The Life-Sized City Blog

I made the above graphic back in 2008 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the return of Copenhagen's separated cycle tracks. Now it's 31 years on, but the anniversary is timeless. It was in June 1983 that the Copenhagen cycle track returned to Copenhagen. Meaning cycle tracks separated from cars on one side and pedestrians on the other by curbs. For the record, there were cycle tracks prior to this. Historically, separated cycle tracks criss-crossed Copenhagen but many were removed during the brain fart that was the 50s and 60s where planners decided the car was a good horse to back. Here are the first bike lanes being marked out back in... 1915. Here is a cycle track being constructed back in ... 1930. But the return of the physically-separated cycle track in the modern era is a landmark. The City of Copenhagen made a visonary choice in implementing them. Cycling levels plummeted through the 50s and 60s from a peak in the late 1940s. By the late 60s, the modal...

The City prioritises the bicycle traffic wherever possible in such situations. It doesn't make much sense to build bicycle infrastructure and then not keep it clear. Roads are swept or cleared of snow, as are sidewalks. The same applies to bicycle lanes and tracks. The bicycles must roll on. In a city with such high levels of bicycle traffic, restricting their movement would be expensive. For example, thousands of people late for work means lost manhours for the economy. Plus, it's illegal to block the cycle tracks here. Maintaining the quality of the infrastructure in cities is a neccessity and, as everyone has experienced, roadworks cause traffic congestion and delays. In Copenhagen, there are rules that apply to our bicycle network during situations with roadworks or construction. We've seen how the cities of Copenhagen and Frederiksberg prioritise bicycles during snowstorms in the winter so let's look at some examples of how the cities prioritise bicycle tr...