Effecten van kantstroken op verkeersgedrag in Pijnacker : studie voor en na aanleg op de Molenlaan. In opdracht van de Gemeente Pijnacker.

This study of the effects of edge strips in the borough of Pijnacker took place within the framework of a broader ‘Data collection trial project’. That trial project is part of the SWOV theme ‘Road design and road safety’. Within this data collection trial project, the studies of edge strips and (non-compulsory) cycle lanes form one whole. Various road authorities participate in these studies, and similar studies are conducted at various locations. The present study has acquired the character of a pilot study. Edge strips and cycle lanes are seen by many as a possible way of implementing sustainably-safe rural, residential roads, where the speed limit is 60 km/h. An edge strip comes into being when a broken side-marking at some distance from the edge of the road surface is introduced. An edge strip lacks a bicycle pictogram on the road surface, and, therefore, lacks the legal status of the cycle lane. Together with the rest of the carriageway (i.e. that meant only for motorised vehicles), edge strips and cycle lanes are part of one and the same road surface. Edge strips have the same grey colour as the rest of the road surface. Edge strips painted red are often called non-compulsory cycle lanes. The research design is a before-and-after study and is aimed at the road users. The question was whether behaviour of cyclists and car drivers (speed, distance between vehicles, position on the road) would change as a result of the measure. To determine this, speed measurements and behaviour observations were carried out. The observed behaviour was subdivided into five different types of events, e.g. ‘a car overtaking a bicycle’. During such events the ‘lateral positions’ were observed: the transverse positions of the road users on the road, in relation to the shoulder and marking. The lateral distances between vehicles was only measured when a car overtook a bicycle. On the street called Molenlaan in Pijnacker there was a speed limit of 60 km/h in the before and after situation. No marking at all was present in the before situation. The edge strips do not appear to have had undivided positive effects: - Cyclists use the edge strip (if they are not cycling next to each other). - The lateral position of cars in the cross-sectional profile seem not, or hardly, to be influenced by the edge strips. Neither is the cyclist overtaken with a greater lateral distance. - The average speed increased slightly after the introduction of the edge strips