A main street in the historic city centre, Gothersgade runs past Rosenborg Castle and the Kings Gardens at a hasty 50 km/h. One segment of it, leading away from Nyhavn and toward the Kings Gardens, is a three-lane one-way stretch of traffic lined by boutiques, bodegas, and cafes.
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Google Maps view looking east on Gothersgade. |
Enter the road diet. Now we've got one lane for traffic, widened sidewalks, and cycle tracks going in on both sides.
One-way streets across town are slowly transforming into two way streets for cyclists (in addition to maintaining one lane for automobiles). Whether it's with a painted bicycle lane, or a separated cycle track (depending on road speed and traffic volume), the desire lines of cyclists are being made both the fastest and safest routes. Previously, in The Arrogance of Space, we saw how only slightly narrowing lanes allows plenty of room for proper bicycle infrastructure.
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The [almost] finished cycle tracks of Gothersgade. |
It looks like they even widened the opening for those of us who are more likely to make a granny shot than a slam dunk..
Once it's all built and done, the simple two-way tracks will actually be part of a much larger scheme. Not only will they save Copenhageners time from wiggling around a delightful maze of small city centre streets, but they'll be a main link to the new pedestrian/cyclist bridges over the harbour.
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The conceptual design for the new harbour bicycle bridge, which is currently under construction. |