Lord mayor Karácsony: Budapest Ring Road to receive permanent bike lane
Budapest’s Ring Road linking Petofi Bridge and Margaret Bridge, a main thoroughfare in the city centre, will be revamped to provide a permanent bike lane and two lanes for cars on the most frequented stretch, Budapest Mayor Gergely Karacsony told a press conference on Monday.
In a compromise “designed to give everyone something”, the southern half of the Ring Road will have two lanes for cars and bike lanes on either side, but no parking area on the edge of the road, Karacsony said. From Blaha Lujza Square to northern Margaret Bridge, cars will have one lane in each direction, alongside bike lanes and parking areas, he added.
The municipality set up a
temporary bike lane on Ring Road between Vaci and Ulloi Streets in April,
during the first wave of the coronavirus lockdown. Car traffic was restricted to one lane in that area.
Karacsony said the municipality had conducted widespread consultation on cycle lanes in Budapest, adding that the number of cyclists in the city was larger than ever. The Budapest Mobility Plan, accepted during the mayoralty of Karacsony’s predecessor, Istvan Tarlos, had aimed to raise cycle traffic within the city to ten percent, he said. “We have taken big steps in that direction in recent months,” he said.
Earlier on Monday, Balazs Furjes, the state secretary for the development of Budapest and the suburbs, called on Twitter for similar measures, adding that deliveries for shops and parking for the disabled should be maintained.
Samu Balogh, Karacsony’s cabinet office chief, said the changes will be implemented in the first half of September. The municipality
will start planning extensive developments along the Ring Road
this autumn in terms of its role regarding the city’s trade, culture and image, he said.
5 Comments
“two lanes for cars on the most frequented stretch”… it’s frequented because there is space. Remove a car lane and you will see lower number of cars… one lane for each: public transport, cars, bikes and pedestrians
If you want to improve traffic flow and provide a bike lane then eliminate all parking on the entire korut. Mixing the two solutions makes no sense and will only lead to more congestion at the point where the car lanes go from 2 to 1.
a better solution: one the one side of the tram line of korut just bikes and on the other side of the tram two car lanes (one in each direction)… no mixing…
Now that cycle lanes are official and permanent can adult cyclists please stop using the pedestrian areas?
This is fine in Spring and Summer but in the winter with rain and freezing wind I would not want to be on a bike.