A New Bypass for the Busiest Bikeway in the Netherlands

[Ep. 1073] The city of Utrecht has finalised the alignment for a new east-west cycling route, intended to relieve pressure on what is currently the busiest cycle route in the Netherlands. Known as “Fietsroute om de Noord” (Cycle Route around the North), this new bypass skirts the historic city centre and connects with several major cycle routes.

In this video, I explore the rationale behind the new route, its history, and the city’s plans for its design and implementation. From controversial alternatives to draft street layouts for public consultation, this is a look at how Utrecht continues to adapt its infrastructure—not for more cars, but for more people on bikes.

📍 Includes background on the current main route, its origins in car-centric planning, and what’s next as Utrecht makes space for the future of cycling.

Utrecht has now decided where to build 
a relief route for this cycle way, the busiest in the Netherlands. The current main east-west route 
is so popular because it leads directly to the station from the east of the city, where, for instance, the university 
and many office buildings are located. Between the 1920s and the 1980s, large numbers of buildings
were demolished along this route to widen Utrecht’s medieval streets. Ironically, to make them more suitable for cars. But from the 1990s onwards, car traffic was gradually diverted
to other routes and bicycles began to dominate. History now seems to repeat itself as 
the city looks for new alternatives. This time not for motor traffic, but for the thousands of cyclists 
who now use these streets everyday. Several alternatives were 
studied from around 2016. The first was a route that would still 
pass through the historic centre, but just north of the current cycle way. Incidentally, this also follows
the alignment of a road once planned, in 1965, for cars. A plan that, fortunately,
never fully materialised. The second option would run alongside 
the canal that once formed the city moat, but that would have required
building a new bridge in a historic part of the city 
where no bridge ever existed, prompting considerable criticism. The third alternative lies just north of the 
city centre and has been named “Om the Noord”, meaning roughly around the north 
side of the historic centre. A variant of this route 
would run even further north. Out of all of these options, the city has chosen
the Om de Noord alignment as the alternative east-west cycle route. While it may appear to be
a considerable detour, it links up with a route further east which will be developed
as a separate project. And it also connects
to many north south routes and the city believes that many people 
will therefore use parts of the new route. Currently, the streets along the 
route serve different purposes, from neighborhood access roads to residential streets. Some sections have separate cycleways, others resemble cycle streets, and some are quiet residential roads. While all of them are suitable for cycling, they do not yet form a 
continuous or coherent route. There are unexpected sharp turns
such as this one. And in another spot, people must make a 
quick right left turn in a short distance. Yet, as I filmed here, almost everyone 
already does so without hesitation. The road surface varies too, from worn asphalt to brick paving
typical of residential areas. But not ideal for a continuous 
high-quality cycle route. The city has now published 
draft designs for the streets and these are currently
under public consultation. Once finalised, construction of the 
route is expected to begin in early 2026. The local chapter of the Cyclists’ 
Union is broadly positive, especially about the removal of 
traffic lights at this intersection. But they stressed that the new 
route must be very attractive if it is to persuade people to 
use it instead of the current one. That route remains preferable for many, even if it is crowded and according to 
some even dangerous because of that. I’ll be following the development of this 
alternative route with great interest.