2023-10-16 12:39:00
The subject also came up at the municipal council this Monday when various road works were being discussed. “This type of cycle path is indeed surprising when you see it for the first time, recognized mayor Benoît Lutgen. The Houffalize roadway is an example, but we will have to get used to it. We have no choice because this is the new regulation at the level of the Walloon Region, desired by Minister Ecolo. It is a question of getting used to it. We had contact with the head of the Luxembourg Roads Directorate, Pierre-Yves Trillet, to have the technical sheet and the exact operation, which will not be useless (smile).” The mayor is especially surprised to see such an arrangement on an important axis: “Such arrangements on secondary roads would be more understandable than on a busy road, but we will have to live with it. And this has positive points too, such as avoiding the danger of opening car doors when the cycle path is at the end.”
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What do the rules say?
Contacted by us, Pierre-Yves Trillet confirms: “For the renovated roads, we follow the new regulations. Here, there is no room to create a cycle path outside the road so we installed a new path cycle path suggested according to current standards. But motorists can rest assured, it is authorized to overtake bicycles.” These standards are now yellowed bands, rather than chevrons (white arrows alternating with a bicycle symbol). These must be drawn with a buffer space of 0.8 m in relation to the lateral parking strip, if there is one as is the case on the Chaussée de Houffalize. If the neighboring strip is not used as a parking lot, “the minimum distance between the suggested cycle lane and the border corresponds to the width of the water trickle, i.e. 0.20 to 0.50 m”, specifies the Region’s sheet 286 Walloon, which governs the domain. This is undoubtedly why the positioning surprises more than one person on the Chaussée d’Houffalize. Without a parking side strip, the cycle path would be closer to the edge of the road.
“To my knowledge, this is the second place in our province where this has been carried out, following an achievement near Virton, but it remains quite innovative for us and can therefore be surprising,” admits Pierre-Yves Trillet.
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If the device is surprising, we will have to see its effectiveness in the field, in use. In the meantime, some point out, this now very visible strip has the advantage of drawing the attention of motorists to the possible presence of cyclists, of putting them forward. And to establish a certain habit of being attentive, provided all the same that the cyclists dare to venture regularly on this path already well frequented by four wheels.
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