Barriers

Overcoming existing barriers is often crucial to implementation of route networks; prevention of new barriers has grown to be as important. New barriers, mainly in the shape of railways and motorways that may only be crossed at a limited number of locations - and only on different levels. Preventing new barriers is mainly an issue for the countryside and recreational routes. Landelijk Fietsplatform SLF feels particularly recreational routes starting from home, in urban situations, are under threat (Landelijk Fietsplatform fights for easy to reach bicycle routes (Landelijk Fietsplatform knokt voor bereikbare fietsroutes)). At some point there has been a guideline on the considerations regarding barrier generations that should be taken into account when realising new infrastructure; this is however hardly ever used in practice (Highway or railway often barrier to bicycles (Autosnelweg of spoorlijn vaak barrière voor fietsverkeer)). Fietsersbond has made a new attempt to make these problems and possible solutions subject of discussion once again (Analysis of the problem of barrier generation).

In local bicycle networks the challenge is more often the gradual removal of all existing barriers. Existing barriers in the form of canals, railways and busy car routes. Gradual, since there is often no actual room and particularly since costs are usually high - after all, these are bridges and tunnels. In the extensive Delft project, where implementation of a bicycle route network was thoroughly investigated, the main stumbling blocks proved to be the removal of barriers (Delft: a non-recurrent investment yields a non-recurrent, but permanent effect). Overcoming barriers has become more important in major cities of late, as often new urban expansions have been located on the other side of a motorway or canal. See for instance Leeuwarden (Leeuwarden more mindful of bicycle) and Zwolle (in Fietsberaad publication 7. Continuous and integral: The cycling policies of Groningen and other European cycling cities).