Shenzhen will form a slow traffic network of 469 kilometers backboned by six bicycle expressways and 12 trunk ways, according to a Shenzhen Special Zone Daily report Saturday, quoting a source from the Shenzhen Municipal Transport Bureau.
The bicycle expressways are for bicycle use and the truck ways are for bike and pedestrian mixed use.
According to the bicycle transport development plan released by the bureau on its official website, http://jtys.sz.gov.cn, the city will pilot three cross-region bicycle roads that link Kuichong and Dapeng, Shekou and Liuxiandong as well as Futian and Luohu districts, in addition to cross-district roads between Longhua and Futian and between Longhua and Nanshan.
The Shekou-Liuxiandong bicycle lane will be built along Shigu Road, Shahe East Road, Baisi Road and Houhai Boulevard, linking Xili, Science and Technology Park, Houhai and Shekou.
The Futian-Luohu bicycle lane will be built along Binhai and Binhe boulevards, while 6-kilometer-long Kuichong-Dapeng lane will be built along Kuiping Road, Pingxi Road, passing Leigong Mountain Tunnel and Diefu Mountain Tunnel.
Additionally, the city will build bicycle lanes along the coast and around Longhua greenway, Guangming greenway and the water bodies and mountains in Bao’an District.
In an earlier plan, the bicycle roadway linking Longhua and Futian will be built along the Meiguan and Huanggang roads and connect Bijia Hill and Lianhua Hill at its ends. The independent bike roads will be either elevated or at ground-level, depending on the situation, and link major residential, business and office clusters, checkpoints, railway and Metro stations. The ground-level bike roads will be separated from other lanes by fences or greenery belts.
The move aims to satisfy the needs of residents for short commutes, leisure and sports, but also to encourage short-trip car drivers to turn to bicycles instead.
A report released by the bureau showed the commuting distance of local residents is about 8.5 kilometers on average. Of local commuters, 65 percent commute within a distance of 8 kilometers, and 51 percent commute between 2 and 8 kilometers. Bicycles have advantages for passengers traveling distances between 0.5 and 5 kilometers.
By the end of 2019, the city had 1,759 kilometers of bicycle lanes, about 14 percent of the overall length of urban roads. In Shenzhen, 80 percent of bicycle lanes are shared with pedestrians without separating barriers.