasonable. Everywhere in a city center? Probably never reasonable.
The before still looked way better than any American main street with diagonal parking. My local Californian street just installed a bike lane with repaving (that removed some parking spots)…guess what my neighbors do? Just continue to park there like the paint doesn't exist! It must be nice having street changes like this that people actually respect.
beautiful. if only we'd learn how ridiculous it is to put heavy machinery on every square inch of public space here in chicago
There is actually a lot more parking in the new situation. But now it's bikes.
I wish all streets become car free
Amazing!!!
I wish more able-bodied people would use their bikes. Where I live, everything is so close, being a tiny town. Yet people burn by me in their diesel-engined trucks every day just to go pick up a carton of milk from two blocks from wherever they live. It's a joke. I made a TikTok about bikes and of course read the excuses people make. "I'd bike, but it snows where I live." "Where do you live?" "Toronto." "Yeah, well it doesn't snow year round there. Try riding in spring, summer, and fall." (no reply) 😂
So much quieter and less stressful when cars are replaced with bicycles. What an improvement.
👍👍👍
The absence of cars instantly makes the scenery look a lot like a place to go on vacation to ❤
I hope they will ban the parking of bikes also. Now it looks like one big garbage dump with those bikes everywhere
Great stuff! But the question is, where have these cars gone? do they park on a different street or park in a dedicated parking lot? did they sell them?
What happened to the rubbish bins that were on the right just before the restaurant? I'm sure having them not there is much nicer for the restaurant, but how do people on this street dispose of their rubbish?
Whoa that's a marked difference!
The street looks twice as wide as before.
You love to see it. Keep up the good work, Utrecht!
How to get people to cycle instead of driving:
1) build cycling infrastructure, with direct and short routes for bicycles and longer routes for cars.
2) give bicycles top priority on all intersections, streets, roads, and at all traffic lights.
3) ban cars from city centers and at nice and interesting locations.
4) cycle, get healthier, get happier, enjoy life 😊
Posted in November. Man, the weather looks like it is summer there. Where I am it is 3C. 😉
I believe for 0 seconds that the person with the permit actually has a disability.
Wonderful!
They did this last summer in Montreal but undid it in the winter… hoping they bring it back soon.
interesting how the sound changed but may be just the difference in time of day between the two recordings
It's so much more beautiful now! Thank you for recording and showing to us!
A vast improvement! I wouldn't be surprised if the businesses are making more money. Especially that cafe.
Let's hope that the recent election results in the Netherlands dosen't mean the end of bike culture.
Looks good!
Meanwhile, the area between Leidseveer and Smakkelaarskade has been one giant mess for decades. I have no idea why they can't sort it out…
Assume the shops are getting more business done?
r/CarFreeUtrecht
Good to see they made accommodations of the disabled person. Helps dispel the NIMBY myth that pedestrian streets necessarily infringe on disabled people's rights.
thx for that! im not very familiar here with every street – but things like that made move here! <3
are you still allowed to drive on it?
People moving (and parking) by bike or foot makes such a big difference to moving and parking by car. Spread the word.
Jeez cars make the city ugly.
I was looking trough my photos this month and realized that what is now an open place with benches and potted plants in front of Hāgenhill market used to be a parking lot 3 years ago.
I love it!
I actually think that a street full of parked bikes like that makes the street look a cluttered mess. I'm Dutch, so i am allowed to complain about already great infrastructure: it's what we Dutchies do! In my city of Den Haag they banned bikes from the Grote Marktstraat shopping street, because all these bikes made the pedestrian shopping district look like a mess. Before they installed the ban though they put a bunch of free and guarded cycling parkings all around the centre and now the city is a much more comfortable place to be. At first I was annoyed that I could not park my bike right in front of the shop where I needed to go, now I am happy that all these damn bikes are gone from the shopping streets.
This street filmed here in this video also needs a better solution for the residents to put their bikes.
So peaceful. What a dream
Why don't you show it when there's snow and ice? Good luck to the cyclists!
Untill they have to deliver furniture, or other big objects. YOu wanna live carfree, go and live in the forest. Bullshit carfree woke
Dear lord it looks like an actual place to live now!! No longer storage space for metal boxes. Amazing stuff
Beautiful street ❤
Haters gonna hate.
I'm going to start using "infested with cars" more often 😂
Your stuff is great, but a lot of your stuff doesn’t provide solutions for the US or other places where most major cities were built AFTER their car was invented. It’s easy to say, “I’ll flee to Europe, to cities built in Napoleon’s time or earlier” to show great solutions in cities from pre-industrial times. Show me some solutions for modern cities built after the invention of the automobile, then I’ll care. Then it will matter
The duality in volume of that relatively busy street to even my small American town thanks to no cars, it's just so much more peaceful
are you allowed to enter the street with a car when moving furniture?