I visited Freiburg over the New Year and the information I picked up was very rich. You will see quite a few blogs on the new developments there over the next few weeks I guess. Something one of our traffic engineers said before I went away made me think quite a bit about street widths. Here is a tram in a really narrow street in Antwerp. So don't tell me that you need a really wide street for a tram! (You know who you are.)
We measured this street out as 6m wide - and you can see that a good metre and a half each side is the footpath. So a tram takes up about 3m. (If you look very closely you will see my dog Astrid waiting at the side!) Yes and cars are allowed down here as well - but woe betide them if they try and park.
However a thorough-fare for all types of traffic needs to be designed differently. Vaubanalle in Frieburg, is the main road that runs through the Eco suburb of Vauban.
This street is 35m wide. Download the info sheet for a detailed section and more images. What's really interesting is the fact that the roadway section - two way traffic and a line of parking - is only 6m wide while the pedestrian/cycle track is also 6m wide. Designing cities for cycles does not seem to mean less tarmac unfortunately. But it does mean a different balance between car uses and other uses.
'
'
