Amsterdam’s Weesperzijde: A Street Redesign for Cyclists and Pedestrians

[@WilsonFerguson]

I cycled through there a few weeks ago! I remember being quite impressed by it but I had no idea it was just redesigned, that's awesome

[@bmcd9490]

The synchronisation of the videos is so impressive.

[@cycleistic1365]

Wonderful! Cycling priority streets are what the world needs in urban environments anywhere. Hope this model catches on at rapid pace, no more car centric cities!

[@slate613]

I, sadly, don't see a time within the next 20 years or more, where the US in particular gives up it's insane obsessions with cars...

[@Keikdv]

Cycling ONLY streets is what the world SOMETIMES need. Streets with cars (like the one showed here) are NOT safe enough!

[@Welgeldiguniekalias]

@@Keikdv That would be a cycle path. With a 30km/h speed limit, sensible cars are not dangerous.

[@cycleistic1365]

​@@Keikdv I second that goal absolutely, but the number of cars and motorists is so vast that it's hard to see them vanish entirely from cities very fast. Smooth transition over the time increasing the space for cycling and walking while fading out the driving is more likely to establish more lasting results and these bike priority streets are a great step to right direction. The Dutch model has been developed over several decades now and they have come up with great solutions that can be copied elsewhere, but that progress will take time even in the best of societies, let alone the worst, car centric ones.

[@BicycleDutch]

@przemys4466 Cyclists *do* have priority here. Have you watched the video? All the side streets have to give way because there are sharks' teeth and yield signs on every single one of them.

[@jari.ba44]

I used to work at one of the cafes in that street. It’s so beautiful now

[@test40323]

this video hit a sore spot. we in ontario, canada has a politician who wants to rip out bike lane while citiies like amsterdam, nyc, paris etc are embracing it. :-(

[@fToo]

1:54 best thing i've seen this week - awesome :)

[@luiscarlossierpin6205]

Obrigado por compartilhar.

[@annebraun581]

Just amazing how it looks now!!!

[@Pelerincha]

can't wait to get there this summer....Thank You

[@normanplewis]

Night and day. No better evidence of how to create a transportation network that benefits people.

[@hschmidt79]

How much nicer the part without parking spaces on both sides is compared to the beginning...

[@wimschiphorst8541]

It now looks a bit like what was once planned when designing this street. From what is now the Town Hall to Amstel Bridge. A boulevard along the Amstel river with stately houses, see Amstel hotel. That never happened for various reasons. It's good that this is being brought back a bit. Cars away and wonderful walking and cycling along the Amstel.

[@mcc.o.4835]

Wow so nice!!

[@erikthehalfabee6234]

Red asphalt. Not that much changed really to be honest. But it's psychology, it now feels like a "fietsstraat" and it works quite well. I've used this bicycle highway for 15 years and it has improved a little. But even before the redesign cars acted like guests on this street and gave priority to bikes. That's a numbers game. It's bicycle throughway and a local road for cars.

[@stephensaines7100]

The awful irony is that their 2022 infrastructure, before being improved, was still vastly better than much of what we have now.

[@przemys4466]

I ride there on my way to work. I frankly don't see much difference besides maybe aesthetics. What's so bad about it?

[@hendman4083]

​@@przemys4466I think the OP lives in a place with not much cycle infrastructure, and compares that to the dutch infrastructure, and how we are upgrading streets that already put his to shame.

[@lheng2474]

same, think almost anyone(?) outside of the Netherlands/a few cities feels this

[@oldbrokenhands]

After watching all the hype and trailers for Wicked, kinda wishing the Dutch had yellow brick roads.

[@saundesh2614]

The central raised bump / median strip is interesting. How high is it? Is it intended to discourage cars from overtaking? On low-traffic streets I'd prefer cars be able to overtake me as a cyclist particularly if I'm struggling up a hill. Also the low-contrast colour seems like it could be a trip hazard for people with vision impairment.

[@BicycleDutch]

About 1cm. It's very easy to cycle over it. It is a rumble strip. When drivers drive over it it will make noise inside a car and that makes them drive slower and more aware of their surroundings. It's not meant to be difficult to cycle over it or to pass it walking. It is not a trip hazzard.

[@saundesh2614]

@@BicycleDutch Thanks for the reply, the strip has been added to Australian design guidance but the details aren't clear. I think some newly designed cycle streets are going to have much higher median strips, more like speed bumps and I'm not convinced it'll be a good outcome. A 1cm high strip would be much better.

[@FHRider-o1m]

Bliss. We need Dutch transport planners in Barnstaple, Devon. There was one years ago, who was responsible for the few great paths we have here, but now they’ve left things have stalled, and new developments just don’t consider cyclists except a shared path to nowhere.

[@amcaesar]

This has been a long time coming, near continuous work for almost four years.

[@wyhesggifrid]

2:15 its way more beautiful now after removing all those parking spots and replacing them with green areas. At 3:00, is that bridge only for bikes (and tram?)?

[@TheDutchMitchell]

Nice catch of a mad e-biker right in the beginning...

[@KJSvitko]

Retail bicycle outlets need to do more to encourage young people and older adults to ride bicycles. Sponsoring bike trains to escort children on their rides to school would be a great start. Organizing volunteers, teachers and other to ride along would be a great start. Getting children out of minivans and onto bicycles would be healthy exercise, build independence and make society healthier. Fun ride should also be organized. Getting a local bike club or school to sponsor an annual event to a local park or trail would encourage both adults and children to ride bicycles. Getting local elected officials to help with sponsored activities would help to educate them about the need for safe, protected bike lanes and trails in their community. Offering space and coffee for local riders to meet up would also improve store traffic.

