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I realise that implementing the following suggestion would be
costly, but it would be less costly than rapid transit, and of
course much less costly than highways for cars! Whether
the increase in bicycle ridership would justify such an expense
is an item for debate, but it's an interesting idea anyway:
As befits the name "controlled access highway",
there would be no stop signs, no traffic lights and no level
crossings. The road would be mostly straight and level, well lit
and patrolled by police on bicycle. Preferably the road would be
enclosed so as to keep rain, snow and wind out, but at the very
least it would be plowed, cleaned and maintained like any other
road.
At least three separate lanes in each direction would exist
for different speeds (say, less than 20 km/h, 20 - 40 km/h,
greater than 40 km/h), plus a shoulder for people who need to
pull over to rest or to fix a mechanical problem. Each lane would
be wide enough to allow things such as baby trailers - this would
probably make the highway about as wide as a three lane road.
Access points would be spaced every 500 metres or so. Signs would
be placed on roads near the bicycle highway to indicate how to
get to the nearest access point, just as is done for highways for
cars and trucks.
James Strickland
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