Investing in cycling: a way to go part 1

 Cycling is taken into account when the Dutch undertake large infrastructure projects. Nijmegen now has a third bridge over the river Waal and it has a smooth wide cycle path. The bridge is named ‘The Crossing’ (De Oversteek) after a heroic military action in World War II and it was opened on 24 November 2013. The river Waal formed the north border of the city for 2000 years, but that is now changing. Nijmegen’s first bridge was the 1879 railway bridge. In 1936 the first traffic bridge was completed. Both these bridges can also be used for cycling. In the case of the railway bridge on the now 10-year-old cycle bridge attached to it (the ‘Snelbinder’). This new third bridge is part of a much larger project, that involves water management and a large-scale city expansion north of the river in the former village of Lent. As a measure to prevent flooding, the government of The Netherlands is changing the course of the river Waal at Nijmegen. The Nijmegen project is in itself again also part of a much larger project called ‘Room for the River’ in which more than 30 rivers throughout the country are being altered. Read much more here.