Masterclass for Transport Infrastructure Ireland

For three days from the 12^th until the 14^th September the Dutch Cycling Embassy (DCE) was delighted to receive a large group from Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII). The aim of this visit was to enable TII to create safe, comfortable and attractive Greenways.

This was achieved via first hand experiences on the bicycle, presentations, breakout sessions and finally applying everything learnt to a case study in Ireland. For the entire three days the DCE was fortunate to be joined by three experts from our network, Melissa Bruntlett (Mobycon), Jeroen Drabbe (AbelLeisure) and Wim van der Wijk (Royal HaskoningDHV).

Day 1: Arnhem, Nijmegen and Cuijk

Day one of the masterclass kicked off with everybody meeting at Arnhem Centraal train station for an introduction and outline of the coming days by Margot Daris. From here hired E-bikes were collected and the cycling could then commence. With Wim taking the lead, the group cycled along the along the Rijn-Waalpad doorfietsroute to Nijmegen. Under glorious September sunshine the group proceeded along the tour, making stops to apply sun cream and to highlight relevant infrastructural decisions regarding comfort, priority and safety.

The arrival to the Royal HaskoningDHV office brought an end to the first part of the cycle tour, as the group was welcomed with lunch and coffee. Wim then presented on the planning and design of cycle routes, before the group was divided into three teams for a break out session in order to complete a task which enabled Dutch principles to be applied to decision making.

The afternoon allowed the final leg of the day’s cycle tour to be completed, as the group made their way along the Maas-Waalpad, cycling through the Heumensoord forest and along the impressive Maasover bike bridge to Cuijk.

Day 2: Amsterdam and Durgerdam

A slightly chillier second day saw everybody meet at Amsterdam central, where we collected our hired bicycles to start our second cycle tour day.

From here the large group navigated their way through a typical urban to rural route in the Netherlands, via busy traffic light intersections, along a diversion and into a headwind as we crossed the IJ. The round trip was led by Jeroen and Melissa, who brought us to the idyllic waterfront town of Durgerdam, which greeted us to its ringing church bells as we bounced over the cobblestoned road.

With the rain not wanting to miss out on this trip, it too made a brief appearance as the group cycled back into Noord Amsterdam ahead of a well-earned lunch. Jeroen then presented on tourism and data management and Melissa presented on the importance of communication and inclusion when creating bicycle routes. After a time for questions which brought varied and broad discussions, a case study in Ireland was introduced as it would be the focus of the final day.

Day 3: Utrecht

For the final day the bicycles were left outside but remained in our thoughts, as a day in the DCE office allowed everybody to apply their experiences and lessons learned to work on a case study from Ireland.

Following a recap of the first two days, three groups were split up and rotated between Melissa, Jeroen and Wim. This allowed discussions to be had regarding the case, on topics such as stakeholders and communication, the purpose and experience desired in the case and to ultimately find a feasible solution to the case study. A lunch break allowed for a moment to pause, and to enjoy a sandwich, juice and coffee, before the afternoon then provided an opportunity for the three groups to come together and finally discuss a solution.

It was a pleasure to host such an engaging group from TII and we hope the trip inspired many new ideas for them to create safe, comfortable and attractive bicycle infrastructure going forward.