Munich wants to extend the thrill of the open highway to cyclists with a network of bike lanes running through the city and into the suburbs, in a bid to encourage car-free commuting.
The ambitious plan calls for a network of 14 two-way bike paths, each 13 feet wide and fully segregated from automobile traffic, that would spread out over an area of about 400 square miles. No crossroads, no traffic lights. It's an autobahn for cyclists, or, as the Germans obviously call it, a Radschnellverbindungen.
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The planned routes would connect Munich with small city centers, universities, and employment centers. They would be built over a combination of what's now open land, small streets, and conventional size bike lanes.
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Building the Radschnellverbindungen's not a done deal yet. Local authorities must approve the project before construction starts, and it won't be cheap. The German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung pegs the estimate at $1.75 million per mile.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 02 2015, @12:54PM
There are already bike highways like this along the north shore of Lake Constance (Konstanz) including underpasses for crossing roads -- bikes and cars are really separated. This is mostly a vacation and tourist area.
Munich is about 160km (100 mi) from Konstanz, just a bit east (and slightly north) so possibly this network was a prototype.
BMW headquarters are in Munich, I wonder if the company is supporting (or fighting) the bike highway proposal?