Study Visit: County Wicklow

The first day began with a meet and greet early in the morning at Ede-Wageningen train station. This included Sjors van Duren and Milous van Mierlo from Royal HaskoningDHV. After the hired bicycles were collected, Sjors then led the group under the tracks and north to the meeting room. Once at the meeting room and after drinking a coffee, Sjors then presented on his experiences and the thinking behind how the Dutch connect rural and urban areas with cycling infrastructure. Milou then presented on the importance of behaviour change from her experiences in New Zealand and the Netherlands.

On a fine October day, lunch was then eaten outside but the conversations on cycling continued. Following this break, the group cycled back south through Ede, Bennekom and to the edge of Wageningen. This route demonstrated examples of how many smaller projects can be combined to create a continuous cycle route (Doorfietsroute), which ultimately connects different towns and allows people to continuously cycle in a free-flowing manner. Under the guidance of Sjors, stops were made along the way to highlight changes, challenges and observe behavior at junctions. After a good afternoons cycle, the group then returned to the train station to complete the day.

For Day 2, everybody met at the DCE office in Utrecht for presentations by Nils Bruinsma and Marco Mulder from Arcadis. They presented on the reasons to invest in cycling, using Utrecht and its ambitions for cycling as an example. This included highlighting the Merwedekanaalzone which is a great example of a newly built housing development where walking, cycling, and shared mobility have priority over private car use.

In the afternoon, we cycled around Utrecht and included a visit to a school zone. A school zone was focused on because they can be significant bottle necks in towns when children are frequently dropped off and picked up by car. Cycling to school offers an effective solution to this problem. Connections within the city between shopping areas, housing, university and nature were also focused on during the afternoon’s ride.

The final day provided an opportunity for more rural leisure cycling to be experienced, as the group followed part of the Liberation Route in the Veluwe area.  The day was led by Jeroen Drabbe from AbelLeisure.

After meeting at Arnhem Centraal station and collecting bikes, Jeroen guided the excited group over the John Frost bridge in Arnhem. Despite a westerly headwind, the group headed along the Nederijn with relative ease, thanks to their e-bikes. A short boat trip across the river and then a picturesque route through the forest brought the group to Oosterbeek. Here Jeroen presented on the value and benefits of leisure cycling and cycling tourism in the Netherlands. After questions and lunch, the group then cycled back to Arnhem Centraal to end the visit.

It was a pleasure to host such an enthusiastic and attentive group, we look forward to seeing how their experiences shape the implementation of cycling infrastructure within County Wicklow in the future.