Rotherhithe tunnel in London screams to be repurposed this way -- to become "colorfully lit, art-lined" thing where psychologists give input on how to make it more welcoming
Europe’s Longest Bicycling Tunnel Opens in Norway
91–100 of 250 posts
Re: Europe’s Longest Bicycling Tunnel Opens in Norway
#92Why can't we support and encourage cycling without vilifying cars in these threads? I've seen plenty of places that do both very well, like Spain. Everybody has a car and bicycle (at least one) and uses whatever fits the purpose at the time. I get it, when there's not cycling infrastructure everybody is forced to take the car even if it doesn't make any sense, like for short trips, good weather, single passenger, no…
They’re naturally opposed in a way. Bike infrastructure is car infrastructure, you need protected cycle paths etc where there’s a lot of cars or they’re going fast. If it wasn’t for cars, the current infrastructure is great for bikes.
Re: Europe’s Longest Bicycling Tunnel Opens in Norway
#93Earlier quoted context omitted.
Famous example of pedestrian bridge resonances: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennium_Bridge,_London#Re...
Sure but again, just like packing people onto a bridge like sardines, it's an unusual circumstance. While vehicles driving all day over a bridge is not unusual. And even vehicles getting stuck on a bridge due to some traffic issue is not unusual either. One has to consider what is daily use, not just the exceptional cases.
I'm not sure I understand that comment. "Well, yeah, the bridge collapsed but it was an exceptional case. It worked fine for typical daily use."
Re: Europe’s Longest Bicycling Tunnel Opens in Norway
#94Why can't we support and encourage cycling without vilifying cars in these threads? I've seen plenty of places that do both very well, like Spain. Everybody has a car and bicycle (at least one) and uses whatever fits the purpose at the time. I get it, when there's not cycling infrastructure everybody is forced to take the car even if it doesn't make any sense, like for short trips, good weather, single passenger, no…
> Why can't we support and encourage cycling without vilifying cars in these threads?
In many places you have to win back some space from cars to make cycling/scootering/ anything viable.
For example in London we have a tonnel, Blackwall tonnel, built in 1890's - basically before cars existed. Its the only way to cross the river in east london for miles. It was open to people, horses, bicycles.
When cars became common, it was converted into a road, bicycles are banned. The story of non-car transportation is a story of routes and land being taken away from you.
Anyway, now in London they are building Silverstown tonnel near blackwalll tonnel, exclusively for cars. But there is still no way to cross the river on foot. I saw a news article about the old blackwall tonnel being pedestrianised, but then realised it was 1st of April.
Also they are building a railway for 100 billion in UK, and the original plan envisioned cycle route along all of it, from london to birmingham. But then budgets were cut and the cycle route was removed to save wopping 0.01% or whatever
> Also, taking Spain as an example again, scooters and motorcycles are often a better compromise.
I think this is a good point, there is also a wide array of electric non-bicycle mobility solution that fit well onto public transport and trains.
Re: Europe’s Longest Bicycling Tunnel Opens in Norway
#95[flagged]
Re: Europe’s Longest Bicycling Tunnel Opens in Norway
#96Only tangentially related, but I'm a bit dissapointed by Google Maps: when searching for this tunnel (and the tram line that it doubles as an escape tunnel for), all the copyright notices are from 2023, but there is no trace of it to be seen. I was expecting to at least see the construction works (these things usually take years to complete), but nothing. And there's also no "transit" layer for Bergen. Gotta do bette…
Here you go, the Fyllingsdalen side of the construction work.
The opening on the right.
https://www.google.com/maps/@60.3477967,5.2923209,3a,75y,120...
Re: Europe’s Longest Bicycling Tunnel Opens in Norway
#97Earlier quoted context omitted.
'Everybody has a car and bicycle...' I'm not sure this is true, but, on the wider point of cars v cycles it comes down to the usual problem of neither not wanting to share the same space. I have lived in Spain, though mainly live in the UK, and in either place I would not feel safe riding a bike (or scooter) on a public road. I should add that car drivers and bike riders can be as bad as each other, it's just that ca…
As a cyclist, I don't have an issue sharing space with other traffic, but I do have an issue with the hyper-aggressive drivers that seek to scare and/or injure cyclists by not giving them enough space when overtaking. There's also the abusive drivers that shout at you and beep their horn at you if they disagree with any choices that you've made such as which road to use. Drivers and riders are hardly comparable in te…
> There's also the abusive drivers that shout at you and beep their horn at you
Yep, happened to me.
Also there is a 'compulsive overtaking syndrome' where a driver feels they must overtake the bicycle even if you are exceeding the speed limit on your bicycle. Even if there is not enough space.
Re: Europe’s Longest Bicycling Tunnel Opens in Norway
#98Bergen municipality released a 25 minute video[0] of the bike ride through the tunnel and into the downtown area of Bergen.
If 'sakte TV' or slow TV is something you like, I could also recommend checking out The Bergen Line minute by minute[1], which is a seven hour broadcast of the train going between Bergen and Oslo. A peaceful and beautiful train ride.
[0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42q15E2YE8Y [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udF0IXB2FZA
Re: Europe’s Longest Bicycling Tunnel Opens in Norway
#99The best thing about pedestrian/cycling bridges and tunnels is that they cost soooo much less money to build since they have so much laxer requirements. The reason why we still have roman bridges standing is because the stress contribution of a human walking on it is basically zero. But start bringing in cars and trucks and see it crumble in a week
Eh, not exactly. Pedestrians are heavier than cars in terms of pounds per square foot. Bridges are designed for extreme loads, including pessimistic pattern loading, and the requirements for pedestrian bridges aren’t any less safety critical. (edit: I designed this bridge: https://www.google.com/maps/@47.597616,-122.3297804,3a,75y,7... )
> Bridges are designed for extreme loads, including pessimistic pattern loading, and the requirements for pedestrian bridges aren’t any less safety critical.
In terms of maximum load you are right, but wear and tear is completely different.
Trucks are terrible, pedestrians and bikes have zero impact.
Re: Europe’s Longest Bicycling Tunnel Opens in Norway
#100Earlier quoted context omitted.
As a cyclist, I don't have an issue sharing space with other traffic, but I do have an issue with the hyper-aggressive drivers that seek to scare and/or injure cyclists by not giving them enough space when overtaking. There's also the abusive drivers that shout at you and beep their horn at you if they disagree with any choices that you've made such as which road to use. Drivers and riders are hardly comparable in te…
> There's also the abusive drivers that shout at you and beep their horn at you Yep, happened to me. Also there is a 'compulsive overtaking syndrome' where a driver feels they must overtake the bicycle even if you are exceeding the speed limit on your bicycle. Even if there is not enough space.
The technical term for that is MGIF (Must Get In Front). It's especially bizarre when there's queueing traffic just ahead, so they overtake and then you almost immediately filter past them. It seems as though they're not able to look ahead and anticipate their own progress.