[Ep. 1023] The Alexia Tunnel in Hilversum is the only stacked tunnel in the Netherlands consisting of a car tunnel with a cycling tunnel on top of it, under a railway. It was opened in 2022. More information in the blog post: https://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/?p=23764
Meanwhile in the US: Tear down the buildings, build a highway, widen it in a year because it's cramped, neglect the busses, and have it still being cramped
The contractor ordered a full color, 3D printed, 1:300, scale model where I worked at the time. It was used for the residents near the construction plan, to be able to view the plans and discus it if they found necessary. It was a huge and awesome print. Never tought to see it on your channel, nice video!
About the incline, the Dutch are too spoiled with their flat as a pancake country. I live in Oslo Norway. Any bike commute from the outskirts to the center will have some significant altitude difference
this tunnel has like 4 levels of things american infrastructure would never even try to do
first, a tunnel JUST FOR bicycles second, the car tunnel is deeper and longer in benefit of the bicycle tunnel thirth, the tunnel was made to not disturb public transport fourth, the tunnel was needed, bc they wanted to broaden the train railway, with a with a bus lane
I’m surprised by how many tricycles I saw in your video: which is to say, not a ton, but at least a few … which is more than I expected! I never learned to ride a bicycle, I’m embarrassed to say, so I’d feel dreadfully out-of-place in: the Netherlands, much of Germany, any of the Nordic countries, China, South Korea, Japan, and Burning Man. I’d be tempted to bring a tricycle to those place, but I’m afraid everyone would bully me … but perhaps I have less to worry about than I fear! Or maybe I should just learn to bicycle already … but, at over 30 years old, I’m afraid I’d never really FULLY learn, and wind up getting murdered in traffic by a car. Sigh. Dilemmas!
It is actually a big improvement. I went to school near that place. Traffic was always backed up from 8am to about 9:30am and from 4pm to 6pm. If it happens sometimes it might not be that big of a deal, but if traffic is consistently stuck between certain timestamps then there is a structural problem. Glad they resolved it.
I love how they consider the incline angel, because it's important when you have people of different fitnesses cycling. However, coming from the north of England where everything is a hill…. I really wish I could be picky over cycling up them or not.
It's noticeable that pedestrians don't walk on the cycle part of the underpass. Doesn't happen in the UK, pedestrians wander all over even when the provision is excellent
The perforated aluminium wall is also an acoustic absorber, reducing noise level inside. I believe the irregular decorative patterns also help diffuse reflections which reduces that annoying tunnel-y flutter echo.
I guess you've forgotten to mention one of the reasons for building this tunnel : the times per hour the railway-crossing was closed to road traffic due to the intense traintraffic, effectively splitting Hilversum in two.
personally, I always prefer when the railline is slighty elevated so the underpass only needs to dipp a little bit. That way the underpass doesn't feel so much like a tunnel.
It is very confusing if you’re stating “The Alexiatunnel in Hilversum is the only stacked tunnel in The Netherlands…” while the Koning Willem-Alexandertunnel in Maastricht is also a stacked tunnel. For sure this might be the only tunnel with bikers on top of other traffic, but is that relevant? It somehow feels as click-bait.
"When signs are need to forbid something, that is always an indication of a design flaw" That is one of the most outstanding statements I have ever heard
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Meanwhile in the US:
Tear down the buildings, build a highway, widen it in a year because it's cramped, neglect the busses, and have it still being cramped
Too much crime potential for it to be successful here in the United States.
The contractor ordered a full color, 3D printed, 1:300, scale model where I worked at the time. It was used for the residents near the construction plan, to be able to view the plans and discus it if they found necessary. It was a huge and awesome print. Never tought to see it on your channel, nice video!
About the incline, the Dutch are too spoiled with their flat as a pancake country.
I live in Oslo Norway. Any bike commute from the outskirts to the center will have some significant altitude difference
this tunnel has like 4 levels of things american infrastructure would never even try to do
first, a tunnel JUST FOR bicycles
second, the car tunnel is deeper and longer in benefit of the bicycle tunnel
thirth, the tunnel was made to not disturb public transport
fourth, the tunnel was needed, bc they wanted to broaden the train railway, with a with a bus lane
Punched holes. Not drilled holes.
