Haarlem-based Traffic Advisor reflects on Austin's Dutch-inspired cycle network in Mueller (Part 4)

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3 ай бұрын

In Part Four of my Austin bike infrastructure tour with Steffen Berr, Traffic Advisor with the City of Haarlem, The Netherlands, and the creative force behind the ‪@buildthelanes‬ Channel, we make our way through the Mueller neighborhood, exploring the Dutch-inspired cycle network. We ride past the bike and skate park, stop for a chat at the former airport traffic control tower, and look at the Zach Scott St bi-directional cycle track that is being rebuilt with solid concrete protection.
It's worth noting that the city of Austin has had a very productive ongoing relationship with the ‪@cycling_embassy‬ which has been instrumental in helping bring about this activity promoting transformation.
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Helpful Links (note that some may include affiliate links to help me support the channel):
- Part One of my ride w/ Steffen: • First Impressions of A...
- Part Two of my ride w/ Steffen: • Haarlem-based Traffic ...
- Part Three of my ride w/ Steffen: • Haarlem-based Traffic ...
- Part Five of my ride w/ Steffen: • Final thoughts of Haar...
- My Previous interview with Steffen: • A look inside Dutch st...
- 10 Minute Walk campaign: 10minutewalk.org/
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Background:
Hi Everyone! My name is John Simmerman, and I’m a health promotion and public health professional with over 30 years of experience. Over the years, my area of concentration has evolved into a specialization in how the built environment influences human behavior related to active living and especially active mobility.
Since 2010, I've been exploring, documenting, and profiling established, emerging, and aspiring Active Towns wherever they might be while striving to produce high-quality multimedia content to help inspire the creation of more safe and inviting, environments that promote a "Culture of Activity" for "All Ages & Abilities."
The Active Towns Channel features my original video content and reflections, including a selection of podcast episodes and short films profiling the positive and inspiring efforts happening around the world as I am able to experience and document them.
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Creative Commons License: Attributions, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives, 2024

Пікірлер: 26

@colleenharrison2942 3 ай бұрын

Love the community of Mueller. Hope more communities develop like this one.

@ActiveTowns 3 ай бұрын

Me too! 😀

@Siranoxz 3 ай бұрын

I complement the efforts 👍 Greetings from The Netherlands.

@ActiveTowns 3 ай бұрын

I can't credit for the hard work, but do enjoy spreading the word. Thanks so much for tuning in once again. Cheers! John

@butenbremer1965 3 ай бұрын

Wonderful content and video! The US really does seem to be learning a bit after all - until the STROAD struck again at the end... Hi from Frankfurt, GER!

@ActiveTowns 3 ай бұрын

Thanks so much for tuning in! Much appreciated. Cheers! John

@busysaru888 3 ай бұрын

I wish the buildings were built in 1900's style Vienna, 5-6 stories with beautiful facades and lots of balconies...

@ActiveTowns 3 ай бұрын

There are some similar to this in the "downtown" area. I have friends moving into units on the 4th and 6th stories with balconies looking down on the Central Park and Bandshell area.

@egelmuis 3 ай бұрын

Boulevard is via French from Dutch Bolwerk(bastion, bulwark). The word boulevard was first used for the road in the free field of fire around the city wall.

@ActiveTowns 3 ай бұрын

Cool! Thanks for tuning in and for this information. Much appreciated. Cheers! John

@tarimastanaka615 3 ай бұрын

I find the arrows on the cycle paths hilarious. If it were one way lanes ok but this feels belittleling 😂

@ActiveTowns 3 ай бұрын

Great to hear you had a laugh.

@sachamm 3 ай бұрын

Needs more nitpicking. ;-) Great stuff guys!

@ActiveTowns 3 ай бұрын

Thanks so much for joining us for the ride. Cheers! John

@abexuro 3 ай бұрын

A stop sign for bicycles?! Does that mean you could technically be fined for not stopping? That'd be so weird.

@ActiveTowns 3 ай бұрын

Yeah, it's pretty silly. However, it does help to indicate that the technical priority is not being given to people rolling in the cycle path. Thanks so much for watching. Much appreciated. Cheers! John

@Arjay404 3 ай бұрын

Hah, I like how he commented on the bollards, because just like him I'd prefer for them to not be there (and I'm probably one of the people you are talking about when you say you get comments about them.) unless there is a very specific reason for it. Just like with stop signs in the US, it shouldn't be the default. Although I do have to say that given that the bike lanes in the Netherlands are almost always red and cars shouldn't ever be riding on red unless it's red pavers in residential shared streets, that the red asphalt being there still leaves an indication to drivers that it's not a space for them. However if they were to remove the bollards on the bike path that you were riding when you guys were talking about the bollards does leave it open for a situation to happen where a driver doesn't realize it's a bike lane and may accidentally drive into the bike lane sinc there isn't really any/much of a difference in visuals between the car lanes and the bike lane. So if the cities don't just adopt having the bike lanes always be different color, maybe one thing they could do if/when they remove the bollards is that at least at the start of each section of the bike lanes that 1-2 meter section is painted in a very different color and then have the symbol of a bike on it.

@ActiveTowns 3 ай бұрын

Yep. Unfortunately there have been far too many fatalities that have resulted from drivers intentionally or mistakenly driving down or parking in bidirectional cycle paths. And yes, there several engineering and design approaches which could help make it difficult if not impossible for drivers to invade the bike lane.

@busysaru888 3 ай бұрын

I'm noticing storm drains, but not draining onto the grass islands, etc. to feed the grass/trees for free and filter runoff. It's disappointing.

@ActiveTowns 3 ай бұрын

Yeah, we were talking about that during our ride. Missed opportunity for sure

@LordKaladar Ай бұрын

Wouldn't the oils and other grimes of the vehicle traffic not be bad for the plants/soil? I'm unfamiliar with the concept of draining streets and/or roads into the adjacent vegetation.

@ActiveTowns Ай бұрын

@@LordKaladar Yeah, apparently strategically using rain gardens and permeable pavements can help with the filtration of these toxins rather than having them flow into and then poisoning the creeks, lakes, and watersheds thereby relieving some of the stress on the stormwater sewer systems which are easily overwhelmed. Thanks so much for watching and for the question. Cheers! John

@javierpalomares1774 3 ай бұрын

Can you have him review the bike lanes that are getting built on slaughter and along south congress?

@ActiveTowns 3 ай бұрын

Awe, shucks. We didn't ride down that way. Personally, I occasionally ride portions of South Congress, south of Mary, down to the Great Outdoors store to pick up garden supplies. It's not super comfortable due to the four motor vehicle travel lanes, but it is far better than it was a few years ago before the buffer and enhanced separation (flex posts) went in. Thanks so much for tuning in. Much appreciated. Cheers! John

@ronridenour243 3 ай бұрын

Shouldn’t the bike path be elevated without the curbs so bikers don’t go down if they have to swerve right or left for whatever reason and needlessly hit a curb side on?

@ActiveTowns 3 ай бұрын

In a perfect world... hehe 🤣 Thanks so much for watching. I hope you are enjoying the Channel. John