Delft Facility Tour #1 Assignment
Katie Merry, Kyle Deshon, Garrett Boyle, Sarah Ebaugh, Kurt Gleichauf, Dan Peirce, Alex Sandoval.
E: Intersection of Ruys de Beerenbrouckstraat and Princes Beatrixlaan
Head Writer – Garrett Boyle
Description: A large protected four way intersection where two, two lane freeways meet one another. Each approaching road has a median separating either travel direction. There are single lane cycle tracks along each side of the roads, about 3 meters from the road. At the intersection, the bikes lanes protected by an outside ring around the in intersection.
Observations: Bikes and cars are have separated stop bars, and the bike’s stop bar is much further than the car stop bar. Therefore, cars that are turning right can see the bikes that are going straight. Further protection is added by including separate signal phases for the bikes and cars which completely erases the conflict between the car turning right and the bike going straight. There also included protective islands that separates the bikers turning right from the cars turning right. Connected to this, whenever a car or bike has a green light, they can assume that they will not conflict. This creates a sense of security for bikes and pedestrians because they have there own travelway and are well protected. Because of this, bikes and pedestrians wait at the stop bars until they receive their respective green lights, and don’t break the rules of the intersection. Another reason for this is also that the wait times between green lights are only a minute long for bikes, pedestrians, and cars. Bikes and pedestrians make left turns in two phases. First by going straight to the other side of the road and then by crossing the intersecting road. There are also taller light poles for cars and shorters light poles for cars.
There are also clear sight distances on all entrances of the intersection and well-painted pavement markings. Effective pavement markings are very important to this intersection, especially when it comes to the entrances/exits of the intersection where bikes or pedestrians could conflict with cars.
Suggestion for location in US: The intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Bolyston Street in Boston is a heavily trafficked intersection. Both Massachusetts Avenue and Bolyston Street have heavy vehicular traffic, heavy pedestrian traffic due to its proximity to the Prudential Center and Berkelee College and heavy bike traffic in the area due to its location near the Berkelee College bike lockup. Adding an intersection similar to the intersection of Ruys de Beerenbrouckstraat and Princes Beatrixlaan would create a much safer, and less hectic environment.
