In Holland, there are crosses on the level for bicycles that look like futuristic films but are real.
Exclusive motorway for bicycles is a concept that sounds great to any two-wheel lover. With extensive and exclusive routes, which could also be installed in places where a highway for all types of vehicles does not fit, remote sites, as well as the big cities of the cities, could be accessed much faster.
In countries like Germany, work is being in progress to build them. But some projects work as antecedents and are architecturally so impressive that they look like film.
Holland, which is famous for being a friendly city for cyclists and initiatives such as this second opportunity for people and bicycles, is an example of massive investments in architecture and urban design aimed at sustainable mobility.
Hovenring Bridge in Holland
It is a massive steel bridge shaped like a flying saucer over the Heerbaan / Meerenakkerweg intersection, which functions as an entrance to the cities of Eindhoven and Veldhoven.
Holland is a city with streets and avenues very friendly for bicycles, but still in some cases, as in ample avenues such as these, an extra infrastructure of level crossings is necessary for them.
For this reason, designers and planners created this beautiful roundabout elevated on the road, especially for cyclists.
Beyond the imposing of its design, and the comfort that this bridge means for Dutch cyclists, it is an invitation to reflect on the benefits that long-term investments that have to do with sustainability can bring.
This bridge, for example, cost approximately 30 million dollars and was built in 2008, a year not too prosperous for Holland. Some neighbors or merchants in the area complained: such a high investment in a bicycle path seemed out of place.
However, now that it has been operating for years, the inhabitants of Eindhoven are not only proud, but they recognize that the city and their lives have changed completely.
To increase the quality of life of citizens, by the simple fact of being able to go further without a car, the investment has another great long-term advantage: the reduction of pollution.
The cost of a bridge does not compare, however expensive, to the price that each of the inhabitants not only of a city but of the world, pays for each car that circulates by throwing greenhouse gases into the air, burning fossil fuels and causing traffic stress that fails to flow.
These bridges are an invitation to marvel, and also, to think about the long-term advantages of investing in a more sustainable world, that is, a better world for all human beings.