The tour consisted of stopping along a canal to view a new bike bridge under construction. This white bridge was a thing of beauty. When fully operational it will be able to swing open in order to allow passing ships.
Another stop was at a busy intersection to observe a design the Dutch of have done in order to make crossing by bicycle safer and easier. This included curb extensions, forcing vehicles to make sharp, 90 degree turns, giving a motorist a full view of a cyclist, and also set back stop bars.We also stopped at the train station located on Sir Winston Churchillaan, where we had the opportunity to to visit with a Rijswik engineer who has worked on redesigning streets. As we stool in front of the train station we looked over a wide street that had recently been changed in order to better accommodate cyclists, and make crossing by pedestrians easier and safer. This included taking away a travel lane, using high visibility crosswalks, and red brick to denote a cycle track.
We then had the privilege to attend a presentation provided by the engineer discussing Rijswik's Design For Sustainable Transportation. Rijswik is located midway between Delft and The Hague, is home to 48,000 people, and is also an important job site with 38,000 jobs and 350 companies. Some of the highlights of the presentation included the Bike Policy, which featured Bike Parking, Bike Paths (Network), Wayfinding/Signage, Land Use, and Communications. Also a variety of projects in Rijswik were discussed and given as examples of what the city has done in order to improve transportation.
The remainder of the Fourth of July ended like so many do back home, with a barbecue and some beer. The students and the faculty gathered back at the University for some food and drinks. We then watched another World Cup match, France vs Germany. As for the remainder of our "holiday" weekend, some of us were off to Amsterdam.
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