More bike lanes for Muscovites

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The city of Moscow is not known for being bike friendly. In September, the city opened its first cycle lane but not to too much acclaim.

This 6.6km cycle lane route is linked to the campus of Moscow’s State University but has been so badly planned that the lane runs through a variety of obstacles on the way. Muscovites also seem to be bemused by it, with many cars and pedestrians unaware that the green painted lane is for cycle use only.

More cycle lanes coming

But there could be better news on the horizon, Moscow’s mayor Sergey Sobyanin has promised that 16 of Moscow’s main roads will get bike lanes and associated bike parking facilities in a bid to encourage more people to bike in Russia’s capital.

The Russian Times reported that Mr Sobyanin was planning bike lanes across nearly all the city’s districts with lanes near large shopping centers, train stations and other transport infrastructure being high on the list.

World’s most friendly cycling city

In total, Moscow authorities plan to have 70 km of cycle lanes up by 2016 with 17,000 bike parking spaces available.

All this is contained within plans to make Moscow the world’s most cyclist friendly city by 2016. Hmmm. We think maybe getting some experts in cycle infrastructure from Amsterdam and Copenhagen maybe a good idea given the efforts on the one lane introduced so far.