On July 20th, we took a day trip to Houton, NL, the bike utopia.
This is our presenter, Herbert Tiemens, giving us an overview of the bike network in Houten. He gave us a scavenger hunt of the city to see the traffic calming and bike facilities in the town.
First on the list was the Houten central market. This market had a large open area(as seen above) for the weekly market, but also had many stores on pedestrian streets coming off the main market.
Houten does biking so well that they have a large problem, too many bikes in the downtown area. The still in construction Houten NS Station is in the background.
Houten was once a small village with a very small population, until the late 1970s when the government decided to expand the town. The old town center was incorporated into the new town.
This is the old town center, a small group of shops and restaurants surrounding an old common area.
After the success of Houten, the government decided to create a copy of the town and Houten Castellum just south of the original development. This new development incorporated all the successful features of Houten, and included some improvements. This new town is still in the process of being built. The new town center is currently in construction.
Until the shopping center is complete, the residents of Houten Castellum need some place to buy their daily goods. These are the temporary stores and supermarkets in the town until the new center is finished.
Not all shopping is done in the center of the town though, there are some local stores in the neighborhoods. This allows residents that live nearby to have a very short walk or bike ride to get their daily shopping done.
This is one of the many bike tunnels that connect Houten to its surounding. It is impossible for a car to cut through the town, so Houten is encompassed by a ring road that allows cars to travel around the town.
The ring road is 70km/hr roadway.
Another bike tunnel, hum I mean concrete wall.
A new roundabout in construction along the old ring road that is now between the new and old developments.
This roundabout was unique in that it had a roundabout cycle track completely under the roundabout.
Entrance into the residential development from the ring road. This is made to make drivers feel like they are no longer on the high speed ring road, but now in a quiet neighborhood. I think it did its job well.
This is the bike highway to Utrech. This path allows Houten residents a direct route into the major city.
A fietsstraat along the ring road. Note the dike next to the street to provide a sound barrier.
One change the designers of the new city did make in the new development was to make the green space/park in the town a pentagon around the center, rather than fingers coming from the center.
A stop sign!
To craete some of the new town, fill was need in some areas. Rather than bringing in material to fill the hole back up, designers decided to make a pond with a beach instead.
Yet another investment into the bike facilities of Houten.
The castle that is the meaning behind the new development name, Houten Castellum
