Shanghai government plans to build cycle lanes on the newly
opened Middle Ring Road, a city official said yesterday.
The scheme follows a newspaper report that cyclists and scooter
drivers were being forced to illegally use the same lanes as cars
and trucks because parts of the road only had vehicle lanes.
A preliminary plan aims to turn one fifth of the existing
traffic lanes along the ground section of Middle Ring Road into a
cycle lane.
City planners said a network of minor streets around the
arterial ring road will also be for people on two-wheels.
"We are considering a plan to convenience cyclists," an official
surnamed Wang from the Shanghai Engineering Administrative Bureau
said yesterday.
According to traffic planners, the Puxi section of the Middle
Ring Road, about 38-kilometers long, does not allow cyclists and
scooter drivers to use even the non-elevated sections of the
road.
However, most of the ring road's ground roads -- such as Zhenbei
Road and Wenshui Road -- were originally open to both vehicles and
cyclists.
A recent report in a Chinese newspaper said many cyclists and
scooter drivers were being forced to vie with vehicles on the
Middle Ring Road along Tianshan Road.
A similar dilemma faces cyclists in the Dabaishu and Wujiaochang
areas.
Zhao Guotong, a city transport and environmental protection
expert, said it was unreasonable to ban cycling on the ring road
because many ordinary people depend on two-wheels to get around in
rush hour traffic.
"Public transport, bicycle and scooters are a vital means of
transport for a modern city," he said.
He said in many Western countries, such as Britain, Norway and
Denmark, governments encourage cyclists and discourage cars.
He said in Vienna, Austria, more than 40 percent of people ride
bikes.
Late last year, the city government announced a plan to build a
160 km cycling network. Some of the lanes will be gained by
widening roads and others by rearranging existing roads.
Cai Yifeng, an urban planning expert from the Shanghai
Transportation Planning Institute, said: "Ground public traffic and
cycling should play a bigger role to alleviate local traffic
congestions before the World Expo (in 2010)."
(Shanghai Daily June 30, 2006)