I’m surprised by how many tricycles I saw in your video: which is to say, not a ton, but at least a few … which is more than I expected! I never learned to ride a bicycle, I’m embarrassed to say, so I’d feel dreadfully out-of-place in: the Netherlands, much of Germany, any of the Nordic countries, China, South Korea, Japan, and Burning Man. I’d be tempted to bring a tricycle to those place, but I’m afraid everyone would bully me … but perhaps I have less to worry about than I fear! Or maybe I should just learn to bicycle already … but, at over 30 years old, I’m afraid I’d never really FULLY learn, and wind up getting murdered in traffic by a car. Sigh. Dilemmas!
It is actually a big improvement. I went to school near that place. Traffic was always backed up from 8am to about 9:30am and from 4pm to 6pm. If it happens sometimes it might not be that big of a deal, but if traffic is consistently stuck between certain timestamps then there is a structural problem. Glad they resolved it.
There is another stacked tunnel that one is for motorised traffic : https://nl.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koning_Willem-Alexandertunnel
I love how they consider the incline angel, because it's important when you have people of different fitnesses cycling. However, coming from the north of England where everything is a hill…. I really wish I could be picky over cycling up them or not.
Hilversum sucks
Stacked tunnel is the Maastunnel Rotterdam. The longest of his kind in the early years.
🔥
1:08 how much space they have left and right … what a dumb design
Wer sein Fahrrad liebt, der schiebt.
Is there a similar saying in Dutch or English?
Het is onzin dat het de enige gestapelde tunnel is in Nederland, in Maastricht hebben ze een veel langere dubbeldekker tunnel!
A2 maastricht: 2,5km of 4 lane stacked tunnel. And pedestrians on top 😂
👍❤
Whatabout the maastunnel? Cars, bikes and pedestrians.
In Rotterdam we already have a stacked tunnel for decades!
Stop it, you're making too much sense! ❤
incline too steep…
gotta love the the Dutch.
Infox! Searched for an Alexia Tunnel in Hilversum, and found nothing!
So a two story tunnel, which isn’t even a tunnel xD
Pretty cool!
Came from Not Just Bikes' channel. Great stuff!
I live near this tunnel. Took a long time to complete but I now cycle it regularly – safe and quick!
Was dit de plek waar een paar jaar geleden er een erg ongeluk was met een scooter?
That is dedication to good cycling infrastructure.
The level of dedication of the Dutch and their engineers is unreal
I love it how borderline infrastructure in the Netherlands would be next level, out of this world in Australia.
It's noticeable that pedestrians don't walk on the cycle part of the underpass. Doesn't happen in the UK, pedestrians wander all over even when the provision is excellent
That's actually really cool! Never seen something quite like this.
Fun ‘fact’: those tunnel approaches are now the steepest roads in the Netherlands
The perforated aluminium wall is also an acoustic absorber, reducing noise level inside. I believe the irregular decorative patterns also help diffuse reflections which reduces that annoying tunnel-y flutter echo.
I guess you've forgotten to mention one of the reasons for building this tunnel : the times per hour the railway-crossing was closed to road traffic due to the intense traintraffic, effectively splitting Hilversum in two.
Guys thzy just dug a big trench… they didnt drill those tunnel… 2 years and half is ridiculously long
We have a lot more tunnels here in The Netherlands like this one. So this is not the only one.
This level of problem solving is impossible in Australia.
personally, I always prefer when the railline is slighty elevated so the underpass only needs to dipp a little bit. That way the underpass doesn't feel so much like a tunnel.
There are plenty of stacked tunnels of different kinds. At least 2 in Moscow.
The reason the Dutch do this is because of the amount of trains that cross the crossing.
It is very confusing if you’re stating “The Alexiatunnel in Hilversum is the only stacked tunnel in The Netherlands…” while the Koning Willem-Alexandertunnel in Maastricht is also a stacked tunnel. For sure this might be the only tunnel with bikers on top of other traffic, but is that relevant? It somehow feels as click-bait.
You see these underground tunnels for bikes everywhere in China.
"When signs are need to forbid something, that is always an indication of a design flaw"
That is one of the most outstanding statements I have ever heard
I cycle this tunnel weekly so it's really fun to see this here
Saves a lot of waiting for trains you mean. Dutch railways are very intensely utilised.
So much negativity in the comments. Is it being brigaded by jealous Americans?
Wow, what an innovative design! 🏙🌟
is the maastunnel not also a stacked tunnel?