Dutch Principles and Suburban Streets: Lessons from Pinecrest, Florida

The Village of Pinecrest, a suburban community in Miami-Dade County, Florida, is working to make walking and cycling an integral part of everyday mobility. In 2024 Pinecrest asked the Dutch Cycling Embassy for an introduction to Dutch cycling principles, and within two years, they had developed a comprehensive masterplan for walking and cycling, influencing school zones, intersections, ongoing infrastructure projects and the wider mobility network.

We spoke with Dick van Veen and Maurits Lopez Cardoso, both independent consultants, working together in the Dutch Urban Design Team, about the project, the challenges of working in a car-oriented American context, and what other North American communities can learn from Pinecrest’s approach

What drew you to the Pinecrest project, and what made it unique? 

Dick van Veen:  Pinecrest approached us with the curiosity of learning about Dutch cycling principles. They had an enthusiastic councillor, who saw cycling as a potential strength for the community and had ambitions to develop a new walking and cycling network.  From that first conversation, things moved quickly. Our initial presentation with the City Council soon developed into a full master plan for walking and cycling. The plan was then connected to many of the projects Pinecrest already had underway, adding a cycling and walking component to them.

What were the biggest mobility challenges you encountered in Pinecrest? 

Maurits: The biggest challenge is that Pinecrest exists within a very car-centric North American context. It is a pleasant, green community with a high quality of life, but public space is designed for cars rather than pedestrians or cyclists. This has consequences beyond mobility: people become less socially connected, and life is structured around driving.

Several councillors remembered cycling to school themselves when they were younger, they even remembered the number of bike racks around the village and how cycling was part of everyday life.  So, there was already a memory of a different kind of mobility culture, and we saw an opportunity in reconnecting the residents to that, while recognising that now Pinecrest is a very different place.

Dick: There are also practical challenges resulting from Pinecrest’s position within the wider Miami-Dade and Florida transport system. Some decisions are influenced by county and state-level requirements, which can limit how innovative a local project can be.

Another major issue is school drop-off. Pinecrest is relatively quiet for most of the day, but during the two hours of school drop-off, the roads can become completely congested, with parents sometimes spending half an hour in traffic simply to drop off or pick up their children.

How did residents and local stakeholders respond to the project? 

Dick: One of the interesting things was how residents did not necessarily question some of the existing mobility patterns until we pointed them out. For example, the school drop-off congestion had become normalised. Once we highlighted how unusual it was to spend so much time sitting in traffic just to drop children at school, people began remembering how things had worked differently when they were younger.

There were also concerns that emerged specifically through the engagement process. We proposed shared-use paths along some of the larger roads, and some residents were concerned about having more people walking and cycling alongside their properties.

Another important issue was Pinecrest’s tree canopy. Residents are very proud of the community’s greenery, and there was concern that building cycling infrastructure might require trees to be removed. We told them that since the trees were there first, the path should go around them. These conversations helped us understand what was important to the community and adapt the plans accordingly.

Maurits: We also held workshops with residents, businesses and schools to gather local knowledge about existing cycling and walking routes. That was extremely valuable. People knew which quiet streets were already comfortable for cycling and walking, where children travelled to school and which crossings felt dangerous.

This showed us that a surprising amount of safe cycling was already possible. Rather than trying to build an entirely new network, we could focus investment on the critical gaps and crossings.

How did you adapt Dutch cycling principles to the suburban Florida context? 

Dick:  Instead of copying the Dutch system, we applied the underlying principles, such as Sustainable Safety: higher-speed roads require greater separation, while lower-speed streets can accommodate cycling and other modes through shared-space solutions. Pinecrest already had a network of slower residential streets, so we could build on that.

On the higher-order roads, we proposed shared-use paths for walking and cycling. Rather than waiting until there was enough demand to build the ultimate infrastructure, we also introduced a growth model. If there are relatively few cyclists and pedestrians today, you might start with a narrower path and expand it as use increases.

What can other North American communities learn from Pinecrest? 

Maurits: One lesson is the value of being open to international experience while developing your own solutions. Pinecrest invited us to look at projects that were already being planned according to conventional US standards and ask: could these be done differently? That process of working directly with local consultants, engineers and project teams is where a lot of the value lies. It is not about importing Dutch design, but rather about getting people to consider walking and cycling as part of projects that they are already delivering.

Dick: I would add pragmatism. Too many cycling plans start with a vision for a completely new network that costs millions of dollars and may take decades to build. In the meantime, there is nothing on the ground. Pinecrest’s approach was different. We looked at what already exists. Where are people already driving at relatively low speeds? Could those streets form part of a cycling network today? Where are the critical gaps that need investment?

This dual approach, using the existing low-speed network while making targeted investments in higher-order roads and missing links, can help cities start building a cycling culture before the entire network is complete.

Where will the project go from here? 

Dick: We are still part of the team. Ongoing projects are still being shared with us so we can provide input. Of course, there is always a political dimension to this kind of work, but Pinecrest has some advantages. It has a relatively small organisation and considerable independence, which means that when there is political will, things can move quickly.

Maurits: Together with Pinecrest staff, we developed a comprehensive walking and cycling master plan and helped establish it as an official policy document. It provides a reference point for future projects, so even when we are no longer directly involved, local designers can look at the network and understand what the walking and cycling conditions and ambitions are for each link.

The aim is to make the network strategy part of how every future project is considered. Every location is different, but the same underlying principles can guide decisions.

The mission is certainly not complete. But the fact that Pinecrest has embraced the plan and intends to use it as a reference for years to come is an encouraging sign. The goal is ultimately for Pinecrest to be a more liveable, walking- and cycling-friendly community.

For more information about this project, feel free to reach out to our DCE Consultants Dick van Veen (dick@dickvanveen.nl) or Maurits Lopes Cardozo (Maurits@bikeminded.nl).