Steenvoordelaan, Rijswijk, in front of the shopping center In de Bogaard
Caroline Lucas
Introduction and Location
General Spoorlaan, a 2+2 distributor road carrying traffic through the town of Rijswijk, intersects with Steenvoordelaan at the site of the large shopping center In de Boogaard. This mall houses large businesses such as C&A, V&D, and Xenos. On the opposite side of Steenvoordelaan from the mall are apartment complexes interspersed with more commercial businesses. As such, Steenvoordelaan needs to provide access to these homes and businesses through parking and access to side roads while still allowing some through traffic in the form of cars and bus routes.
Figure 1. Locus Map
This segment of Steenvoordelaan is divided into two parts; the first is quite visibly similar to General Spoorlaan in that the lanes are wider (around 11 ft), there is a small amount of parking (one side of the road), and the street itself is the same grey coloring. This changes quite drastically, however, as the road approaches the main entrance to the mall – speed humps lead to raised pedestrian crossings, red brick replaces the dark asphalt, and eventually parking is extended to both sides of the street.
Figure 2. Northern end of Steenvoordelaan
Figure 3. Southern end of Steenvoordelaan
Homogeniety
Because of the high pedestrian traffic, it is important that pedestrians be separated from cars around the shopping center; this is done by having raised crossing tables at all intersections, and a sidewalk on the other side of the parking lane from moving traffic.
Figure 4. Physical Seperation of Pedestrians
Recognizability
While essentially functioning as a distributor road, the design and coloring of Steenvoordelaan gives bikers and drivers the feeling of needing to slow down and be aware of traffic around them, but still providing through access to different parts of Rijswijk. The first example of this is the introduction of red brick instead of asphalt as drivers approach the entrance; usually only used in residential areas in which the space for bikes and cars is shared, the red brick provides a rougher surface for cars to drive on, slowing them down. Grey brick delineates where buses stop to pick up passengers, creating a clear distinction between those spaces and making the lanes seem much narrower (8 ft from center stripe to grey bricks). This effectively forces cars to slow down to try to stay in their respective lanes.
In terms of bike infrastructure, there is none clearly provided. However, the coloring of bricks in between the parking and travel lanes provides a hint of where bikes are supposed to be and narrows both lanes, creating space for bicyclists where there is not enough room for an officially designated bike lane.
Figure 5. Effect of Coloring on Recognizability
Forgiveness
Forgiveness to the mistakes of those using this road is evident in the form of stone barriers in between the bike parking in front of In de Boogaard and the travel lanes for cars, as well as wide lanes where there is parking access to give as much room as possible to those parking as well as moving around them.
Figure 6. Parking Lanes