\u00a0A new European bike track is proving bikers, pedestrians and cars can safely share the road, and like it.<\/h3>\r\n\u201cIt almost looks as if these people are riding a race, rather than going home after work. They\u2019re trying to outrun other traffic. \u00a0It really seems like a chase. There\u2019s a lot of cycling here despite the infrastructure, rather than because of it.\u201d<\/em> \u2013 Cycling in the U.S. from a Dutch Perspective\r\n\r\nFor all their bickering, urban cyclists and motorists agree: There\u2019s not enough room on the road. Cars meander into the bike lanes and bikers weave in and out of traffic, ignoring safety signals. Adding an obstructive median to segregate traffic \u2013 an increasingly popular solution \u2013 just eats up more space.\r\n\r\nThankfully, transport designers in London, U. K. have found a better way. This past month, they completed a full redesign of Camden\u2019s Royal College Street<\/a> — a main thoroughfare — and replaced thick concrete strips with ultra-thin\u00a0 zebra lane delineators<\/a>. The pioneering solution has helped them design the country\u2019s first \u201cDutch-Style<\/a>”\u00a0bike track. It\u2019s fast becoming a model for quick, affordable, cycle-friendly design.\r\n

We all need better bike tracks. London got one.<\/h3>\r\nCities across the U.S. \u2013 and around the world \u2013are seeing a steady increase in bike traffic and with it, bike accidents. London is no exception. Current estimates by the Camden Council<\/a> suggest Royal College Street gets over 11,000 cycle trips per day. Even with concrete dividers, the road has had 17 major vehicle-bicycle collisions in the past three years, resulting in several injury cases.\r\n\r\nThat was the recorded total. Cyclists are notorious for under-reporting accidents.\r\n\r\nFurthermore, a speed study by Camden’s \u00a0Transport Strategy Design Team<\/a>\u00a0indicated cars were traveling Royal College Street at 30 miles per hour (mph) — well over the 20 mph speed limit. Residents complained of feeling unsafe.\r\n\r\nThe new design needed to be inexpensive and easy to implement. Yet, Royal College Street is just one of countless London roads traveled by a rapidly increasing number of cyclists. The planners charged with its redesign wanted a solution they could customize to fit a number of urban roadways. That\u2019s why they chose zebra delineators.\r\n\r\nZebra lane delineators (sometimes called \u201carmadillos\u201d or \u201crumble strips\u201d) are raised pavement markers. They are made from post-consumer PVC plastic and \u00a0molded into a ribbed hump that can be used to bolster the boundaries of a traffic lane. They might be small (zebra delineators come in two sizes, the larger is 5-inches-tall, 8-inches-wide and 32-inches-long) but this safety apparatus effectively offers a two-part solution — a physical barrier and a visual signal — that keeps drivers out of the bike lanes.\r\n\r\nBefore the redesign, Royal College Street had just enough space on the east side of the road to cram two narrow bike lanes — traveling in opposite directions — into a single track. Cyclists had to tread, single-file, against opposing bicycle traffic. \u00a0 If one cyclists needed to pass another, they were forced leave their lane and risk collision with an oncoming bike.\r\nWhen buses stopped to pick up passengers, \u00a0bikes got stuck in line.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nCars, moreover, continued to be a threat.\u00a0 Vehicles approaching Royal College Street from an east side street would see the northbound bike lane immediately, but they didn’t always see the southbound lane behind it. This circumstance led to the majority of recorded bike accidents.\r\n\r\nAfter replacing the concrete strip and regaining over a half meter of road width, Camden planners moved the southbound bike lane to the other side of the street, making the cyclists more visible to east-approaching drivers. The newly segregated bike lanes were also widened from 1.25 to 2.0 meters, giving bikers in both directions adequate room to pass without veering from their designated lanes.\r\n\r\nThe change has enabled further safety modifications. Parking, for example, is now consigned to the west side of the Royal College Street and borders the southbound bike lane. The cars parked there act as an additional layer between cyclists and oncoming vehicle traffic. When parking, the drivers face oncoming cycle traffic so they are less likely to “door” — open their car door on to an\u00a0unsuspecting cyclist \u2013 which is the most common type of \u00a0bike accident.\r\n\r\n