Translated material
Catch up
Another large-scale implementation of urban cycling infrastructure is taking place in St. Petersburg.
Earlier this year, the Committee for the Development of Transport Infrastructure (CDTI) published a plan for the arrangement of bicycle paths for 2017. Its implementation should end in August. “Novaya” walked along the designated cycling routes and assessed the quality of the work done.
Dates and prices
In January it became known that Smolny was going to build five bicycle lanes in different parts of the city. The basis for choosing directions was the results of studies of the road network and the proposals of the public project “Cycling of St. Petersburg”. Among the approved routes were the Fontanka embankment, several streets on the Petrograd side, directions along Lunacharsky Avenue, from Grazhdansky Avenue along Rustaveli and along Piskarevsky Avenue to Lenin Square. Soon the route was extended to the Petrogradsky district. It was reported that the length of the new bicycle network will be about 45 kilometers.
About 130 million rubles were allocated in the city budget for the design and construction of bicycle paths. Another 4.5 million was allocated as part of the “Your Budget” project.
It was planned to complete the design work before the beginning of summer. After this, in the midst of such a short warm season, KRTI had to begin the actual construction of a network of bicycle paths.
In fact, construction of the paths began only a week ago. Only three routes in the city center, developed by the Stroyproekt company, were fully agreed upon - on the Petrogradskaya side, the Fontanka embankment and in the northern part of the city. As Daria Tabachnikova, adviser on bicycle transport to the Vice-Governor of St. Petersburg, reported, work in the Petrogradsky district is 80% complete.
The remaining two of the five routes are still at the approval stage.
Bike ride - through intersections
Despite the fact that work in the Petrogradsky district and on the Fontanka is in full swing (new bicycle lanes are being marked out and corresponding road signs are being installed), experts highlight shortcomings. The main problem is intersections. Almost no intersection guarantees the safe passage of cyclists. In addition, cycle routes start and end abruptly. The bike trail system appears to be broken.
The most difficult and even absurd situation arises when moving from Petrogradskaya to Aptekarskaya embankment, where there is no direct crossing of the Grenadier Bridge. To cross the road, cyclists are forced to go around the intersection in a circle, which adds an extra half a kilometer to their journey and long waits at traffic lights. Many, of course, prefer access to the roadway to a long detour.
“I ride a bicycle myself and understand perfectly well that the most dangerous place is the intersection,” comments Daria Tabachnikova. “At the same time, this is the most difficult area for cycling infrastructure, which requires reorganization of road traffic. Here you need not just draw stripes - you need to change the design of traffic lights. Such design takes a year. In plans for 2018, solving problems at complex intersections is at the forefront, along with developing new routes. Our main criterion remains the connectivity of all directions.”
vk.com/velosipedization
The changes are just beginning
Although colored bicycle lanes have already appeared in some parts of the city, they are not physically separated from the roadway. But on the side of the pedestrian zone, the paths are fenced. According to KRTI's plans, in the future these barriers should move to the place where the road and bicycle lanes are separated.
In the St. Petersburg climate, wide puddles on the roads become an inconvenience, and therefore a cyclist in his lane can easily be doused by a car passing by at high speed.
According to Alexei Pankov, an activist for the “Bicycleization of St. Petersburg”, the most successful section today is the route from Levashovsky Prospekt to the Krestovsky Island metro station. “There are already colored bicycle lanes here, and a bicycle path runs right through the intersection,” he notes. “Unfortunately, so far it only acts in one direction. Movement in the opposite direction will only be possible in 2018.”
The last time planning for cycling infrastructure in St. Petersburg was seriously undertaken was only in 2011, based on projects developed during the time of Valentina Matvienko.
“The construction of bicycle paths resumed only this year,” Tabachnikova sums up. – The project is not designed for one year. At the current pace, only in 10–20 years will the cycling infrastructure in the city approach ideal. Now is the most difficult stage when we need to catch up. Real change is just beginning."
Daria ZAGUMENNOVA