By getting bikes away from cars, the new bike lanes would help ease automobile congestion and promote alternative transportation (click to enlarge).
Munich is making a play for world's most bike friendly city status. The famed German metropolis recently announced preliminary plans to build a system of cycling superhighways that connect downtown to its sprawling suburbs.
Dubbed Radschnellverbindungen, the proposed network of 14 two-way-traffic, 13-foot-wide bike lanes would help ease automobile congestion and promote alternative transportation. The system would cover some 400 square miles and have no crossroads or traffic lights, making it a fast and efficient way to commute to work or just get out of the city and into the countryside.
Cyclists would be able to move at around 12mph without slowing down on these bike autobahns. The new paths would link the city center with outlying areas using a mix of currently undeveloped land, existing bike lanes and small streets.
The system would cover some 400 square miles and have no crossroads or traffic lights (click to enlarge).
This is by no means a new idea. According to City Lab, the Netherlands already has 28 similar bike-only paths, and cities such as London and Paris have similar projects in the works. These project aren't cheap. According to the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, the Munich system would run $1.75 million per mile.
But the end result could certainly be worth the investment. Check out the video below of Copenhagen's Cykelslangen (or cycle snake). Now that's the way to get around a city.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iypvbe6J6Qs