[@etbadaboum]

Brick walls, red paths 🟥💯❤

[@KSN368]

absolutely terrific development. just one thing i can't wrap my head around: how do they still allow these disgustingly noisy moto bikes to use the bike lane? that's sick 🤮

[@peterjones3557]

An astronomic rise in the registration fee is called for!

[@jochemmm]

They got banned from almost every cycle path and need to drive on the road with cars. I noticed one motorcycle. That was on the part where cars are allowed. Didn't pay too much attention to them though.

[@Keikdv]

They still even allowed those big ugly noisy steel things on 4 (four!) wheels to acces!! Beside a color, nothing has changed...

[@jooproos6559]

As a Dutchman i ask,whats the difference????Except off course the color.

[@mernisch8307]

Not much. It has always been a street with low car volumes. But the junctions at the bridges have been improved significantly

[@MrAronymous]

Een gewone asfaltweg is nu fietsstraat (en ja dat maakt uit) geworden en de oevers en het stukje voor de school zijn vergroend.

[@Keikdv]

@@MrAronymous fietstraten zijn schijnveiligheden. Auto's willen er altijd langs en zullen zich doordrukken. Een enkeling blijft erachter. En voelt dat lekker, zo'n broemend ding achter je?

[@mernisch8307]

@@Keikdv een auto mag er ook gewoon langs. Maar moet daarbij niet de medewerking van fietsers verwachten. Ik vind het een prima systeem in straten als deze met heel veel fietsers en wat overig bestemmingsverkeer

[@przemys4466]

Same, haven't noticed any save for the colour.

[@dainiusm5436]

🚴🚴🚴LT

[@merilae2267]

1:20 that looks close.

[@xFD2x]

By the looks of it, 1.5 meters (or 5 ft). In Amsterdam that's a pretty normal occurence.

[@merilae2267]

@xFD2x i ment the car

[@Keikdv]

and that is NOT solved in 2024. Still cars can enter and push their way through. Ever been hit by a sidemirror? It is no fun. You stay up but it hurts like hell.

[@MrHenkkkie]

​@@merilae2267it is close, but considered normal overtaking in narrow streets

[@howtoeverything5636]

I love Netherlands infrastructure so much! I just wish they would use green paint instead as green be a much more calming color. But well, as red is a warning color, I guess it's intended for safety reasons, and on the street, I get it, but on separated cycling paths, it seems unnecessarily aggressive. That said, their infrastructure is the best nonetheless! And other countries really should take notes!

[@09conrado]

It's not paint. It's red gravel mixed in with the asphalt

[@JaenMuron]

I had the same thought about the colour: wouldn't green be better, more pleasant? The funny thing is though I grew up with this red colour. For me it is a colour which I associate with safety, absence of cars and therefore calmness. One grows to it seemingly.

[@MeatNinja]

Grass is green, cycle path is red 🙃

[@MeatNinja]

No but seriously, the color of the red asphalt is so far removed from the bright "danger" red. It's maybe even closer to salmon.

[@hanneken4026]

As a large propertion of Dutch houses are built of red clay bricks, and historically many streets were paved with those too, so the dull red color fit in better with the urban environment. Red pavement is strongly associated with slower driving speeds and lots of bike traffic, and hence safer biking streets. Nowadays, they sometimes use brighter and lighter reds which don't fit as well with the usual red brick colors, maybe to make the paths stand out better? They do dull down a bit over time. The bright Kermit green used in the US would be very startling, not fit in well at all, and clash horribly with the historic town centers - good if you want to draw attention and declare that this is something special, but not good if you want it to be seen as a normal, everyday, natural part of the streetscape that should just be present everywhere, not just in exceptional circumstances. We tend to prefer adding natural greens, trees and grass, hedges and plants along the streets where possible, rather than green pavement, like the green between the Amstel river on the left and the street, to give people something green to look at (and help with rainwater absorption too, which green asphalt bike lanes can't).

[@tonyka3545]

in 2022 ride was much smoother. camera didn't shake that much on drempels.

[@Keikdv]

A new sign and a new color does NOT add to the safety of bikers. Still cars parked (on the wrong side sometimes), owners still not looking in mirrors when opening doors, still pushing their way through... Why do bikers have to go up and over streetbumps, designed for reducing CAR-speed? Does cars really not enter the section starting at 02:13? It is wide enough... The pole to keep them out was not there in 2022. A sign of the times... A seperate bikeline is the ONLY solution (I live in the Netherlands and I hate Fietsstraten!)

[@fionawolleswinkel]

Cars are still allowed on that road. The infrastructure doesn’t separate them from cyclists so it’s still not safe.

[@u.2b215]

It is safe because cars have to yield to cyclists, are only allowed to go 30km/h and there are traffic calming measures in place.

[@SanderEvers]

@@u.2b215 It's better, but there are absolutely too many cars on the street for my liking.

[@przemys4466]

Cyclists don't have priority there. When coming to an equivalent intersections, cyclists actually need to yield to all traffic coming from right, including cars.

[@u.2b215]

@@przemys4466 What I meant is that cars on a "fietsstraat" cannot rush cyclists or expect them to make room for them to overtake them. I didn't mean that cyclists can ignore traffic coming from the right on an equivalent intersection.

[@przemys4466]

@@u.2b215 well they can't do that on regular streets either, can they?